More than dispensing medicine
GRADUATES are increasingly expected to have entrepreneurial, leadership and management skills.
In the pharmaceutical sector, within a year of professional registration, many pharmacy graduates will find themselves in roles in which they are expected to effectively address situations with legal, ethical, operational, human resource and financial management aspects.
It is, therefore, highly desirable that pharmacy students acquire and develop leadership and managerial acumen throughout their programme of study.
From the introduction of the International Medical University (IMU) BPharm programme in 2004, the curriculum has included a Year 3 module on business management.
This module is also taken by students in pharmaceutical chemistry.
In 2017, IMU introduced a marketing project in which students are challenged to formulate and present a realistic marketing strategy for a non-prescription pharmaceutical product.
In designing such a strategy, students need to draw on product knowledge, management and decision-making ability, imagination, creativity and ability to think innovatively and laterally.
This project is seen as integrative, simulating real-world challenges while providing opportunities to make management decisions in a low-risk setting.
Students worked in teams and presented their strategies as posters, explaining them to judges in a final judging session on Sept 29, 2017.
CCM Pharma’s Yee Kar Ming (manager, formulation, research and development technologies), Eileen Ong (trade marketing manager) and Yap Mei Sing (senior executive, brands) were asked to critically evaluate the posters and presentations and to provide feedback.
The judging session also saw the participation of IMU Academic deputy vice-chancellor Prof Peter Pook, School of Pharmacy dean Assoc Prof Mohd Zulkefeli Mat Jusoh, Research and Consultancy associate dean Prof Mallikarjuna Rao Pichika and faculty members of the Pharmaceutical Technology Department.
One of the students involved in this learning activity was Liaw Pu Kang.
According to Liaw, his team learnt a lot about marketing strategies of over-the-counter products and had a wonderful experience.
He hoped that this activity would be passed down to his junior cohorts because such activities were beneficial to students.
Another student, Ho Keat Zhee: “It took a lot of effort and time but it was all worth it. We gained valuable insights and understanding on business management and also learnt how to do a proper professional presentation, which will definitely be useful in the future when we are involved in any activity related to managing.
“I would like to express my sincere thanks to staff involved and the group members for making this possible”
Student Mei Xuan said: “The business management poster presentation gave me good exposure on how to market a pharmaceutical product with innovative ideas to make us stand out among competitors. By looking at the ideas that came out from all pharmacy students, I believe a pharmacist does not only dispense medication but we are also equipped to be entrepreneurs in future.”
IMU’s Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons) students have the option to transfer credits in their first two years’ curriculum to the pharmacy programme in the University of Otago, New Zealand or University of Tasmania, Australia.
These international partnerships are a clear testament to the alignment of IMU’s innovative education to global standards.
Students also have the option of completing the entire four-year pharmacy degree in IMU.
The commencement of the Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons) programme is in July and September.
If you wish to embark on a diverse career involved with the safe and effective use of medicines, make an online application today to study IMU’s pharmacy programme.
If you have just completed your SPM and do not have any preuniversity qualification, consider enrolling in the one-year IMU Foundation in Science, the direct route for entry into any of the university’s degree programmes.