April 23, 2021, by Mei Kee Lee
Alumni Testimonial – Jee Yeonwoo (2020)
This article is written by Jee Yeonwoo, MPharm 2+2 (Class of 2020).
“I personally think it was an enjoyable and valuable experience and I would highly recommend the course to others who are considering it.”
Academic qualification & current job:
I graduated from University of Nottingham MPharm in 2020 and I am currently halfway through my pre-registration training in the UK.
How has your degree prepared you for your career?
My learning experiences from the university has greatly helped me to be where I am now. The course is designed in a way to equip students with clinical and scientific knowledge, professional skills and relevant laws which are essential in becoming a qualified pharmacist. The final year of MPharm summarises everything in Pharmacy Leadership & Management and Integrated Pharmaceutical & Patient Care modules. Pharmacy Leadership & Management module involves running a ‘simulated community pharmacy’ in groups where we had to clinically check prescriptions, contact general practitioners for queries and provide community pharmacy services (nicotine mouth spray/nicotine replacement therapy/over-the-counter). This has improved my teamworking and communication skills, as well as my over-the-counter medication knowledge. Pharmaceutical & Patient Care module is all about case studies where we had to look for pharmaceutical interventions from a pharmacist’s point of view in both community and hospital settings. It can be stressful but is fun sometimes, and helps to refresh the knowledge from previous years and apply them into practice, getting students ready for pre-registration year.
Apart from these, the course also focuses on drug development, pharmacology, medicine formulation and delivery, providing students with an opportunity to consider research as a future career apart from a hospital/ community pharmacist.
What did you love most about your student life?
What I liked the most about the MPharm 2+2 course was that I got to study at both campuses, Malaysia and the UK. Moving to a foreign country can be frightening but with your friends, it can be exciting! I had a wonderful time – staying in the same house with your friends, cooking together, watching movies till late midnight, studying together and supporting each other during hard times. I also got to meet friends from different parts of the world and learned about their cultures, which was a life experience. Being able to travel to other nearby countries is another bonus point (which I couldn’t thanks to COVID-19!).
Having studied at both campuses, I was fortunate to be exposed to pharmacy practice in both Malaysia and the UK. Being an international student, I had difficulty with language when I was having placements in University of Nottingham Malaysia but lecturers were considerate to pair us up with Malaysian students which helped with the language barrier. Lecturers from both UK and Malaysia campuses were very knowledgeable, friendly, approachable and supportive.
What is your advice to prospective and current MPharm students?
I personally think it was an enjoyable and valuable experience and I would highly recommend the course to others who are considering it. My tip is to expose yourself to different environments and think about what makes you happy and what you would like to do in the future.
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