Studying pharmacy in the UK is great...

It is our duty to make sure that our students are doing alright in their respective foreign universities, and we take it very seriously!

This month we checked in with our student Racha Challal, after an international foundation year at Bellerbys college, she’s now pursuing a degree in pharmacy at the University of Reading. Here’s how our interview went!

Can you introduce yourself?

My name is Racha, I got my national Baccalaureat in 2020 and now I’m a first-year student in pharmacy at the University of Reading

Why did you choose to study pharmacy in the UK?

There are many reasons why I choose to study pharmacy in the UK, first, there are the placements opportunities we get here, what I mean is that the placement is included in the course.

For example, the last term I had to apply to two placements, one was a community pharmacy placement and the other was a hospital pharmacy placement, I mean can you imagine I’m just a first-year student and I’m having my placements already!

The second thing is the worldwide recognition you get with a UK pharmacy degree or any other degree for that matter.

The third point is the nature of the job here, since the covid pandemic, the GPhC decided that pharmacy students will now graduate as prescribers, now you can go to a pharmacist and he can respond to your symptoms and prescribe the needed drugs, just like a doctor would!

Tell us more about the teaching method in the UK?

Actually, there isn’t a general UK teaching method for pharmacy, each university has its own pharmacy course. Now, in my university the teaching includes both theory and practice-based methods, we’ve got practicals, lectures, individual and group research.

Describe the typical day of a pharmacist student in the UK?

I would say that pharmacy is not a tough course it just requires a lot of work, if I had to describe a typical day as a pharmacist student I would say it’s a 9 to 5 work, you need to study for that amount of time every day then you have from 5 and up and the week-ends off.

How did you enrich your learning experience?

There are a lot of things that we students can do in the UK, in terms of learning experiences, like getting involved in university clubs and societies.

Recently, I joined St John Ambulance which provides a first aid course, and I find that very interesting and helpful. My university keeps us updated in terms of internships and jobs and sends us emails whenever there are opportunities, such as summer placements, part-time pharmacist jobs, and others. Rest assured the university will help you with that!

Where do you see yourself after your graduation?

It depends on my grades, because I want to have a career in the industry so I’m also planning to pursue a master’s in business as I am planning to open my own pharmaceutical company. Now if that doesn’t pan out, I don’t mind staying in the UK because the jobs opportunities here are very good.

Would you recommend studying pharmacy in the UK?

Studying pharmacy in the UK is great, as I said before it gives you a lot of opportunities. It’s great mainly in terms of practice, it gives practice during the course and after it, I encourage people to study pharmacy in the UK but I would suggest you choose the university very carefully!

And for that, we are here to help!

What do you like most about the UK?

There are so many fun things you can try out in the UK, you can meet new and interesting people, try activities that are not available in our home country, I’m going to visit Go Ape which I find very interesting, I also visited the Upside-down House that I liked a lot. There are many things that you can do in the UK!

How would you describe your journey with SA Global?

You were helpful and supportive, my journey with SA Global was exciting and amazing! Your help was decisive to me, when I reached out to you guys it was my baccalaureat year, and I was otherwise preoccupied and you guys did everything for me, you guys were very helpful and saved me a lot of time and trouble! your suggestion about doing a foundation year was very helpful!

We are very happy to hear that we were able to make your academic ambitions come true, Racha! Wishing our future CEO a lot of success!