3rd year students attend U21 workshop in Lund

Four third year MPharm students recently accompanied Claire Anderson to a Univeristas 21 Health Sciences cross disciplinary UN millennium development goals workshop at the University of Lund, Sweden.  http://www.u21mdg4health.org/home/

We were joined by colleagues from other health science schools in Nottingham and from University College Dublin, University of Birmingham as well as a large team from Lund.

Maria Zygouropoulou said: initially I was interested in the U21 workshop in Lund because it looked like a great opportunity to visit Sweden while doing something constructive. However, it proved to be much more. Before the workshop, I only had basic knowledge of the UN Millenium Development Goals for health. Working through the case scenarios and watching the presentations delivered by the different teams, I gained a deep understanding of how the achievement of the eight goals is essential in improving the health standards in different parts of the world. I really enjoyed the interaction with students from different Universities which gave rise to a very productive exchange of ideas. Furthermore, working within a multidisciplinary team helped me explore the specific roles that a pharmacist could play in the implementation of the goals. Overall, it was a stimulating experience which also gave me the opportunity to spend time around inspiring and motivating people. It feels good to know that the University of Nottingham is part of a group of Universities that have such a positive impact on a big scale. I’m glad that I was given the opportunity to attend this workshop and I would highly encourage everyone to get involved! 

Phaik Yuan said: I was fortunate enough to be given a chance to participate in the U21 European UNMDG Workshop in Lund University. This workshop introduced me to the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals (UNMDGs) aimed to be achieved by 2015.

Going through the UNMDG case study during the workshop made me understand that every individual especially healthcare professional can make a big difference towards the implementation of MDGs. We discussed the responsibilities of various healthcare professionals and the importance of multi-disciplinary teams in achieving these goals. After being made aware of the UNMDGs, I appreciate my future profession as a pharmacist better as my everyday work can actually make a contribution locally and even globally no matter in which setting I chose to practice in.

Besides that, it was also a very good opportunity to make new friends with other health sciences students from different universities. We exchange cultural and also academic related experiences and still keep in touch after the workshop. It was indeed a very valuable and exciting experience to take part in the workshop and I would strongly recommend other students to take initiative to participate in similar activities in the future.