Jan Röder prezidentem 350 000 studentů farmacie

Last summer, Jan Röder, a fifth year student of the Charles University Faculty of Pharmacy, was elected president of the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF). He became the first student from the former Eastern bloc to lead the international organization, that brings together more than 350,000 students of pharmacy from 86 countries.

You have been active in student life from the very beginning, haven’t you? I became a member of the Czech Pharmacy Students' Association in my first year. The association is very well respected by the faculty and does a lot of work. It organizes welcome meeting and parties, the faculty ball and educational programmes. It also helps the faculty out with conferences. The association’s president can sit in at the meetings of the Faculty management and raise questions. I became the national association’s president two years ago.

How did you get into the international student association?

It was more of a coincidence. After my first year, I was delegated to the IPSF congress as a substitute. As soon as I became familiar with the international environment, I was hooked and became the contact person in the national association. All the information in both directions flowed through my mailbox. This way, I got to know not only the glamorous part – the international congress – but also the actual work of the organization.

Then I started going to the congress every year. At the last one, the then management asked me as an experienced member to run for president. It took me a long time to decide, but eventually I accepted.

Why did it take so long to decide?

This position is financially quite demanding, because one has to cover most of the travel expenses himself. But members of the national association said they would support me. So I decided to go for it, not only because it would be an amazing experience for me, but also because of the possibility to influence the future of the organization.

Had a Czech student been elected into this position before?

No. No student from the former Eastern bloc had been president before me. However, Czech students have held other management position in the federation, for instance in the student exchange section.

(Lucie Kettnerová)

Translation: Jaroslav Švelch