DMPK Review

Overall, I enjoyed my placement year at GSK Stevenage. It provided me with a useful insight into the pharmaceutical industry and I had the chance to learn new things. I felt it was quite a friendly environment to work in, with both full time employees and other students. There were also socials organised throughout the year which provided a good opportunity to get to know new people. I felt like I had a good relationship with my supervisor also, which made the year enjoyable.

I personally felt like a valued member of the team whilst being on placement at GSK. I felt like my ideas and suggestions were taken seriously and often used. After a suitable training period and when I became more confident in my abilities, I was able to work more independently from my supervisor which I valued greatly. My supervisor would also acknowledge the work I had been doing frequently, and would also do this at team meetings which I appreciated a lot. I did also receive recognition for the work I completed for other supervisors which also made me feel valued.

I felt I was given a good level of support from my supervisor and management. However, as this was a subject area that quite unrelated to my degree, I did want to learn more about the implications of the work I was carrying out. I would have liked to discuss the implications of the results I was generating and how they would impact the programme I was working on. I also felt that my university commitments were not supported in the way I was expecting. For both pieces of university work I had to complete and get my supervisor's feedback on, I was waiting 3-4 weeks for that feedback. I also do not feel I was given enough time to carry out a project to the standard in which I feel I am capable of.

The workload throughout my placement year varied greatly. On the whole, I was kept relatively busy, particularly in my first few months. If the workload was low for my particular programme, there was the opportunity to help out on other programme's work which was useful. There were times were there didn't feel there was much I was doing, but generally I always had a good level of work.

I felt I was given a good level of responsibility in my placement year. I was allowed to work pretty independently in the lab when carrying out my experiments. I feel like my expectation of the amount of responsibility I was going to have was met. I was given more responsibility when working on my project, which I felt I carried out pretty independently.

This year allowed me to expand my knowledge from what I classically studied at university (chemistry). My job involved a lot of biology and working with biological samples, which was something that was completely new to me. I really enjoyed learning more about these areas and how my degree fits in. The year allowed my to become a proficient user in LC-MS/MS which will be very useful for me in the future. However, I don't feel that it will have significantly helped me with my degree studies, it was only relevant to a small area of my studies. I feel I also developed my personal skills a lot throughout this year.

The office area was very quiet and serious, which at first was pretty daunting but I soon got used to it. There was a 'hot desking' policy where no one had an assigned seat, which on the whole I liked. In the lab however, it was a much more relaxed environment. There was always music playing which I think contributed to the good environment.

I feel like the placement was pretty well organised. We were given lectures about our subject area by different supervisors in order to help our understanding of what we were doing. This really helped me since the job was pretty unrelated to my degree. Work was planned well in advance and I did not feel rushed to complete anything in unreasonable timeframes. However, I did feel that it was quite disorganised when it came to my project, since I was only given around 1 and a half months to carry out the practical work. I don't feel that this allowed me to reach my full potential and it was not the experience I was expecting.

I was given quite a lot of personal training and development in my time at GSK. As mentioned earlier, there were lectures that were set up at the start of the year to help us understand the job and the theory behind what we were doing, which was useful. There was also opportunities to attend lectures and seminars on a variety of different work and from external speakers which allowed me to learn new things. I was also given the opportunity to go on a days training course which was related to a piece of work I was carrying out for university. I also attended other external conferences/seminars/events throughout the year. These experiences were extremely helpful and I was very grateful to have the opportunity to do so.

I would definitely like to work for GSK again in the future after my placement experience. I have already applied to the Future Leaders Programme, which sounds like a great graduate programme. If I was unsuccessful with that programme, I would definitely consider a direct entry role after I graduate.

Yes, there was definitely a good social aspect to the year. There was a department Christmas party which was a lot of fun. I also was able to go on a few lunch trips out throughout the year with my team which was also nice. There were many socials that were organised throughout the year between colleagues and students. There was also a student run group called IP Unite, which organised a Christmas ball in London and a end of year boat party on the Thames. I attended both of these events, which were great and very well organised! These events were for all GSK IPs which was good in providing opportunities to meet other students from different sites.

For my placement year I worked at GSK Stevenage and also lived in Stevenage. I found the cost of living and socialising manageable on the salary that I was on throughout the year. I did not feel like I struggled to socialise because of the cost of living at all. It was also a great location in being so close to London (~25 mins by train) so there was always plenty to go and do/see. I did not find it expensive to travel to and around London from Stevenage which was also good.

The nightlife in Stevenage was not the best. There are two clubs - Bar and Beyond and Cinnabar - which I did not find particularly enjoyable unless there was a significant group of people. There are a lot of pubs which tend to play music which I felt were better for small group nights out. There were quite a few house parties though, which tended to be better.

There is a gym on site in Stevenage which provided a lot of activities that you could get involved in. At the start of my year, I played netball every Tuesday which I found a lot of fun. The classes and activities are not expensive and you do not need to have a gym membership to attend which was good.