Wayne Chan Wei Xiang was first graduate of the IMU’s three-year Bachelor of Science (Hons) Pharmaceutical Chemistry, to be successfully accepted into the Master of Pharmacy programme in University of Sydney and commenced his course in July 2013. With the 18 credits of exemption given, Wayne will be able to complete the programme in one and a half years instead of two years. Wayne is currently doing well in his studies in University of Sydney scoring distinctions in the subjects taken. Here, he relates his experience studying the Master of Pharmacy programme in University of Sydney, Australia.
“The Master of Pharmacy programme is 2 years course; the duration is shorter than a Bachelor of Pharmacy programme which is 4 years. Therefore, a lot of chapters are packed into each semester. However, it is still manageable for me. I still have time to participate sport clubs and competitions. Besides this, the pharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics and medicinal chemistry subjects that I studied in IMU helped me to understand the lectures more easily in Master of Pharmacy course.”
“I enjoyed every placement that I did for the Master of Pharmacy programme. I did my placement in a community pharmacy and hospital. Both provided difference experiences and environment to me. Hence, I can decide which sector I should go after when I graduate. For example, in the community pharmacy, the patient will hand in a prescription which is prescribed by their general practitioner. I will then need to dispense and counsel the patients if they are new to the medications. If the patients has been taking the medicines, I will need to make sure patients are doing well with all their medications. Other than that, I also recommend supplements and other Over the Counter products to customers. In general, working in community pharmacy allows me to approach patients.”
“I also did my placement in a hospital. There are in-patients and out-patients. In-patients can be suffering from severe medical conditions which require intensive care and some highly specialised drugs which only can be found in hospital. Therefore, I am able to learn about more medications that are usually not seen in community pharmacy. Basically, pharmacists in that hospital need to dispense according to the medication charts provided by the nurses. Besides that, they need to do a medication check list when the patients admitted and discharged. In addition, I follow a pharmacist and cardiologist at the ward rounds. When the cardiologist wants to know anything regarding the medications, the pharmacist is ready to respond. In this hospital placement, I also visited the oncology and mental health wards. I observed how the oncology pharmacist prepare the cytotoxic drug for the cancer patients.” 
“At the University of Sydney, I am able to work together with students from different ethnicity. The University also provide us many online resources to refer for our reports, presentations and research. The most memorable moment is when I do revision, preparing my presentation and project; travel to Thredbo with my classmates.”
Related story on Wayne: First IMU Pharmaceutical Chemistry Graduate accepted into University of Sydney’s Master of Pharmacy Programme
