I am Hon Chian Ming from BP116 cohort, people used to call me Shera, a 2020 graduate from IMU BPharm (Hons) programme offered by the School of Pharmacy. Recently, I just completed my Provisionally Registered Pharmacist (PRP) training in April 2022 in Sarawak General Hospital.
Looking back, the very reason I wanted to pursue a pharmacy degree is because of its enormous career opportunities which is undeniable. A graduate with a pharmacy degree can choose to work in the hospital, retail pharmacy, industry, research, enforcement, veterinary company and so on. There are countless possibilities and flexibilities in these career opportunities.
I always wanted to pursue my studies in a well reputed and established university. IMU is well known and is Malaysia’s first and most established private medical and health sciences university.
The IMU BPharm (Hons) programme offered by the School of Pharmacy is a very matured programme and the curriculum is benchmarked to local and international standards.This is evident from the acceptance of the students from the BPharm (Hons) programme by the partner universities like University of Otago, New Zealand and the University of Tasmania, Australia after the first two years at IMU, making the students eventually being able to work in the respective countries.
Let me put forward some of the unique features of the curriculum that has prepared me for my current work setting. The BPharm (Hons) curriculum includes several learning methods for the students to acquire the necessary knowledge and competencies to become a pharmacist.
To mention a few, the problem-based learning (PBL), pharmacy skills development sessions, workshops and objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) provides us with the necessary understanding of the clinical setting at an early stage. We learnt about teamwork, preparing pharmaceutical plans, communication skills and were also prepared to handle unpredictable patient behaviour which have played a major role in shaping me and being able to work in a hospital setting as a pharmacist.
In addition, the BPharm (Hons) programme at IMU also provides the hospital attachment for period of one month during the last semester which provides students with the adequate room to enhance their knowledge and skills necessary for working in a clinical setting. Not forgetting the attachment opportunities arranged by the school in community and pharmaceutical settings cumulatively, which provided us with 2 months of mandatory attachments.
The Elective module also provides us with 2 months for us to explore the area of our interest and one can also choose to further enhance their exposure to the hospital, community or pharmaceutical industry or any other allied sector based on their interest.
These learning opportunities in the programme had greatly improved my confidence to explore the hospital setting further. As a PRP, within a year, I had gone through nine modules which are clinical, in-patient, out-patient, oncology, therapeutic drug monitoring, manufacturing & prepacking, store, total parental nutrition and drug information service. It was much easier for me to understand and perform in these modules due to the emphasis on these while I was in the BPharm (Hons) programme at IMU.
In conclusion, I am confident that the IMU BPharm (Hons) programme has equipped me and everyone with adequate knowledge and experience and I highly recommend the programme to those who are interested to pursue a pharmacy degree at IMU without any hesitation.
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