Strengthening Quality Through Scholarship: The Annual Pharmacy Symposium

The Annual Pharmacy Symposium, organised by the Faculty of Medicine & Surgery’s Department of Pharmacy, continues to grow each year and highlights the Department’s strong focus on quality education, research, and student involvement.

Held over five days at the beginning of March, the symposium brought together all pharmacy students, from undergraduate to postgraduate level.

This included students enrolled in Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes, as well as those studying for a Doctorate in Pharmacy or a PhD. Presentations spanned clinical pharmacy research, such as medication optimisation strategies, point-of-care diagnostic stewardship; regulatory sciences exploring areas of medical devices vigilance and global regulatory developments; pharmaceutical technology and pharmaceutical analysis, including cannabis testing, biosimilar products evaluation and quality-by-design processes. 

Having students from different levels in one event creates a valuable learning environment where everyone can share ideas, learn from each other, and gain exposure to a wide range of topics such as scientific research, clinical developments, and global trends in pharmacy.

One of the most important parts of the symposium was the Student Feedback Seminar, which was built into the main programme. This session gave students a chance to speak openly about their learning experiences. They were able to discuss what is working well, highlight any challenges they are facing, and suggest ways the courses or programmes could be improved.

The seminar was organised and supported by the Department’s administrative team, highlighting the importance given to student feedback. Their involvement helped ensure that the feedback shared by students was not only heard but also acted upon. This created a clear feedback loop, where student suggestions led to real changes.

Overall, the symposium promoted a strong sense of collaboration between students, lecturers, and administrative staff. It helped build a learning community where everyone worked together to improve the quality of pharmacy education.