Day 5 – Tue 29 Sep: Dusseldorf

Breakfast was at 7am today, and were in the taxi heading for the CCD at 8:30am.  Arne had a presentation to give and his session started at 10am, but wanted to be early to do some other stuff.  The taxi may have cost a little more than the public transport option, but only took 15 mins!!  So, after the cost benefit analysis had been completed, we decided taxi was the most efficient means of transport.  Of course, there were those that did not need to be at the CCD so early, so they took the tram, etc.

So, for the majority of us, our first item of business for the day was to attend Arne’s presentation on “Military pharmacy: challenging areas of work at home and in mission”.  He was by far the best presenter due to his military training, but also gave the most interesting presentation.  Most people had started falling asleep before he started, but they soon woke up.

It was then into the FIP First-Timers reception for myself, Jane, ZY and Sylvain.  It is in this reception that first time congress attendees learn about how FIO works and get to meet people from the difference sections and special interest groups.  Last year we had quite a bit of interest in MEPS, however this year, not so much. We had an hour or so before the Opening Ceremony (OC) started, so we found the auditorium and booked some seats for MEPS.  It always looks impressive when all the different uniforms are seated together.

Two MEPS members received awards this year; Jane received her FIP Fellowship award, and Régis received his Distinguished Practice award.  The rest of the OC was much the same as it always is: other awards, speeches and entertainment.  The entertainment was not quite as spectacular as previous years though.

The Welcome Reception followed the OC.  Again, we had to find the MEPS poster and be on-site to answer any queries regarding the Section.  We did this with some nice German beer and finger food.  You rarely need an actual dinner after this function as there is plenty of food and drink to go around.  MEPS was the last to leave as we were having a great time catching up with friends, some we had not seen for two years.  The trip home was via taxi.

Snr Col Arne Krappitz delivering his presentation

Some MEPS members: "H", Holger, Matthias, Liping, Tom, Pat, Steve, Sylvain, Zheng-yu, Yan-yan, Eric, Johan

Tom, Pat, Steve and Sally

Some of our German hosts: "H", Holger, Matthias



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