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For Grace, studying pharmacy has been a six-year journey with some unexpected challenges. But with the help of an amazing support network at uni and an international placement in Japan, she’s completed her final year, excited to enter the industry.
“Early in my degree, I got really sick with pneumonia. I was sick for ages. And the doctors weren’t telling me what was wrong. I ended up failing a unit because I was so sick. And getting back into the swing of things after failing and being so sick–I really struggled with that.”
As she was forced to drop to part-time due to her health difficulties, the pharmacy academic staff at Curtin, particularly one of her tutors, became a huge part of Grace’s support system.
“One of the teachers was just reaching out to me every week to make sure that I was keeping up with the content. And then he messaged me after our final exam for that unit, and he told me that he was very proud of me.”
Once fully recovered, Grace had the opportunity to complete an international internship at Sojo University in Kumamoto, Japan.
“I got to immerse myself in the culture. We were introduced to the fourth and sixth-year students. It was really lovely.”
As part of her global experience, she also completed a prac, visiting eight hospitals and a community pharmacy. Here, she was able to compare the differences between pharmacies in Japan and in Australia.
“It just really shed light on how much community pharmacists do here. In Japan, they don’t do a lot because doctors still prescribe and dispense. But the community pharmacy that we went to in Kumamoto specialises in first aid and first response, and cardiac health, because of all the natural disasters over there; they need people who can respond quickly. Their pharmacists have specialised in that, so that’s given them an edge over other community pharmacies in Japan.”
But Grace wasn’t only immersed in the culture at a university and professional level. While she was over there, she also had the opportunity to travel with other Curtin students in the program and took language classes.
“We went up to Kyoto for the weekend, living our best life. And we did a Japanese class every Tuesday while we were there.”
Grace also recounts one of her favourite memories from the whole experience: her second last night in Japan spent with the other students.
“When we were in Kumamoto, we went to dinner at an Australian restaurant there. They didn’t serve us crocodile, thank God. We got some Aussie food and did karaoke. I think we were there until three in the morning.”
Grace’s main advice after completing her experience abroad is to “just do it.”
“It was such a fun experience, and it’s so different to what you’re going to get here. We were trying new foods, just immersing ourselves in a new culture that we hadn’t really immersed ourselves in before.”
After graduation, Grace aspires to be a hospital pharmacist and is already taking steps toward that goal.
“I’ve got my internship at St. John of God Mount Lawley, which is a real big step towards being a hospital pharmacist.”
With her international hands-on experience under her belt, Grace is well prepared to enter the industry with the unique global perspective she gained while abroad.
