In 2002, the Pan American Regional Office (PARO) was established to unify the Americas in IPSF’s vision. Pharmacy students from these countries have been involved in IPSF since its formation.

  • 1959: Glen Moir from Canada was appointed as IPSF President
  • 1973: The first student from Latin America, Carlos Juárez Lopez, attended the 19th IPSF World Congress in Paris France and was appointed an IPSF Commissioner for Latin American Region.
  • 1977: Mexico City, Mexico hosted the 23rd World Congress
  • 1986: Panama City, Panama hosted the 32rd World Congress
  • 1989: Philadelphia, USA hosted the 35th World Congress
  • 1989: Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science implemented the first the Patient Counseling Event (PCE)
  • 1989: Eric Anderson from USA was appointed as IPSF President
  • 1994: Tegucigalpa, Honduras also known as “The Coke and Pina Colada Congress” hosted the 40th World Congress
  • 1997: Vancouver, Canada hosted the 43rd World Congress
  • 1999: The first Clinical Skills Event (CSE) concept was developed by the American Society of Health Systems Pharmacists (ASHP)
  • 2000: San Salvador, El Salvador hosted the 46th World Congress
  • 2001: Leonard Plain from USA was appointed as IPSF President
  • 2002: The 1st Pan American Regional Symposium (PARS) hosted in Fort Lauderdale
  • 2003: The 2nd PARS hosted in Cuernavaca, Mexico
  • 2004: Halifax, Canada hosted the 50th World Congress with the 3rd PARS hosted in Panama City, Panama
  • 2005: The 4th PARS hosted in Kingston, Jamaica
  • 2006: The 5th PARS hosted in Quito, Ecuador
  • 2007: The 6th PARS hosted in San Jose, Costa Rica
  • 2008: The 7th PARS hosted in Cuernavaca, Mexico

After 2008, PARO became inactive due to unfortunate circumstances. But in 2011, PARO was re-activated by Van Duong, Jane Kim, Dayl Eccles, Allison Lai, and Vicki Lau from the USA.  Since 2011, we now count 5 full members and 10 members in association.

A new event, the 2013 Pharmaceutical Tour hosted in Colombia through the Asociación Colombiana de Estudiantes de Química Farmacéutica (ACEQF), was also created for our IPSF PARO members.

  • 2014: The 8th PARS hosted in Araraquara, Brazil
  • 2015:
    • The 9th PARS hosted in San Luis, Argentina
    • Dayl Eccles from USA was appointed as IPSF President
  • 2016:
    • The 10th PARS hosted in Barranquilla, Colombia
    • The Pharmatour was organized in Chile
  • 2017: The 11th PARS hosted in Mexico City, Mexico
  • 2018:
    • Mendoza, Argentina hosted the 64th World Congress
    • The 12th PARS hosted in Trujillo, Peru
    • The first PARO Trainers Development Camp hosted in Lima, Peru
  • 2019: The 13th PARS hosted in San José, Costa Rica
  • 2020: The 14th PARS to be hosted in Cusco, Peru
  • 2021: The 15th PARS to be hosted in Santiago, Chile

PARO is devoted to promoting communication and membership in IPSF among the nations of the Pan American region by disseminating information about various PARO programs and events taking place in our beloved region as well as around the globe.