2022 Summer Student Exchange Programme Experience
Vania Aileen (BEM FF UI_Indonesia)
This two-weeks long program was really exciting, wholesome, memorable, and precious for me. I was extremely happy during the program partly because I got a chance to meet and know incredible pharmacy students from other countries in person and partly because of the whole schedule of the program. The days went by so fast like the blink of an eye and felt like it ended too soon ☹. When I signed up for SEP, I chose South Korea and KNAPS right away as the association that accommodated me because they offer so many different experiences in all pharmaceutical fields. Of course, it really worked out the way you and I could imagined it to be, so I could say that this visiting program is definitely really worth it. I feel grateful getting this opportunity to learn more about pharmacy and also get the real experiences about how industrial, clinical, community and other pharmacy institutes or companies run in Korea. We visited bunch of places from pharmacy, hospital, factories, government institutes, and many more.
The places we visited were: Korea’s National Health Insurance (NHIS), National Forensic Service (NFS), Onnuri Pharmacy, Namsan Tower, Seoul National University Hospital, Korean Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA), Handok Pharmaceutical, COEX Starfield Mall, Bongeunsa Temple, Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, KT Baseball Stadium, Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical, Boryung Pharmaceutical, Yedang Lake, Korean Folk Village, Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (KFDA), Korean National Enterprise for Clinical Trials (KoNECT), and Korean Association Against Drug Abuse (KAADA). I believe the Korean students and SEP staffs worked super hard to prepare even for all the details as it went smoothly from day one to the last day, even though there were some events which beyond our control. Everything was very fun and valuable because not just anyone can get access to go to places like this.
This was my first time going to Korea and I find this country very interesting and pleasing to explore, especially for the food, places and architecture, and scenery. South Korea is a comfortable, safe, fun, and travel friendly country. Like one of the SEP-ers said, people in Korea are really trustworthy. We can leave our bags or other belongings somewhere and then come back again; we definitely get our stuffs back as we left them. The Korean people are also kind, friendly, and helpful particularly all the SEP Staffs. They accompanied and lead us to many interesting places and cafes or restaurants. We were together for almost whole two weeks and we got close really fast. I am very happy to know all of them in person and I want to thank all the SEP-ers and SEP Staffs. Dear Leah, Adrien, Dahyeon, Albert, Alec, Ana, Camille, Nayoung, Gaeon, Natty, Kyeongha, Olivier, Minjae, Robo, Suhyun, Yeri, Jin, East Boy, Jaeho, Jooeun, Kyeongwon, Hazel, Annie, Dahye, Surim, Jieun, Seonmi, Mark, and Yvonne, I hope to see you guys again soon on another occasion. Thank you KNAPS for this opportunity! <3
