"Being tutor of students gives prestige to the pharmacy office."

"When I was told that I was awarded this award I thought why am I tutor of students if I have no need, if no one forces me. I wanted to continue to maintain the link with School because for me the years of programs of study were unforgettable. But also because being tutor gives prestige to the pharmacy office". With these words Pedro Iturria thanked the recognition as "outstandingTutor " granted by the School of Pharmacy and Nutrition and Cofares.

At an event held at the University of Navarra and presided over by Rosalía Baena, Vice President of students, the award "Erasmus excelente" was also awarded to student Silvia Gascón for her stay at the University of Lille (France). "These awards serve to stop and value tasks that normally go unnoticed. They highlight the close relationship tutor-student that we want to characterize us at the University: a person who accompanies a student at the beginning of his or her professional degree program is rewarded, while an international experience carried out in an excellent way is valued", said the Vice President.

For her part, Maria Javier Ramirez, dean of the School of Pharmacy and Nutrition expressed her satisfaction for the perseverance, effort and involvement of the tutors to train new pharmacists to continue practicing the profession: "It is a moment for the School to thank all the tutors, and I wish we could give this individual recognition to each and every one of them. I was reading today in the newspaper about the farewell of a healthcare professional, and it said that the important things to be a good healthcare professional are, in this order, humanity, common sense and professional excellence, all qualities present in our tutors".

In addition, during his speech, Eduardo Pastor, President of Cofares, emphasized the role of the new professionals in the future of the profession: "Today, more than ever, we all look eagerly to the new generations of pharmacists, because the challenges ahead of them, which they will undoubtedly face with brilliance, are the greatest in the history of this profession, in my opinion. From the same courage and determination that pushed us to dedicate ourselves to something as transcendental as the health of citizens, I tell you that you will know how to turn any challenge into an opportunity," he encouraged. "To do so, we count on something extremely important: the trust of the people who entrust their health care to our profession. And there you are, as a reference before, during and after the pandemic, for the people who are looking for answers and solutions to their needs, to their daily concerns.

Masters of Pharmaceutical Practice

The event was closed by José López Guzmán, professor at area de Humanities Farmacéuticas, who gave a speech at lecture focused on the role of mentors of supervised internships for the training of students. "University professors and tutors of community pharmacies have the same goal: the training integral of our students. A theoretical training and internship that requires both, without undervaluing either of them, since theory requires praxis...and praxis requires theory," he remarked. For this reason, he stressed the need for synergy and complementarity between the university, pharmaceutical colleges and professional associations, the cornerstone of the students' training . "Hence, I would like to thank Cofares for creating these prizes that are awarded, in a university setting, to a community pharmacist".

Professor López Guzmán defined the work of the tutors as having a special dimension, as it has a direct impact on what the new pharmacist will be as a professional and as a person. "With the tutored stays, the role professor that our ancestors, the apothecaries, performed has been recovered. It also endows you with a Degree of moral responsibility to each of your students and to the profession in general, as these new pharmacists are the present and future of our profession."

"You mentors are teachers in praxis because your fundamental activity is the teaching of the internship of the pharmacist in the community pharmacy,'' emphasized López Guzmán. "And I use the word master in its deepest meaning, that which is not limited to considering the person as a transmitter of knowledge and/or techniques, but that which applies to that person who transmits what he or she is. Because you, in your work of tutoring students in the pharmacy, are teachers, although sometimes you may not be aware of it."