• Before my placement:

To be frank, I did not have a lot of expectations of what a placement year can bring to me. It was all down to the pandemic where I could not apply for in-person work experience, and therefore, when the chance came, I thought, why not? I was not fully prepared, I did not know what kind of experience to expect, I just wanted to take part in it.

• During my placement:

As a result, I embarked on my journey. Unlike most people that I have met, I chose a local community pharmacy near where I lived for my placement year. I settled in well, was learning a bunch of different tasks and skills, guided by different intelligent people. I picked up a decent amount of knowledge of different medications and have also learnt a lot through case studies with different patients.

But at the same time, I did feel lost at some point. It was a big change from going to lectures and tutorials to suddenly having a full-time job. It made me reflect on what I wanted to pursue for my future because everybody was doing different tasks. Some of my colleagues were working full-time in the pharmacy, some were completing a one-year pre-registration to become a pharmacist, and some were still in sixth form but just working part-time in the pharmacy. It was interesting to reflect on my thoughts of what I truly wanted, and I felt that this process was so crucial.

Taking part in a placement year does not always run as smoothly as we want it to. There are a lot of lessons that we need to learn, whether it be hands-on skills or mental challenges. The biggest lesson that I have learnt during my placement year was to remember that we are all living for the first time, and mistakes are meant to be made, nothing really matters that much if you think about it.

I realised that I focus on a lot of things that are unnecessary and was sometimes unsatisfied with several things. But little did I know, I do have a lot more than I expected in life, but I have just been taking things for granted. It made me realise how easy it is not to appreciate what we have and feel unsatisfied with things in life.

I learnt this the hard way. There will be patients that I would be speaking to and the next day unfortunately, I heard the news about them passing. It made me realise that life is, indeed, extremely fragile. Therefore, this has been my biggest takeaway.

Completing my placement year was fruitful, it was filled with sweat and tears.

• After my placement:

I had approximately a month left before I had to settle back into university life again. The transition was tough, but it was something that I had to deal with. I found myself not settling well back into university life at the beginning as there were a lot of changes either with the university or with my mindset. Eventually, I settled in well and completed the first semester of my final year.

Tips and insights

I have shared quite a decent number of tips for taking part in a placement year in a previous blog, but my biggest tip would still be to just go for it! Do not focus on the details of the placement too much, such as commute distance, what are the tasks that you will be doing day to day etc. There is no need to worry about many things, as completing a placement year is something that will be teaching you skills and experiences that will support you in your future wherever you go.

Type of placement I did

As I mentioned above, unlike most people that I have met, I chose to a local community pharmacy near where I lived for my placement year. I felt that this was the right choice for me. I was exposed to different patients day to day and that allowed me to work on my consultation skills and to provide solutions. My role was a dispenser, so I was mainly dispensing electronic prescriptions sent from surgeries. Other than that, I also assisted in private blood tests and taking blood pressure checks.

Support provided from the university throughout the placement

Before and during completing my placement year, I always received continuous support from the university. I remember having several meetings regarding different placements that I could take part in and what the process of doing so involved. The one-to-one appointments that took place before I started my placement were extremely helpful. On top of that, there were events such as what to look out for when taking part in a placement, as well as tips. We are all constantly reminded that the university is here for us whenever we need help, and I have always gotten helpful advice from the placement team when I needed help during my placement.

I am extremely grateful for the support that I have received throughout the year.

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Big thanks to Bobo Chiew, a final year Pharmacology & Physiology Student at the University of Westminster.

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