The Annual Pharmacy Symposium organised by the Department of Pharmacy of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery was this year held virtually between Monday 8 March and Thursday 11 March.
The opening session was addressed by Professor Alfred J. Vella, Rector of the University, who noted that the Symposium is an example of the vision of the Department and the University of instilling skills in graduates to pose questions and find new answers through research.
Professor Godfrey LaFerla, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, commented on the opportunity for students to participate in research projects which are leading to practice transformation.
The keynote address of the symposium was delivered by from the International Pharmaceutical Federation who reflected on evolvements in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences that are supported by interprofessional collaboration and practice research.
Eleven students completing their Doctorate in Pharmacy degree presented their research dissertations which focused on areas of patient-centred pharmaceutical services and patient safety. Thirty-one students reading for the Master of Pharmacy degree and ten students in their final year of the course leading to the Bachelor of Science (Hons) Pharmaceutical Technology degree presented their research work. The sessions were chaired by an interprofessional panel. Second, third and fourth year pharmacy students presented their work-in-progress projects through poster discussion fora and a virtual gallery.
The best Pharmaceutical Technology was awarded to Jeremy Gauci who is working on the project entitled “Medical devices in the management of diabetes mellitus” carried out under the supervision of Dr Francesca Wirth. This prize was supported by Aurobindo Pharma. The best Master of Pharmacy presentation was presented to Krysta Cutajar who is working on her dissertation entitled “Evaluation of Patient Leaflet for Stem Cell Transplant Patients” under the supervision of Professor Anthony Serracino-Inglott and Dr Louise Grech. This award was supported by CombinoPharm.
Proceedings of the 2021 Annual Pharmacy Symposium are available online.
You can watch the symposium again below:
