UCL

Question 1

Why UCL?

Answer 1

(What they can offer me)

• employment prospects + a dedicated tutor to help
• An opportunity to conduct research project
• Partnership withGreen Light Pharmacygives integrated community pharmacy and academic experience.

(Location)

• london; easy to travel, near family, exposure to diverse range of people, cheaper

(Social life?)

• bunch of societies to join e.g. volleyball, surf club - new experiences I’m interested I.
• Arab society with Arabic classes, builds on current interest, shows consistency
• HER campus society (writing)

(How teaching style suits me?)

• assessment is a diverse combo e.g. practicals, lab reports, coursework, essays, presentations, written exams etc
• many different styles of teaching e.g, lectures practicals, tutorials, workshops, independent learning & the emphasis on connected learning to supplement the in person teaching with online activities is something that works well with me
• module content seems interesting + like the idea of doing my own research project

Question 2

Why pharmacy (& not medicine?)

Answer 2

• fulfilling to see your work pay off in the form of patient care (like being that friendly face in the community + actually having an impact on someone)
• daddy given naproxen and not omeprazole too, now stomach issues: personal experiences like this make me feel like it’s important to have someone who is an expert on the medication itself
• Plus it’s flexible, there are loads of possibilities within the career. And it’s changing so much now, it’s really quite exciting e.g. services expansion beyond traditional dispensing duties, like vaccinations and health screenings + being able to begin independent prescriber training
• Would focus more on drug development and drugs

Question 3

What are your strengths?

Answer 3

the amount of effort I put in at work (linked 2 providing person centred care, communicating effectively, working in partnership with others, developing skills)

Question 4

Your weaknesses?

Answer 4

I used 2 struggle with like micromanaging because if I have a set idea or vision in my head, I want to make sure it’s being brought to life, but the older I get the more I realise how effective it is to share responsibilities, so I focus more on assessing the strengths of those around me and trusting and delegating tasks to them, or teaching and explaining to them certain tasks which has taught me a lot more about rather than just being frustrated, actually doing something to move it forward.

Question 5

Future / Current issue for the NHS?

Answer 5

1. Antibiotic resistance

therefore have to be careful before using antibiotics too much + focus more on prevention e.g. via vaccination

2. Maybe the use of technology

Question 6

NHS vs private care? What would you rec?

Answer 6

→ consider the situation

Obviously the NHS is in high demand and has a long waiting list so if it’s an urgent situation, private is much better. However, that depends on whether it’s affordable or not, but the private offers more flexibility of booking appointments, and consistency of same doctor.

However the quality of treatment shouldn’t be a factor as both are regulated by the same governing body (GMC).

Question 7

What are you looking forward to

Answer 7

• how the programme includes contact with patients from the very start + the chance to study abroad in the fourth year (more diversity)
• meeting new people
• generally just learning more in depth about things that can be applied to my own life

Question 8

What are you not looking forward to

Answer 8

• London prices
• Maybe the jump between alevel and uni; i know the workload can be quite intensive and although I know I’ll be fine with managing my priorities and handling that and hopefully some extra curricular too, I wouldn’t say I’m looking forward to it. It does kinds seem exciting though because of the academic rigour- the harder something is to understand, the more rewarding it is once. You’ve understood it all like I struggling a bit with NMR spectroscopy.

Question 9

Wtf makes you a good pharmacist / the ideal candidate for it

Answer 9

When selecting my A-levels, I was drawn to the profound connection between biology and chemistry, particularly in understanding the intricate workings of our own bodies. The decision to pursue a scientific field that directly relates to human physiology felt like a natural choice. During my university search, I explored various courses and found that pharmacy resonated with me the most.

What captivates me about pharmacy is its academic rigor and the perpetual evolution of the field. The expectation to stay abreast of new developments not only aligns with my passion for continuous learning but also propels personal growth by constantly challenging me to expand my knowledge base.

One aspect I find particularly intriguing is delving into drug development and interactions. I am drawn to the idea of specializing in a niche area to attain a high level of expertise. My interest extends beyond a generalized understanding of the human body; I want to focus specifically on the intricate world of drug interactions. This stems from my belief in the importance of knowing what substances we introduce into our bodies, considering their potential long-term effects.

My ambition is to contribute to the healthcare sector, particularly in hospital pharmacy, where I can apply my knowledge and skills. The recent case of sodium valproate highlights the critical nature of understanding drug interactions, reinforcing my commitment to this field.

In essence, my genuine interest in the sector, coupled with my willingness to invest effort and commitment, positions me as an ideal candidate. I envision leveraging my education and experiences to make meaningful contributions, with a long-term goal of specializing in drug interactions for the betterment of patient care.”

Question 10

Different career paths you could/would pursue in pharmacy?

Answer 10

pharmaceutical research and development -> I’m fascinated by the prospect of contributing to the discovery and development of novel medications that address unmet medical needs. This path would allow me to combine my passion for science with my desire to make a meaningful impact on global health.

As community / hospital pharmacy for sure, then maybe specialise in an area

Eventually staying in the academic world to go some more research

Question 11

What drew you to pharmacy

Answer 11

What drew me to want to study pharmacy is a deeply personal motivation rooted in the importance of medication safety and patient care. Growing up, I witnessed firsthand the impact of medication mismanagement when my father was prescribed naproxen without the necessary accompanying medications to protect his stomach lining. This oversight led to him developing severe stomach ulcers, which significantly impacted his quality of life.

This experience ignited my passion for pharmacy as I realized the critical role pharmacists play in ensuring the safe and effective use of medications. I was inspired to pursue a career where I could contribute to preventing such avoidable incidents and advocate for patient well-being.

Moreover, I’ve always been captivated by the intricate mechanisms of pharmacology and the way medications interact with the human body to alleviate symptoms and improve health outcomes. The opportunity to delve deeper into this field and apply my knowledge to positively impact individuals’ lives is what ultimately propelled me towards pursuing a degree in pharmacy.

I am committed to acquiring the necessary skills and knowledge to become a competent pharmacist who not only dispenses medications but also serves as a trusted healthcare professional dedicated to promoting medication safety,

Question 12

A time you put someone else’s needs before yours

Answer 12

Last Christmas my mother got a kidney transplant. The main thing I prioritised was giving emotional support to both her and my dad because it was a really hard time for us as a family to adapt to quickly we it came out of nowhere. While she is recovering steadily, and there were only s few blimps in the process, I saw how my dad was supporting my mum and handling everything for her, cooking for her, stil going to work, taking care of us, and so I focused on helping him out as much as possible. Of course I offered support to my mum as well, but no one else seemed the notice the toll it was having on my dad. I reorganised mg schedule and tried to reduce my hours at work so I could pick up more slack around the household. And helped him cook food for her. As well as actively make the changes to create a good environment for her recovery so my dad wouldn’t stress about things like that + just simple things I could do like pick him up whatever he needed whenever because I’m sure however tired I felt he was probably even more tired

Question 13

What is an ethical issue in pharmacy that interests you

Answer 13

• prices of drugs?
• use of technology

Question 14

Pharmacy hot topic: MMR vaccines

Answer 14

• recent issues with trying to book GP appointments for vaccinations therefore idea that pharmacists should be allowed to administer MMR jab is increasing
• role of pharmacists become more diverse

Question 15

Pharmacy hot topics: drug interactions of epilepsy drugs

Answer 15

• new valproate measures (can’t be started in new patients younger than 55) unless no other treatment to improve patients safety as it causes fertility issues in men & can harm baby
• valproate inhibits liver enzymes (CYP450) , which metabolise drugs so inhibiting it can lead to increased levels of other medications
• highly protein bound so if another drug competes for the same protein binding sites, it can lead to unbound valproate- if high levels of that, toxicity?

Question 16

Drug development steps.

Answer 16

1. Discovery - finding the target molecule that can influence a disease e.g. enzymes
   2.Preclinical research (in vitro - cel based) & (in vivo animal studies)
2. Clinical trials - testing on humans
3. Approval & marketing
   Lastly post marketing surveillance

Question 17

Why medicine may work in tablet form but not liquid

Answer 17

To prevent things like stomach lining being harmed or if an orally administered drug decomposes in the acidic environment of the stomach, we could coat the tablet with an enteric coating to prevent it dissolving until it reaches the small intestine

Question 18

Name some examples of drugs

Answer 18

Tacrolimus (immunisuporessant) - oral route
Levothyroxine (for under active thyroid) - capsules to eat

MMF immunosuppressant

Question 19

Ways drugs can be administered

Answer 19

• orally
• injection: intravenously, intramuscularly, subcutaneously
• cutaneously (applied to the skin)
• transdermally (through skin by a patch)

Question 20

A time you showed leadership

Answer 20

A leader is someone who is able to influence others to work towards a common goal. They should take responsibility for what they do, and a good one will try keep risks as low as possible and contribute to the wellbeing of their team.

Recently what I did was volunteer to organise our yearbook with a coupe, of other students in our year. We were meant to be taking yearbook photos over the last week and this week, but. There weren’t that many people trained to do so. However, I knew I might be busy with interview prep, so I focused on training a couple of the others to to take photos, and then delegated most of it to the, while I sorted out other tasks which would take less time, such as emailing and collecting surveys, as. We could look over the questionnaires next week, but the slot for picture taking was only this week. I think this worked out fine fo
R everyone

Question 21

A time you spoke up when something went wrong (I did sum wrong)

Answer 21

• I work as a tutor, and once when I was explaining a concept I noticed at the end that I had done it wrong, which could create confusion among some of my students and impact their understanding
  1. The first thing I did was openly acknowledge the mistake, apologise and reassure them that this would be prevented in the future and try to clarify any potential confusion.
  2. As we were running out of time, i provided some resources they could use to support them until next lesson, and then at the start of next lesson I allocated some time to review it and go over any extra questions.
  3. I then asked then which one of the resources helped them the most, and have since been making sure that I check their exact specification for how to teach them their key concepts

Question 22

A time you respected confidentiality / privacy

Answer 22

What I’ve done at work is seat my kids at different ends of different tables, so they cannot see each others work. We’re currently doing papers every week, so I write the score on the inside so only the child can see. I also don’t vocalise their score, in case they’re embarrassed, and don’t use language like oh you got a bad score or something, I mainly go, let’s go through this test from the start to the end, and focus on anywhere that we either made a mistake, or what we found hard. I try to acknowledge that everyone faces challenges, and use phrases such as ‘oh many children I know found this a bit hard - it must be a puzzling question!’ To encourage the kids
Rather than focus on the test score, we go over any topics that they may have found hard, and I make a note of those and then we come up with some realistic goals, these don’t have to be test score based as that can be risky # instead we focus on e.g. putting more effort in on longer answer Q’s. Most of the kids will ask me to tell their parents their score if they want to know, and if they don’t want them to know, I just say that they struggled here and there,e and then give them a copy of the topics they struggled wuth

Question 23

A time you behaved in a professional mqnner

Answer 23

A lot of the time when teaching older students I have to set boundaries as I’m quite young. For example. Sometime some of them ask for my social media, either to friend me or just if they have any extra questions. At first I wasn’t sure, so I declined the requests, and asked my manager for guidance on what to do - and as a result, we set up a company communication channel, where students can now share any questions they may be struggling with if they need any urgent help before an exam, or on their homework

Question 24

A time you used professional judgement

Answer 24

As a tutor to come up with best way to teach a child.
Once had a child who struggled with a maths topic so I started off by asking questions to identify any underlying difficulty. The main thing when working with children, especially when it’s not a 1-on-1 setting is to reassure them so they’re not embarrassed when opening up.
The m I thought about the different methods I could use to teach it. I:d try drawing it out, telling them straight, showing them videos, I had 2 do an even more hands on strat: 3D shapes set
Then I talked to their parents about the action plan and monitored progress

Question 25

A time you maintain, developed and used profession knowledge and skills

Answer 25

At work I’m always constantly building up & going over my skills even though they might not be applicable to the rest of my life at this point in time.
For example, I haven’t studied maths in a year, but I’m always going over topics like gcse maths ones to make sure that I can effectively teach the concepts to my studen
To similarly, I’ve had to study extra tests such as Macbeth that I didn’t do at gcse so that I could analyse and understand the language properly when explaining and teaching it to my children

Question 26

A time you communicated effectively

Answer 26

• oooh! A more recent example I would have is how at work I’ve been tutoring a bunch of different age ranges. A challenging time I had was when I was meant to be teaching a young child about phonics and he started crying about how he missed his mother.
  I had to quickly delegate tasks to the other students to do so I could focus on calming the young child down. I did this by offering him water and words of reassurance first in his own language, and then trying to distract him by making the current activity more fun by incorporating colouring in. After class, I then explained what had happened to his mum and we came up with a plan of action in case it happened again

Question 27

A time you worked in partnership with others

Answer 27

Over the last few years I’ve been volunteering at the gurdwara on Sundays after work to help out
I mainly help out in the kangaroo Hall, but sometimes also the kitchen and have even helped organise the pizza parties for children on special festivals.m. We all work together at doing different aspects to keep the food being served continuously e.g. miniscule tasks like peeling garlic to checking up on the elderly if they need food

Question 28

A time you provided person centred care

Answer 28

To me, person centred care is adapting care to meet the needs of an individual.
For example: Work!
- asking the kids every week what they’re struggling with, if they wanna go through anything
- also assessing myself what they might be struggling with, and even double checking with their parents
- creating a plan of action with them & their parents and explaining what we did and how we’ll move forward
- directing them to resources that we can’t access at work but they’re allowed to at home and then following up weeks later so it stays fresh

Question 29

What did you learn from your work experience

Answer 29

The main thing it opened my eyes to was the role of a pharmacist! Like I know the gphc describes pharmacy professionals as those who contribute to delivering & improving the health, safety & effective practice but I didn’t really know what it meant by that until I did some shadowing and saw how some community pharmacists explain all of the potential side effects of medication to patients, and how they can recommend things for over-the -counter medication too.

Question 30

What you liked and disliked about your work experience

Answer 30

Community pharmacy setting
- I liked how there was direct public interaction and shadowing the pharmacist as provided a bunch of services like when they were carrying out blood pressure checks
- I was kinda disappointed because I wanted to see more about preparing special medications, and kinda try it myself
Some people argue that community pharmacy seems more boring because it often involves routine tasks like prescription dispensing and over the counter sales, but I think that’s less stressful than hospital pharmacy. Like when my mum had a kidney transplant, I saw how the nature of hospital pharmacy involves more urgent, time sensitive tasks, and how that can be hard to deal with.

Question 31

How do some drugs lead to birth defects?

Answer 31

• they can affect hormonal balance which affects development e,g by blocking hormone receptors, especially if drugs affect the activity of enzymes in the liver & kidneys
• can affect developing nervous system to neurological defects like disruptions to formation of the brain and spinal cord

Question 32

Why pharmacy and not pharmacology

Answer 32

Both study drugs but I’d rather do the more vocational one, plus more clinical aspects + more one on one patient interaction, rather than JUST research development

Question 33

• What is antibacterial resistance? How does it occur?

Answer 33

Antibiotic resistance: occurs when bacteria change in some way that reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of drugs, chemicals, or other agents designed to cure or prevent infections. The bacteria survive and continue to multiply causing more harm.
The more antibiotics are used, the more resistant the bacteria can become because sensitive bacteria are killed, but mutated germs resist the treatment and grow and multiply. Repeated and improper use of antibiotics are “ primary causes of the increase in drug-resistant bacteria”

Question 34

How to stop antibiotic resistance being an issue

Answer 34

• Do not take an antibiotic for a viral infection like a cold or the flu.
• Do not save some of your antibiotic for the next time you get sick.
• Discard any leftover medication once you have completed your prescribed course of treatment.
• Take an antibiotic exactly as the healthcare provider tells you.
• Do not skip doses.
• Complete the prescribed course of treatment even if you are feeling better. If treatment stops too soon, some bacteria may survive and re-infect.

Question 35

Example of drug delivery systems?

Answer 35

Newer ones are focused on delivering drug to a specific site or target cells so less frequent dosing is necessary
E.g. how oral ones can use natural and synthetic polymers to deliver the product to regiond in the gastrointestinal tract

Question 36

What’s MRSA

Answer 36

bacterium that causes infections in different parts of the body and is sometimes called super bug. It’s tougher to treat than most strains of staphylococcus aureus (or staph) because it’s resistant to some commonly used “antibiotics”.
The symptoms of MRSA depend on where you’re infected. Most often, it causes mild infections on the skin, like sores, boils, or abscesses. But it can also cause more serious skin infections or infect surgical wounds, the bloodstream, the lungs, or the urinary tract.
Garden-variety staph are common bacteria that can live in our bodies. Plenty of healthy people carry staph without being infected by it. In fact, one third of everybody has staph bacteria in their noses. But staph can be a problem if it manages to get into the body, often through a cut. Once there, it can cause an infection. Staph is one of the most common causes of skin infections. Usually, these are minor and don’t need special treatment. Less often, staph can cause serious problems like infected wounds or pneumonia.
Staph can usually be treated with antibiotics. But over the decades, some strains of staph like MRSA have become resistant to antibiotics that once destroyed it.
MRSA was first discovered in 1961. It’s now resistant to (1) methicillin (2) amoxicillin (3) penicillin (4) oxacillin (5) and other common antibiotics known as cephalosporins.
While some antibiotics still work, MRSA is constantly adapting. Researchers developing new antibiotics are having a tough time keeping up.
MRSA is spread by contact. So, you could get MRSA by (a) touching another person who has it on the skin OR (b) touching objects that have the bacteria on them. MRSA is carried by about 2% of the population (or 2 in 100 people), although most of them aren’t infected.
There are two different populations of people who get MRSA. (a) one is in decline, those who get it in hospitals or other health care environments (b) and the other is on the rise, those who get it in the community.
MRSA infections are common among people who have weak immune systems who are in hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care centers. Infections can appear around surgical wounds or invasive devices, like catheters or implanted feeding tubes.

Question 37

Some drugs exclusively found in a hospital pharmacy?

Answer 37

E.g. clozapine but mostly it would be non oral medicine I suppose like injection stuff because those require more training like Naloxone, for overdoses

Question 38

Way we isolate drugs

Answer 38

Extraction
Precipitation

Question 39

3 legit ways to obtain licensed medicines

Answer 39

(1) PoM, prescription-only medicines from qualified prescribers (doctors, dentists, nurse or pharmacist independent prescribers, or supplementary prescribers).
(2) P, pharmacy-only medicines obtained without a prescription (colloquially, ‘over the counter’) from, or under the supervision of a qualified pharmacist.
(3) GSL, general sales list medicines obtained without a prescription from, for example, a pharmacy or a supermarket.
POM, for instance, sildenafil (Viagra) and Botox, may not be advertised to the public, but may be advertised to the medical, dental, veterinary and allied professions

Question 40

Why should insulin be given intravenously not orally (as intravoeuns is 100% absorbed)

Answer 40

the stomach is acidic and insulin a protein. Not only will this break the hydrogen bonds within the perfect structure, but it will ionize the molecule. As we all know, shape is essential to efficacy when it comes to pharmacodynamics. No shape, no effect. Ionization - for a drug to pass into the blood. it needs to go through the epithelial (or endothelial) lining of the gut wall. There are 2 routes that this can occur, paracellular diffusion or transcellular diffusion. There are other mechanisms of uptake as well but it’s far too confusing to explain. Basically, if the molecule is ionized then it won’t pass through the cell layer to enter the blood. What we also need to consider is that insulin is quite a large protein and will have trouble being absorbed via diffusion.

So, we can say we could just enteric coat it, solve most of those issues. But the pH goes from low in the stomach, neutral in the duodenum and then alkaline of the small intestines. So, we have another issue - a time window (and a short one at that) for absorption in the duodenum. Could an enteric polymer dissolve quick enough to disperse that big protein into a fine enough solution for absorption? It’s unlikely!

So, we need to turn to new biopharmaceutical technologies. Liposomes may be the best idea but formulating liposomes into an oral dosage form is difficult. And then once again, you have this issue of the insulin molecule being too big for absorption from the gut into the blood. The only way I can think of overcoming that would be a pinocytic type mechanism but once the insulin is in the cell, how do you get it out again in a significant quantify for the product to be bio availably viable.

Then there comes to actual financing of this new technology of liposomes.

Question 41

How the pharmacist helps to promote health in the community?

Answer 41

They can provide health materials in their waiting area e.g. brochures and marketing for healthy lifestyle classes e.g. yoga in there
Creating a wellness environment will differentiate mg pharmacy and help increase rapport, especially as GenZ is more health centric

Question 42

What is the role of a pharmacist

Answer 42

Someone who delivers care to help people improve their health, safety & we,being
They ensure that medicines prescribed to patients are suitable, and advising the, about them e.g. when and how to take the,
They also help with access to services like vaccinations sometimes, or checking blood pressure

Question 43

Prices of drugs in pharmacy discussion

Answer 43

• cost of drugs is straining the NHS, and sometimes patients have to pay out of pocket
  2. Cost of new drugs to fund challenging when deciding

Question 44

Technology in pharmacy?

Answer 44

Digital innovations in pharmacy include (a) electronic prescriptions (b) robotics for central prescription processing (c) and nationwide prescription monitoring programs, as well as pharmaceutical research.
These technological advances enhance efficiency and help to promote patient safety. Pharmacists use these same tools to help prioritize work, manage the dispensing process and spend more time with patients. By law, pharmacists must oversee automated dispensing processes for quality control purposes.

Question 45

Skills a pharmacist you believe needs

Answer 45

1) accuracy: can effect life or death
2) confidence & integrity : to speak up in case of errors from prescriptions
3) diplomacy / being able to handle decisions: every pharmacists will encounter a patient trying to get a substance without prescription or too early etc

Question 46

• Have you read anything interesting in the news recently related with pharmacy?

Answer 46

-> I’ve read about how the NHS has been urging people to catch up on their missed MMR vaccine as it’s below recommendation to maintain population protection

Question 47

Why do some drugs have a shorter shelf life

Answer 47

• ester or amide groups are prone to hydrolysis so can be broken down
• aldehydes and double bonds are easily oxidised
• more saturated structures are more stable e.g. alkanes, a romantic compounds, ethers, carboxylic acids
  -Oh groups nice as soluble and polar therefore absorption can be better + the H bonding can influence drug stability and receptor binding

Question 48

How can tech be good and bad for pharmacy future

Answer 48

• telepharmacy using ai technology to help patients from far away, and can act as remote pharmacists to advise people on how to take their medications
• pharmacists will need to constantly acquire new skills to adapt to it e.g. training in data analysis and digital tools
• certain tasks may become automated, reducing the need for human intervention
• analysis can help with decision support

Question 49

Q8w to ask

Answer 49

What do you least like about pharmacy
What’s the jump like as a student? Is there anything specific do to you wish you did as prep