I am Tan Sing Min, a graduate of the Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) programme cohort BP114. I am currently a Regulatory Affairs Executive at Hyphens Pharma Sdn Bhd, a member of Hyphens Pharma International Limited from Singapore.
My daily duties as a Regulatory Affairs Executive include compiling product dossiers, maintaining product registration databases, handling pharmacovigilance-related matters and providing timely updates to health authorities whenever there are any product information changes. I find several course modules provided by IMU useful in delivering the knowledge required for daily evaluation of product dossiers, particularly the Physical Chemistry, Pharmaceutics and Clinical Pharmacokinetics modules. A Pharmacy Degree has created a strong knowledge foundation that eases our understanding of these dossiers.
By having a broad general knowledge from pharmaceutical manufacturing processes to validation tests, studying Pharmacy in IMU has therefore put us at an advantage in manoeuvring our career in regulatory affairs.
I underwent provisional training in a tertiary government hospital before venturing into the pharmaceutical sector. Despite the challenging career transition, I was able to adapt quickly because of the lecturers, who stressed the value of fundamental soft skills.
IMU provided a good setting for us to learn how to be resourceful, self-initiated and articulate. Database searching was also a skill that IMU lecturers also taught well, and it now greatly aids me in my current work during regulatory intelligence screening and literature reviews.
Additionally, I could still vividly recall the lessons that helped to prepare us for the open-book forensic examination because the lectures were very helpful and had significantly improved my ability to do effective information searches in the Poison Act of 1952 and local regulations.
Our instructors consistently emphasized on a range of soft skills which are crucial in the hospital working environment, such as critical thinking, effective time management, case advocacy and ability to work under pressure. I became aware of the value of time while completing my provisional training as a Provisional Registered Pharmacist (PRP) at a hectic hospital, notably during extemporaneous preparations and Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) sessions. In spite of the enormous patient queues, we were expected to check for medication errors, communicate with physicians, and prepare as well as to dispense medications to each patient within thirty minutes. Our lecturers were well aware of the current fast-paced working environment and therefore, they were infusing workplace elements into how they conduct the classes.
Aside from studying, IMU always has a platform for students to discover their hobbies and friends of similar interests. I am more than grateful to have known a group of comrades through extracurricular activities and IMU Cup events.
The experiences of participating in Taekwondo tournaments, choreographing on-stage and passing promotion tests with them were remarkable. I was also involved in the committees that hosted events for the public, IMU students and exclusively Taekwondo Club members.
IMU has always been supportive of our events and constantly provided feedback on our event proposals, without forgetting to provide partial financial support to us. Moreover, IMU never forgets our contribution and has awarded us the Best Sports Club for 2017 and 2018.
IMU offers a pharmacy degree that open doors to all pharmacy careers, be in the retail, hospital or industrial sectors. IMU is a local prestigious university that nurtures future leaders with strong emphasis on the development of both hard and soft skills.