Mandy and I went for IPSF Student Exchange Programme in July 2007. We chose to go to The Netherlands, where the student exchange officer (SEO) of work year 2006-07, Job van Boven, kindly placed us in his university town, Groningen. This quiet and cosy town is located in the north of The Netherlands, whose residents are very kind, helpful and cheerful. We had our attachment in University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG), an academic hospital, which is also the biggest and a very advanced and established hospital in the north of The Netherlands.

The Natrena Project. With research and experiment, we designed a formula which masked the intense bitter taste of a drug for a new born, and the formula was produced for the infant’s administration at home.

Production Department. The photograph shows the sterile production area – Good Manufacturing Practice, Grey Zone (in Dutch). At the bottom right hand corner are infusion bags containing total parenteral nutrition (TPN).

Distribution Department – barcodes of medications are scanned and the shelves will turn to show where the medication should be stored. This computerized system reduces manual work, human error and increase efficiency.

Professor Uges’ beautiful house. See the smiles of the urban child

Meeting local Dutch students and IPSF SEP students from Barcelona and Czech Republic

Our beautiful host Tessa! Her house is just as beautiful J She is a sixth year pharmacy student in University of Groningen.

For more information, please visit our blog at www.hollandhollers.blogspot.com

Article by Maggie