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Historic graduation day for Medway School of Pharmacy

University students made history on Friday (11 July) at Medway School of Pharmacy's graduation ceremony.

The event, held at the Universities at Medway campus in Chatham Maritime, saw the graduation of the School's first group of students studying for the Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) degree.

A joint project between the universities of Greenwich and Kent, Medway School of Pharmacy opened in 2004. Today it has more than 550 undergraduate and 100 postgraduate students, and has a portfolio of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. It is recognised as an established School of Pharmacy by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, having achieved its final accreditation in June this year.

Professor Iain Cumming, Head of Medway School of Pharmacy, declared the ceremony a 'major milestone' for the students, the universities and for the region. 'Every student graduating here today will tell you that they have been taught, academically challenged and assessed at the highest level,' he said.

'A degree in Pharmacy is quite rightly regarded as a degree with a great deal of academic kudos and is highly valued in the health sector, industry and the community in general.

'I fully recognise that we have some future leaders in the field of Pharmacy with us today, and some are already graduating as independent prescribers,' he added.

The Vice-Chancellors of the universities of Greenwich and Kent, Baroness Blackstone and Professor Julia Goodfellow, respectively, officiated at the ceremony.

Foundation degree and postgraduate students at Medway School of Pharmacy also received their awards, and two doctoral awards were made. Eileen Fofung was presented with the Best Student Award.

Tributes were also paid to Professor Clare Mackie, who was the founding Head of School from 2004 until 2007, when she became Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Kent. 'I was handed the baton by a strong and visionary Head of School, leading dedicated staff and energetic, bright students,' Professor Cumming said.

As a mark of the growing importance of Pharmacy at the Medway campus, hundreds of students came together to launch their own organisation - the Medway School of Pharmacy Students' Association - earlier in the year.

Contact: N.J.Ellwood@kent.ac.uk

Story published at 2:15pm 14 July 2008