A first year Sussex Pharmacy student has finished runner-up in a national competition recently which aimed to test students’ ability to respond to various symptoms.

The Johnson and Johnson competition (organised by the British Pharmaceutical Students Association) aimed to get competitors to respond to a patient’s symptoms and to provide them with appropriate advice.

Vanessa Turner, a first year Pharmacy student, won the internal school round in November 2016 before qualifying through to the semi Final, which was held at the University of Wolverhampton in February 2017. 

Vanessa then took part in the final of the competition which was held at the BPSA annual conference at the University of Durham last month where she finished as runner up in the final. 

Vanessa said of the competition:

“The Johnson and Johnson competition was an amazing experience. It was an adventure, travelling to Durham to compete against Pharmacy students from different universities in the final round. I enjoyed thinking outside the box and applying what I had learnt to unfamiliar pharmacy related scenarios.”

“As a first year to compete and represent the University of Sussex was a privilege and I am proud of what I have achieved.”

Bugewa Apampa, Professor of Pharmacy Education, said:

"Sussex Pharmacy is delighted to note that Vanessa, a 1st year student on the new MPharm course at the University of Sussex got to the finals of the BPSA responding to symptoms competition, competing against 3rd and 4th year pharmacy students. This is an excellent achievement which reflects Vanessa's hard work and potential to become an expert practitioner.

“Given that we are one of the newest Pharmacy course provider in the country, with only our first cohort of students, we are obviously very proud of Vanessa’s outstanding performance in this competition.”