Back in April, third year MPharm student Niamh Reilly was named Pharmacist Support and the British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association’s (BPSA) student wellbeing champion of the year. 

Pharmacist Support congratulated Reilly for “advocating and encouraging wellbeing practices within her pharmacy school” and for her exemplary “approachability and empathy” felt by her peers and lecturers at the University of Huddersfield. 

She tells C+D she was “surprised” to get the recognition as she does not “expect anything” from the work she does in her role. 

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She is one of many Pharmacist Support student ambassador recruited every year to help direct her student peers to the charity for when they need support. 

“It’s working away quietly in the background in the hope that what you’ve done will help other people,” she says. 

Mental health first aiders 

Some of the work Reilly has done includes helping one of her close friends during Eid as she liaised with tutors about moving the dates of the OSCEs that clashed with the Islamic celebration. 

“OSCEs are a high stress time so to be able to spend time with your family in Eid and then feel rested enough to sit the OSCE seemed important from a wellbeing point of view. We spoke to the tutors and managed to move it.” 

She says students “don’t always know where to look” for support and she’s pleased an organisation like Pharmacist Support exists that can specifically help pharmacy students. 

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She wishes she had used the charity in her first year, when she was struggling with anxiety after she failed a module and had to re-sit it. 

“That set me back quite a bit. Now I know much more about Pharmacist Support, there’s no reason to be apprehensive about asking for help. It’s normal as it’s a hard course and we’re all going to need support with it at some point. 

“Looking after yourself is important and knowing what you need to do to keep yourself healthy. If I’d realised that, I wouldn’t have burnt myself out.” 

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Reilly believes there are more ways that can improve a student’s wellbeing, such as introducing designated mental health first aiders for pharmacy students. 

“There’s a lot of pressure on us with the standards to work to. If we had someone that’s been through the course and is trained in supporting our mental health, these are things that could help you feel more confident and help your wellbeing.” 

Ambassador roles 

Reilly also has taken on roles with the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF), the British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (BPSA) and with her university as event coordinators, student and academic representatives. 

She likes networking with other students through these roles, particularly with the IPSF to share “our experiences and knowledge together”.  

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She says: “Different countries will have different standards for how their pharmacies work, so it’s interesting to hear from other students.  

“We sorted out the European Regional Symposium in Newcastle and that was rewarding to see it coming together. It was finding venues and coordinating with the sponsorship team. It was fantastic. 

“It’s networking and doing things that are going to enrich and engage you in the pharmacy world and create connections.” 

Skills 

Reilly’s found these extracurricular activities have helped her communication skills and build confidence ahead of graduating and entering the sector. 

She likes that she can “make an impact” in her roles as it’s encouraged her to do things such as set up peer-to-peer discussions in her role as an academic representative. 

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“I’d never have done that before, but I thought I’ll step out of my comfort zone because I’m going to have to do that in pharmacy. There’s going to be a lot of times where you’re going to have to speak to people you’ve never met before. 

“So, I’ve really come out of my shell from first year to now. There’s a lot of things I’ve never done like putting myself forward to be an academic representative or a BPSA representative.  

“It’s all coming together now, speaking to people and knowing how to have productive conversations. It’s small things like that these roles have helped me build on.” 

Future in community? 

Reilly works in her local community pharmacy over the summer back in Glenamaddy, County Galway and loves the feel of working in that environment. 

“I’m really enjoying community at the moment. You get to know the patients. But I’d like to get experience in other sectors to decide what to do in the future.” 

For her pre-reg she wants to try the hospital and GP settings to trial out how she can transfer her skills into those settings from the community. 

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Those settings will help her develop her independent prescribing skills as she gears up to become one of the first students to graduate as independent prescribers. 

Reilly says that element of her MPharm is “daunting”, but she does “love the clinical side” of pharmacy and being a part of the “prescription journey”. 

“We have all the knowledge, but it’s the experience is the scary side of it. A lot of it is going to be confidence with us when we come out first.”