The cost of living is hitting Australians hard – and arguably none more so than students who need to complete unpaid practical placements, says one high-profile student National Australian Pharmacist Students Association national president Sebastian Harper has opened up to AJP Podcast host Carlene McMaugh about the financial pressures on pharmacy students – and how NAPSA aims to take a greater role in advocacy for the profession. “There really needs to be a revolution in how we approach placements, and this doesn’t just go for pharmacy, but this is, as far as I understand, pretty much all health disciplines,” Harper says. He highlights the increasing cost of living throughout the 2020s… “which I think everyone, not just in Australia but around the world is very conscious of”. “But students, young people, but also mature age students, many who might have a mortgage, they might have kids at home that they have to feed. The cost of living crisis is really hitting hard and that’s why we’re trying to, in our capacity as a student organisation, mitigate that as much as possible.” Students are literally having to decide whether they can afford to buy food or pay rent at their usual home, and actually finish their placements, Harper says. He also talks about the “hidden costs” of prac placements – from uniforms to transport and hospital parking – as well as offering some advice for preceptors. But there have been positive developments as well, he says – not only have some disciplines been granted prac payments, there are options such as government housing for students. “I had a fantastic experience on placement where I was in Mount Isa and I was housed with about six other students from other health disciplines,” he enthuses. “We had a couple speechies, we had a medicine student, dental student physio, science, so there were a lot of different disciplines there, and it was great to just for our mental wellbeing, but also the idea of us being better interprofessional collaborators in the future that after each shift we got to almost debrief about our days and interesting cases we saw. “I learned more about what speechies do there purely by just talking to them.” He also tells McMaugh about the establishment of the Health Students Alliance, a new organisation bringing together just over 40 health student associations across the country. Highlights include: 00:56 – Priorities for NAPSA 02:38 – The cost of living, and lack of prac payments 03:38 – The impact of placement poverty 05:57 – Advocating for a highly feminised workforce 08:00 – Hidden costs 10:47 – “I’ve just anecdotally heard from my members on calls or at events and things like that, but they’re literally going hungry throughout the entire day.” 11:47 – How financial pressures impact health 14:41 – Youth allowance and advocacy 19:40 – Some solutions 23:38 – How can pharmacists support their students? 26:04 – The potential for impact on the future workforce 30:24 – How to find your niche 33:17 – Some of NAPSA’s key initiatives – including splitting the rural and Indigenous chair positions 37:10 – “The future of pharmacy is incredibly exciting.” 39:52 – “The biggest thing that registered pharmacists can do is just enable the excitement of the next generation.” You can access the full transcript of this podcast here. While we endeavour to ensure all important words and phrases are correct, please note there may be some minor inaccuracies in the transcription. ACCESS PODCAST TRANSCRIPT Go here for the full list of active AJP podcasts. These can also be accessed via Apple Podcasts and Spotify  Carlene McMaugh