Lim Kai Yuan

Course: Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours), 2018
Nationality: Malaysian
Current role: Medical Science Liaison, Johnson & Johnson

Why did you choose to study Bachelor of Pharmacy?

Chemistry and Biology have always been my favourite subjects since secondary school, and Pharmacy is a perfect course in which I could gain in-depth knowledge of Chemistry and Biology. On top of that, I would prefer to study a course with broad and flexible career choice: from different settings such as hospital pharmacy, community pharmacy, military pharmacy, and pharmaceutical companies to a wide range of pharmacy subspecialties such as nuclear pharmacy which studied about radioactive drugs used in treating the diseases and veterinary pharmacy which compounding medicines for animals.

I am always a curious person; curiosity may kill the cat but being curious and explorative makes me feel more engaged in my life; thus, having a career with flexible career selection is one of the key reasons that I choose to study pharmacy. I enjoy engaging with people; I always like to explore different perspectives on social norms and behaviours when I am connecting with people from different cultures and backgrounds. I enjoy being impressed by their creativity and wisdom in life. Therefore, having a career that allows me to directly engage with people is also one of the reasons I chose to study pharmacy.

What type of opportunities did you participate in at Monash?

Exchange student to Australia:

  • During my second year of study at Monash University Malaysia, I was lucky to be chosen as one of the students to participate in a student exchange programme in Australia for six months (one semester).

Competition:

  • Nineth MyPSA National Pharmacy Quiz and Piala Aishah was held at USM, Penang. This was our first attempt as a Monash University Malaysia representative to participate in this competition. With time constraints and self-organised peer-to-peer training sessions, we managed to secure 11th and 12th place over 30 university teams.

Club and Societies:

  • Monash University Pharmacy Society
  • Monash First Aiders Bureau (by Malaysian Red Crescent Society)
  • External clubs/societies:
    –Malaysian Pharmacy Students’ Association (MyPSA) Young Entrepreneur Programme (YEP) – Associate Committee
    –IPSF APRO Good Pharmacy Practice Education program (GPPed) & Trainers Development Camp (TDC) – Associate Committee
    –World Vision Malaysia 30-hour Famine – Volunteer.

Did you go for any internships or work placements? If so, where and did the experience help you in terms of career preparation?

My school arranged a total of five work placements.

  • three-week Hospital placement in Hospital Putrajaya
  • three-week Clinical placement in Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor
  • three-week Community placement in Caring Pharmacy, Sunway Pyramid
  • three-week Rural placement in Kuala Selangor Health Clinic
  • three-week Pharmaceutical industry placement in Nova Laboratories Sdn Bhd, Sepang.

I really appreciate and am grateful that my school has incorporated work placements into our study course. Work placements are crucial exposure for a student like me to get a taste of the real working world; particularly, my school had arranged work placements in different pharmacy settings, which gave me an opportunity to have different pharmacy experiences and to find my passion in the field before working employment.

Work placements also give me the opportunity to make early professional connections with my preceptors or working seniors. Most importantly, I can include work placement experience in my CV, and this will greatly help me with the inevitable competition during my job search; these experiences will help me to portray the image of a motivated and passionate person to my employers and increase my employability.

What did you enjoy most about your student life at Monash?

Student exchange in Australia:

Studying overseas is always been my dream. However, for a student who came from a middle-class family like me, studying overseas seems to be difficult due to financial burden. The student exchange programme has made my dream come true! I can still remember the memories as if they had just happened yesterday; I cannot forget my feeling of excitement at the KLIA International Airport because this was also the first time I would be traveling overseas alone without my family companion.
My student exchange experience is an eye-opening experience. This experience allows me to leave my comfort zone and step into a new country with different people, cultures, and environments. Nowadays, employers are looking more at experience and soft skills than academic achievements. After the student exchange programme, I realised my soft skills were greatly strengthened, especially my problem-solving skills, as I will be facing all sorts of unexpected problems during my time as an exchange student in Australia. Furthermore, it is also a great opportunity for me to experience different teaching styles and healthcare systems, which prompted me to reflect on our country's healthcare system and gave me inspiration ideas for my future career.

What is your biggest career goal, or what is the difference you’d like to make?

I just transitioned my job career from clinical into corporate settings. I would love to become an expert in this field and become a life-long learner to ensure I always keep myself up to date with the current industry innovations and trends. I would love to further strengthen my interpersonal skills in order to build reliable relationships with my KOLs and be the voice of my company to share meaningful data with physicians so that they can make informed decisions for their patient population. Eventually, as I look forward to my career, I hope I will have the opportunity to become a leader, and I will apply my well-developed creative talents to create fresh ideas that can help in the advancement of Malaysia's healthcare system.