Gaining skills during industrial attachment
INTERNATIONAL Medical University (IMU)’s Pharmaceutical Chemistry student Gladys Yap Zi Yu recently underwent her industrial attachment at the Centre of Biomolecular Science (CBS) in the University of Nottingham, UK.
She worked as a research assistant under the supervision of Dr Tracey Bradshaw and her postgraduate student, Alastair Breen, on a nanotechnology-inspired project, which encapsulates novel antitumour benzothiazoles within apoferritin protein cages to enhance the bioavailability.
“During the first week of my arrival, I was required to study the Laboratory Safety handbook of each laboratory in the whole building and complete an assessment with at least 80 out of 100 passing mark. There was a lot of new stuff which I never studied and contacted before. However, necessary knowledge to survive in a laboratory was obtained while studying Pharmaceutical Chemistry at IMU,” said Yap.
“After completion of the assessment, I finally got access to the workplace. The first thing I learnt in my internship was cell splitting. This was to keep the experimental tumour cell alive and to inhibit growth throughout the experiment. My main job scope was to perform Western blot on non-capsulated and encapsulated apoferritin of two benzothazioles drugs (5F 203 and GW610) on seven human tumour cell lines. As a pharmaceutical chemistry student, this is quite new to me since chemistry was my major during my degree study,” she added.
While conducting this project, Yap had the chance to handle different advanced instruments and acquired many new lab skills.
“The skills that I am most familiar were collecting cell lystate, performing gel electrophoresis, Bradford assay and antibody incubation. These skills were all included in the protocol of Western blot. The whole process of western blotting was time-consuming and tedious, especially when performing a gel transfer of protein from the membrane. It took my supervisor two weeks to train me on the entire protocol before I started working independently,” said Yap.
For Yap, it was challenging to travel so far alone and be open-minded to know people from different backgrounds.
Yet, she remains grateful to have had the opportunity to discover the wonders of UK and Europe.
“Stepping out of my comfort zone had gained me a lot of fun and challenges. I appreciate everyone I met in both work and travel throughout these months,” she said.
The pharmaceutical chemistry degree from IMU is accredited by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), UK.
The course is undertaken entirely at IMU and completed in three years (six semesters).
Upon completion, graduates can enter the workforce and begin their career as chemists in pharmaceutical and other chemical industries.
After obtaining the IMU BSc (Hons) Pharmaceutical Chemistry degree, those who meet the academic criteria can also continue to pursue the Master of Pharmacy programme at the University of Sydney or Curtin University in Australia.
They are given credit exemptions in the Master of Pharmacy programmes.
The graduates of the Master of Pharmacy degrees from these universities can register as practising pharmacists in Australia and Singapore, though not in Malaysia currently.
Want to find out more about the Pharmaceutical Chemistry programme or any other IMU degree programmes?
Take part in IMU’s Student Exploratory Workshop to experience hands-on activities and talks by industry professionals, which will provide insights into various health science disciplines and programmes.
The workshop facilitators, comprising IMU lecturers and faculty members, will guide students on the activities held at various facilities such as the Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre, Dental Skills Centre, Medical Museum, Research
Lab and Multidisciplinary Lab.
This year, the Intro to Medicine & Health Sciences workshop will be held on Dec 4 and 5, and the Intro to Medicine workshop will be on Dec 6, where students will gain fascinating insights into the world of medicine.
More information on the workshops is available on http://ask.imu. edu.my/sew. Register and pay for the workshops by Oct 31 to qualify for the early bird rate.
■ For more information, log on to www.imu.edu.my, e-mail start@ imu.edu.my or call 03-2731 7272.