International Industrial Training at Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia :D

Industrial Training programme is a programme under the course in Faculty of Pharmacy, the National University of Malaysia, which aims to improve students’ professional skills and confidence level, as well as creating network with pharmacists and students in Indonesia. International Industrial Training in Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR), Surabaya, Indonesia took place on the 25th of June to 3rd of August in 2018. Students who joined this programme claimed that learnt much more than in the lecture and laboratory.

When the students first reached there, they were greeted by the heat of the weather. They had to overcome some challenges such as the time difference in Malaysia and Indonesia; they took some time to adapt, especially to the difference in prayer time. However, their stay there was very comfortable. The accommodation provided was equipped with air-conditioner and kitchen utensils. Transportation around the Surabaya city was convenient. The food there was delicious yet affordable.

During the programme, they were moved to different department weekly. At the first week, they went to the Unit Layanan Pengujian (ULP) Fakultas Farmasi UNAIR, which is a service for quality control of food, cosmetics and consumable using pharmaceutical analysis techniques. They were given the chance to learn about the analysis by hands-on. They prepared the sample for testing, ran the programme for analysis and interpreted the results. For the following week, they had their training at the probiotics home industry. They were given series of lectures regarding the general knowledge of probiotics. They were also taken to visit the home industry at Sidoarjo to observe the production site, and had the opportunity to make their own yogurt according to their creativity. On their third week, their training switched to Apotek Farmasi Airlangga, a community pharmacy located beside UNAIR. Through the training, they understood the common health issues faced by the locals and recognized the types of medicines commonly used to treat the ailments. They could relate the similarities and differences of classification of drugs in Indonesia and Malaysia. For the final week, they had lectures and a workshop in Faculty of Humanities, UNAIR, where they learnt in a greater depth about the culture of East Java, Indonesia. They also learnt about the advertising of cosmetics in Indonesia during the pre and post-colonial era.

Sadly, they did not have enough chances to interact with the local students due to their semester break own tailored schedules. Thus, they hope that this programme could include lectures or tutorials with local students, giving them a chance to be exposed to the learning culture of the university.

Overall, their stay in Surabaya was such an interesting and knowledgeable experience. “We will forever be grateful for this opportunity and all the knowledge we gained from this course,” said one of the students. Other than that, they had a better understanding regarding the pharmacist’s roles in the healthcare system through the Industrial Training programme.

Written by :

Tan Chiaw Wen, Editorial Unit Pharmaline