Calebtina holding her award and smiling at the Students Union Awards

Gaining confidence and achieving goals at Brighton

Third-year Pharmacy student Calebtina Peprah received a scholarship through the Student Potential Fund. She has shared with us the positive impact this had made on her studies and her appreciation to the donors for their support.

I am the first person in my family to go to university and was determined to make a bold step and attend university. I have always wanted to pursue a career in healthcare, and I could not hide my joy when I got accepted at the University of Brighton. It was a dream come true.  

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Close up of student working in the lab and smiling

What is it like studying a pharmacy degree?

Hi, I’m Eva and I’m a third year Pharmacy MPharm student. Here is my experience of studying at University of Brighton – from lectures and work experience to getting support, my favourite places, social life, living in Brighton, and tips on making and saving money.

How I found university different from college

I struggled with the jump from GCSE to A-level at college and got really stressed that the only form of assessment was one set of exams. Uni isn’t like that; there are multiple forms of assessment including exams, coursework, and OSCEs (live spoken exams, role play style), assessed at different points throughout the year. This takes some of the pressure off the end-of-year exams and gives me a better idea of how I’m doing academically throughout the year.

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Abeer Aamir

Brighton pharmacy student wins prestigious national award

Thanks to her exceptional work in advancing equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at the University of Brighton, Pharmacy MPharm student Abeer Aamir has won this year’s David Kearney Award from the British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (BPSA).

Abeer, who has just finished her third year, described herself as “incredibly grateful and humbled” to receive the prestigious national award, which recognises outstanding contribution to pharmacy over the past 12 months. 

The nomination calls Abeer’s commitment to promoting inclusivity and diversity within the pharmacy profession “a testament to her dedication to advancing the field, keeping patients safe, and making it more equitable and accessible for all individuals”.

“As a first-generation immigrant and a pharmacy student, I’ve seen both sides of the coin,” Abeer said. “I’ve seen the ways in which medical racism penetrates the healthcare profession, and it really does disproportionately affect people of colour and women. So, using all that lived experience, I really hope to shine a light on unconscious bias and unconscious medical racism, so that the curriculum is a lot more reflective of the population that our graduates are serving.”

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Close up of young people in white lab coats using a pipette and test tube

A taste of student life at our Applied Science and Engineering residential summer school

Our on campus residential summer school is open for applications from year 12 students who are thinking about applying to science and engineering courses at university. Apply now.

The summer is school is a real opportunity to try out what it’s like to study at university, learn and use the facilities on our Moulsecoomb campus and stay on site in student halls.

During the day participants take part in a programme of science and engineering taster lectures and practical sessions run by academics and student ambassadors which could include sessions such as blood typing or a session on fungi in the labs. There are also sessions about applying to university, a student life Q&A, a session from the library team and a talk from Brighton Students Union.

In the evenings there are social activities which could be a trip to the beach, a BBQ or bowling before heading back to the halls of residence. Participants share a student flat in our Moulsecoomb halls, with their own bedroom in a flat with 6-8 students and shared living room/kitchen.

In the evenings there are social activities which could be a trip to the beach, a BBQ or bowling before heading back to the halls of residence. Summer school participants share a student flat in our halls, with their own bedroom in a flat with 6-8 students and shared living room/kitchen.

By the end of the week everyone will have tried out lots different science and engineering sessions, made new friends and have a much idea of what it’s like to move to university!

Applications are open until 31 May. We would love to see you there!

Student smiling to camera in the lab and holding bowl with yellow contents

A day in the life of a pharmacy student

Hi I’m Eva and I’m in my third year of my pharmacy degree. A typical day in the life of a pharmacy student varies depending on what day of the week it is! The Pharmacy MPharm degree is mostly taught using a mixture of lectures, labs and workshops. Lectures are what most people think of when they imagine uni – lots of people sitting in a lecture theatre taking notes while the professor talks. Labs are where we do scientific experiments, and workshops are where we get to practice our clinical skills.

Sometimes we’ll have placements too, where we spend a few days in a pharmacy, shadowing the workload of a pharmacist. Normally, we’ll either have one three-hour lab, one three-hour workshop, or two to six hours of lectures in a day; and we usually only have three or four days a week at uni, so I tend to work or study on my days off.

Today I had a lab, so I woke up early and made sure I got to Huxley Building on Moulsecoomb campus ten minutes before 9am – if you miss the safety briefing, you won’t be let in! I also made sure I had my lab coat and goggles with me, which should be worn at all times in the lab. I’m in the third year, so this lab was one of a series of four sessions as part of a group project where we make a product from scratch.

My group’s product was curcumin sunscreen, so we started by researching what formulations would be best for a sunscreen. We decided on a cream, as we thought a lotion wouldn’t provide enough coverage, and ointment would be too greasy. We had to think back to the labs we had in first year and remember the ingredients and method for making cream – good thing I kept all my notes!

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Views of Cuckmere and Seaford montage

My favourite nature spots in Brighton!

Pharmacy student Eva Martin tells us about her favourite places for walking, biking and hiking near Brighton.

One of my favourite things about living in Brighton is that we get to have it all – city, coast, and nature all in one place. Brighton is surrounded by beautiful places to go walking, biking and hiking, but I’ve selected my top two for this article so you can visit the same spots I love. Continue reading “My favourite nature spots in Brighton!”

Selfie of Eva a pharmacy student

What I’ve found

Eva who is studying Pharmacy MPharm (with integrated foundation year), tells us about her first year here.

A foundation year prepares you for degree study

If you’ve got your heart set on a subject but don’t think you’ll meet the entry requirements, look into doing a foundation year. It’s very different to sixth form, much more targeted towards the course you want to study, and they do say ‘university days are the best days of your life’, so why not add an extra year? 

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