Rachelle Cutler

I enrolled in the Master of Pharmacy course after completing a double degree in Medical Science and Business (Management) at UTS. Since graduating from UTS in 2013, I have completed my registration as a pharmacist. I currently work in community pharmacy, I’m completing my PhD on the economic impact of medication nonadherence; and I’m also teaching at UTS as a practitioner teacher in the Master of Pharmacy course.

I chose to study the Master of Pharmacy at UTS after attending multiple information evenings and carrying out extensive research on the Master of Pharmacy courses available in NSW. The thing that drew me to the UTS GSH Master of Pharmacy was the practical focus and innovative structure of the course. The course was forward thinking, it considered where the pharmacy sector was going and aimed to prepare students for the changes that were and still are happening within the sector.

UTS offers state of the art facilities, small class sizes and a hands on approach to learning. I was reassured that I would be career-ready and confident to enter the pharmacy workforce after graduating.

The most rewarding aspect of the course was getting the opportunity to collaborate with industry experts and people currently working in the pharmacy sector. This allowed the content we were learning in the workshops to be applied practically, whilst simultaneously providing invaluable networking opportunities.

The Master of Pharmacy assessments are tough but practical. Group work is a fundamental skill to have in the workforce, and we get plenty of practice studying at UTS. The assessments require you to think beyond what is currently happening in the pharmacy sector and they challenge you to prepare for the future. They allow you to develop a skill that will be highly valued by potential employers.

It is a different learning experience to undergraduate courses with the postgraduate course being a more problem based learning experience. Being open to this type of learning experience is incredibly valuable and helps you understand thoroughly the concepts being taught.

The mentoring program at UTS allows students to be closely connected with an academic that is available to provide support and guidance. The academic staff are more than willing to provide you with the support necessary to maintain this workload and for you to succeed in every way possible. Also the students provide support to each other, through use of student representative services and the pharmacy association. There are many avenues where support can be accessed at UTS.

The Master of Pharmacy prepares students for pharmacy services by integrating content into practice. Students are required to develop professional pharmacy services from conception to fruition, taking into consideration all of the aspects you would need to if you were a busy pharmacy owner. The course not only provides students with skills in pharmacy services but also skills in business, marketing, industry and clinical care.

I also wanted to continue challenging myself academically, and that’s how I ended up completing a PhD. I wanted to utilise my business knowledge from undergraduate studies with my postgraduate pharmacy knowledge, whilst also trying to demonstrate the important role pharmacists have to play at improving patient health in the community.  

UTS is a wonderful place to study. There are so many opportunities to collaborate with academics, fellow peers and industry experts, who can provide us with relevant real-world expertise and demonstrate the vast array of roles that a pharmacist can perform.

My immediate plan for the future is to finish my PhD. Longer term, I do love teaching and being able to help develop and train the students who will one day be called my colleagues.

My advice to future Pharmacy students: Make the most of every opportunity that is presented to you. It will help to shape you into a career-ready pharmacist.

Transcript

Rachelle: My name is Rachelle Cutler and I am in my final year of the pharmacy course at UTS. It’s been a great experience and I’m really enjoying the course.

I chose UTS Pharmacy because it offered a lot of practical experience and a lot of hands on learning  and I thought it was the best opportunity for me to become the best pharmacist possible when I graduate from UTS.

It’s a very innovative course. It gives you a lot of group work opportunities with peers so it’s not that you’re learning, you know, rote-learning from a lecture, you’re working with your peers and you’re learning off them as well.

At UTS you get an academic mentor when you first start in the program. I think this is a really unique opportunity at UTS. I was linked, luckily, or maybe, unluckily, I don’t know (laughs) with the Head of School initially and he’s been able to link me to people in the external environment who can help my career.

At UTS we have a lot of external academics come in or practitioners that come in and teach us and John Montgomery is a really great example of this. He’s a prominent figure in the pharmaceutical industry and he just has so much knowledge that he has to offer.

UTS has allowed me to have three clinical placements already, it was a community placement, a hospital placement and an industry placement. They’ve allowed me to make connections in the pharmacy world and now I’m going out to have an internship next year.

UTS Master of Pharmacy was definitely the right course for me. It gave me practical experience and hands on application and now I’m job ready for next year.