QU College of Pharmacy hosts 9th Annual Pharmacy Student Forum

Qatar University (QU) College of Pharmacy (CPH) recently held its 9^th Annual Pharmacy Student Forum, which aimed to bring together CPH students and alumni to share their research achievements and interests. The event’s program featured five oral presentations and 34 poster presentations presented by both undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as alumni. They discussed issues related to pharmaceutical science, pharmacology, clinical pharmacy, pharmacy practice and pharmacy education.

The program included a debate between pharmacy students on whether smokers can collect national insurance coverage for treatment related to smoke-related diseases, which was moderated by CPH Associate Professor Dr. Daoud Al-Badriyeh. The event also included a ‘Live Like a Patient’ competition moderated by CPH teaching assistant Ms. Myriam Eljaam, where five selected students are expected to mimic the life of a patient with ‘uncontrolled’ type 2 diabetes for ten days. QU Director of Research Planning and Development, Research & Graduate Studies Office, Dr. Aiman Mahmood Erbad gave a talk on whether undergraduate research is a luxury or necessity and the role of undergraduate research in preparing students for the job market. Dr. Aiman also highlighted how QU is promoting undergraduate research and congratulated CPH on its strong research focused curriculum.

A total of eight awards were distributed during the event, including to Diala Moustafa, Iqrah Qurishi and Mariam Mostafa. Sara Thiab and Aisha Osman won the oral presentation category, for undergraduate and postgraduate categories respectively. Sara Thiab also won the ‘Live Like a Patient’ category. Somaya Koraysh and Sarra Koummich won the poster presentation for third professional year category, Maria Benkhadra for the fourth professional year category, MSc student Sawsan AlMukdad for the postgraduate category and clinical pharmacist at Hamad Medical Cooperation Dina Abushanab for the alumni category.

CPH Dean Dr. Mohammad Diab commented on the forum saying, “The College of Pharmacy is very proud to hold the 9^th Annual Pharmacy Student Forum. This is a great opportunity for the students to learn, mingle and share their research outcomes. Research is a great tool for building knowledge and facilitating learning and thus the College of Pharmacy curriculum highly emphasizes research and development which aligns with Qatar National Vision.” Commenting on the event, Dr. Aiman Erbad said: “I was really impressed with the quality of the debate and the student work as well as the friendly environment. Undergraduate research helps students develop key soft skills, such as problem-solving, critical thinking, team-work, and effective communication needed by all sectors of the economy. The students also familiarize themselves with scientific method, data analysis, and other technical skills making them more competitive candidates for the job market.”

CPH Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Dr. Alla El-Awaisi said: “The annual CPH forum serves as a great platform to bring students, faculty and alumni together to share and discuss their research activities and celebrate their research accomplishments. The forum highlights the excellent quality of the research conducted by our students under the supervision of our amazing faculty.”