Roughly turning a month after my first day as a MS Pharmacy student at the University of the Philippines — Manila (UPM), there are things I wish I actively knew even before I considered submitting my papers. Originally, I see this milestone as a way towards my dream-before-profession: Becoming a pharmaceutical scientist.
Here’s a short list that may help you, potential MS students:
- You have to love to read a lot
I am not talking about reading novels or feature articles. That one’s easy.
In master’s, professors expect you to do self-learning which means, in the first few weeks of August, we have essentially little to no class. We were assigned to do journal readings, or implying, because we have to produce research proposals or presentations in almost every subject.
That is hard. Knowing the criteria for good proposals which are feasible, interesting, novel, ethical and relevant — one cannot simply declare “I’ll do this!” especially if you’re dealing with research which should be above BS but below PhD.
You’re dealing with research which should be above BS but below PhD.
2) That takes us to the second tip. Before enrolling yourself in MS degree, you should already have an MS-quality thesis in mind. Note that this is relatively a pitfall for many since they think that making another thesis on plant samples would be okay. Professors are looking for projects that are above isolation and finding the biological activity. Think big: Compound Characterization, Structure Elucidation and even Cell-line assays.
It is hard to generate good quality research ideas without reading a lot. One cannot simply dream of making a new cancer drug without first studying what cancer is. One cannot hope for an HIV medication without knowledge about the current drugs (because you need novelty). By now, if you’re planning to enroll on a MS program, have a topic and research heavily on it.
3) MS is heavy on instrumentation and laboratory work.
On this academic stage, the stars are High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (HPLC-MS), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), UV-Vis and all the analytical techniques you can think of.
I may be the kind of person who doesn’t know the actresses and actors in the showbiz world, but I have great interest on the casts of scientific road shows.
Science excites me. Not knowing Science excites me more.
I’m not alone. There are handful of students that have never seen an HPLC instrument before. There are even a few who have never conducted an actual titration.
What’s more saddening is knowing that the schools or universities have these instruments but were restrictive on the use — because what? Fear of breaking the instrument and the cost of the operation itself? In turn, this propagates students that are not only unprepared for MS, but also couldn’t-care-less about research field.
4) MS is expensive. Very, very expensive.
Let’s say you’ll take up MS at a public university. Okay, so you have lower tuition fees — but will that save you from expenses from research work itself?
Generally speaking, the laboratory fees included in the tuition pay cover the use of the facilities, equipments and some chemicals. However, if the research project calls for an instrument not available in the school or reagents limited in supply, it becomes the duty of the student to outsource these out of his own pocket.
One HPLC column costs around 30,000php. A bottle of reagent can cost 15,000php. An ampoule of cell-line costs 18,000php (without the storage and delivery fees pa!). So if you’re working solo on a project, it can cost you 20-fold of your tuition fee. That’s pricey!
In the Philippines, the biggest hindrance perhaps would be the cost and lack of technology. NMR technology is limited to top universities like UP Diliman and Ateneo de Manila. Going outside the country to conduct research means another thick lump of pesos.
So now you’re torn between doing amazing, novel, expensive research, or doing mediocre, traditional and affordable — it’s really discouraging to think of it, really.
5) “It is okay if you don’t like research, you’ll eventually learn to love it.”
As Dr. Imelda Pena says, “You’ll eventually learn to love research.”
You may still have your nose crinkled up, or your whole face turned into a frown. But she is right. The more you engage yourself in research thoughts that are worth marveling or pondering at, you’ll realize that it is highly potential and fulfilling.
I am currently reading The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddharta Mukherjee. It is a biography of Cancer. And I can’t help but swell up whenever I read the drive in Sidney Farber, the Father of Modern Chemotherapy. There was an infectious level of energy in him, enabling him to create breakthroughs and inspiring people to create breakthroughs themselves.
Farber would walk from home to work often fantasizing about the next ‘magic bullet’ for cancer. I would look at the interweaving trees and buildings, wonder at the complexity of life and what’s in store for me.
And I cannot help but wish that I actively know what God wants me to do, or what kind of pharmaceutical product He wants me to develop so I wouldn’t be this lost right now. One thing’s for sure, though — Him enabling me to be an MS student brings me one step closer to becoming a pharmaceutical scientist ;)
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