The Faculty of Pharmacy, UiTM organised a business pitching programme on June 10th, 2022, to promote collaborative teaching, particularly through the involvement of practitioners to provide feedback and guidance in the conception and implementation of the community pharmacy business. The programme involved 11 community pharmacists such as Farmasi Al-Arif, Farmasi Biruni, Farmasi Ideal, BE Pharmacy, Farmasi Ar-Rahimi, Guardian Pharmacy, HEAL Pharmacy and Caring Pharmacy. This partnership also supports the university administration’s call for greater industry participation and collaboration in order to promote more effective teaching and learning activities.
Final year students were asked to pitch their strategies to solve common issues encountered while managing the community pharmacy. This business pitching assessment was organised to gauge students’ presentation skills, foster teamwork and enhance their entrepreneurial capabilities. This evaluation was also able to boost students’ creativity and inspire them to think outside the box by prohibiting the use of PowerPoint slide presentations. A networking session was arranged after the pitching session for students to have conversations and build professional connections with the invited pharmacists. After the pitching event, there was an opportunity for students to meet the invited pharmacists in person and network professionally. Students used this occasion to ask questions regarding establishing a pharmacy, as well as the opportunities, advantages and challenges of undergoing housemanship training at a community pharmacy.
When asked about their experience after the course concluded, the students emphasised the benefits they had obtained from the programme. Most of them were grateful for the insightful advice provided by the community pharmacists. In addition to that, they were also able to explore their creativity in doing presentation and in preparing the pitching aid tools. The synergistic effort in academia-industry collaboration is highly encouraged to be incorporated into teaching and learning activities as it will enhance student exposure to the current issues and practises faced by industry experts.
Prepared by: Farhana Fakhira Ismail, Zakiah Mohd Noordin & Izzati Abdul Halim Zaki
Editor: Gurmeet Kaur Surindar Singh