Global Internships
The School offers a variety of Global Internships for our student pharmacists, allowing students the opportunity to explore the roles pharmacists play in different global health settings.
The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) is a non-governmental organization and global body representing pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, founded in 1912. Through their 139 national organizations, academic institutional members and individual members, FIP represents over three million pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists around the world. FIP has been in official relations with the World Health Organization since 1948. Through their partnerships and extensive global pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences network, they work to support the development of the pharmacy profession, through practice and emerging scientific innovations, in order to meet the world’s health care needs and expectations.
FIP’s education initiative (FIPEd) aims at strengthening projects and partnerships with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The FIP-UNESCO UNITWIN African Center of Excellence in Pharmacy Education was recently created to facilitate the sharing of ideas, skills, resources, and best practices around pharmacy education within five countries in Africa. The work of the Center focuses around five broad pharmacy domains: communication, capability, quality, innovation, and clinical.
About the Internship
Activities
The internship provides an opportunity for student pharmacists to gain hands on experience in international pharmacy organization administration. Interns could work in any one of these selected areas:
- Education systems and human resources for health;
- Marketing and business development;
- Policies and global health.
Intern tasks may include, but are not limited to, project development, data management, and data analysis. The mentor will provide additional details. There are 1-2 positions available for this internship per year. The internship is currently only offered to second year student pharmacists.
Structure
In-Person Structure:
Selected interns would begin their internship off-site during the Spring semester and continue on-site at The Hague for two months during the summer. During the spring semester, students would dedicate approximately 5-10 hours/week to FIP intern activities. Once on site at the FIP headquarters in The Hague, the Intern would work with FIP on a full-time basis (40 hours/week) for two months.
Virtual Structure:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this internship has moved to a virtual format for the last few years. Selected interns would conduct their internship remotely for two months during the summer. Students would dedicate approximately 20-40 hours/week to FIP intern activities.
For more information about this internship, please e-mail globalpharmacy@unc.edu with questions.
The Office of Global Engagement supports the School’s mission to develop leaders in pharmacy education, pharmacy practice, and pharmaceutical sciences who make a difference on human health worldwide. Interns can anticipate being involved with established global initiatives, such as PharmAlliance, UNC Project-Malawi, and the Innovations and Transformations in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences summer program, as well as exploring new global initiatives or partnerships. This internship will involve mentorship from the faculty within the Office of Global Engagement and exposure to the profession on a global scale. As much as possible, projects will be aligned with interests of selected candidates to foster career and professional development.
About the Internship
Activities
The internship provides an opportunity for student pharmacists to gain hands on experience in global health and global pharmacy education. Intern activities could involve any of these selected areas:
- Global partnership development
- Program development and project management
- Research projects involving assessment of global education, quality improvement/implementation science, or equity, diversity, and inclusion
Structure
Selected interns would complete their internship on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus during the summer. Interns would dedicate approximately 20-40 hours/week to internship activities. There are 1-3 positions available for this internship per year. The internship is currently only offered to second year student pharmacists.
For more information about this internship, please e-mail globalpharmacy@unc.edu with questions.