International Zoom meeting for pharmacy students
For the third time during the pandemic, the pharmacy program has arranged an online meeting with students in Australia and Malaysia. Around fifty students participated from the three countries during the optional Zoom meeting.
The Zoom meeting was held in collaboration with Monash University, which has its main campus in Melbourne and a branch in Malaysia, as well as Bond University, Queensland, Australia. One participating student was Solin Jalak, who has just begun her seventh term of the pharmacy program at Sahlgrenska Academy.
“For me, it was an opportunity to meet new people who also love studying pharmacy and to learn more about how the subject differs between our countries and what we have in common.”
International exchange
Patrik Aronsson, head of the pharmacy program in Gothenburg, arranged the networking opportunity through his pharmacy contacts at the Australian higher education institutions. He describes the meeting as a way to offer students an international outlook at a time when opportunities for international exchange are otherwise limited.
“During the pandemic, many people have lacked the opportunity to study abroad for a semester or work on a degree project abroad, and this is an easy way to offer an international alternative. It’s a simple and social measure, and student participation is completely voluntary.”
Like the last two occasions, the hour-long meeting was held on Zoom, and students could discuss relevant pharmacy-related subjects together in breakout rooms. This time, the discussion was focused on COVID-19 and vaccination.
“My sense has been that the pandemic is on its way out, and I was surprised to hear that there are still lockdowns in Australia and Malaysia,” says Solin Jalak, who exchanged contact information after the meeting with the students in her breakout room to stay in touch.
Towards the end of the meeting, the students had the opportunity to summarize the experience of the international networking hour in one word, resulting in a positive word cloud in which most students used the words “insightful”, “fun” and “wholesome”.
In the autumn, the teaching staff at Monash University plan to discuss the event and their experiences at an educational conference.
