Congratulations to the IMU Pharmacy students who bagged several awards at the 2017 Young Entrepreneur Programme!
1 July, 14 – 16 July – Notably, YEP’s most outstanding participant during the pitching competition was Taasjir Kaur from BP2/15. Participating teams comprise of pharmacy students from different universities, but IMU students were the stars in all top 3 winning teams. IMU Pharmacy students, Michelle Fernandez, Lee Chen Yuan, Tan Mei Xian (Champion team); Tian Kar Yee, Yong Ying Shuang, Taasjir Kaur and Wong Xin Yun won the second place while the third place belongs to Chai Vun Han and Ling Ming. 
An IMU student who is the Program Director of the Young Entrepreneur Programme (YEP) 2017, Mai Ya Zhe, said, “As I am consistently involved in YEP since its creation, I would like to congratulate all IMU pharmacy students who took part in these extra-curricular activities. To many of us involved in external events, IMU pharmacy students have grown into such aggressive and independent learners over the years. An outsider would be surprised to see IMU students everywhere organising, participating, building connection and learning.” “IMU School of Pharmacy has done a great job to encourage student participation in our programme by offering full sponsorship and highlighting the event. Lastly, I hope to meet more IMU students out there and may all of us continue to shine brightly when we join the workforce.”
Young Entrepreneur Program (YEP) is the first initiative by Malaysian Pharmacy Students’ Association (MyPSA) to encourage the exposure to entrepreneurship for pharmacy students. YEP was initiated in 2015 and had gained positive feedback over the years. The primary objective of the programme is not to allow students to start a company right away, it rather transforms the typical mindset of a pharmacy students.
YEP 2017 comes with a theme “Innovating Through Value Chain”. Value chain is described as the processes involved from the product manufacturing, distribution, marketing, and retail facilities to the end consumers. We aim to explore the possibilities to add value to the supply chain, thereby creating a Blue Ocean Strategy to tackle price war that has been ongoing in the retail pharmacy sector. Despite having the ambitious goal, we understand that it is not easy because even people working in this industry for decades do not have a solution yet. However, we are hoping to equip our participants with the right mindset to start thinking about this problem. It is possible that one day, the Malaysian healthcare system may be revolutionised by members from YEP. The social connection is the most precious asset that a typical pharmacy student can build out of this programme. YEP manage to introduce 14 prestigious guests to all participants in 4 days. Typically, a student will never get the chance to have a face-to-face interaction with the celebrity pharmacists or high ranking officials from Multinational Company (MNC). But, YEP builds the bridge and allows such interaction. One of the YEP special guests commented that universities market their schools as one that prepares the students for real-world situations. However, there are not much of varieties in terms of participating universities. He describes the YEP agenda as a simulation of real-world society. 
| YEP Outstanding Participant |
| Taasjir Kaur, BP2/15 |
| YEP is a programme that I will definitely recommend to anyone out there who would like to step out of their comfort zone and make connection by sharing the same interest which is entrepreneurship. |
What the Other Winners Say about the Competition
| YEP is beneficial for those who have passion for business but have no basic idea of business. By learning how to write business plans and how to pitch ideas, I feel I have taken the first step in realising my dreams. It’s definitely a must attend kind of event! The price is way lesser than it’s worth! – Michelle Fernandez, BP1/13 |
| I learnt the importance of networking, when you network with someone much more knowledgeable and experienced than you; you will realise that there are many things for you to learn. Basically, the sky is the limit when it comes to knowledge. I am grateful to learn a lot from my team leader, Michelle. – Lee Chen Yuan, BP1/14 |
| YEP is a very good platform for you to learn more on entrepreneurship, making connection, and getting to know how to work with others from different backgrounds. – Tan Mei Xian, BP2/15 |
| Thomas Edison once said that ‘genius is one percent inspiration, ninety percent perspiration’. From YEP, I understand that having an idea is not enough, you have to work hard for it in order to be successful. – Yong Ying Shuang, BP1/14 |
| I learnt from YEP that entrepreneurship is needed for every healthcare professional to make improvements in healthcare services and products. – Wong Xin Yun, BP2/15 |
| YEP was an eye opening experience. YEP opens up a whole new world of opportunity for pharmacy. It makes us think outside the conventional profession for pharmacists. – Tian Kar Yee, BP1/14 |
| From YEP, I learnt that entrepreneurship is an alternative option for pharmacists. It will be great if pharmacy students can incorporate their knowledge into innovation and make advancement in healthcare. – Ling Ming, BP1/14 |
| YEP actually provide students great insights of being an entrepreneur. This is what we wouldn’t be learning from the university. Thanks YEP! – Chai Vun Han, BP1/14 |
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