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• Ian

Meet our people

University: University of Manchester
Degree type: BSc

Tell me about the Microbiology Technical Development Programme.
This programme appealed to me because of the breadth and diversity in opportunities it offered. When I graduated, I knew I wanted to move into applied microbiology, and the programme would give me exposure to the industry in a way I couldn’t get simply by working my way up from technician level. It’s certainly delivered in that respect – I’ve enhanced the microbiology fundamentals I was taught at university, and learnt how to apply them successfully within industry.

What can I look forward to?
You’ll be joining a company where the culture is outstanding. The key message of patient safety and care is something that everyone from the top down understands and embraces. Going hand-in-hand with this is great communication and awareness around what the company, industry and healthcare sector as a whole are doing. And in terms of your programme? You can look forward to gaining real insight into the vast differences between the industry and academia. You’ll also pick up an enormous amount of new knowledge. The learning I gained in the first year alone still astounds me and helps support my continued development even now.

What kind of support will I receive?
The support I’ve received has been really good. There seems to be genuine interest in helping graduates to develop and succeed. During my first role at GSK Ulverston - a large, manufacturing site producing cephalosporin antibiotics - the support I received was helpful and rewarding, and set the tone for future placements. There’s plenty of technical training on offer too – from LAL testing and membrane filtration to sterility testing and microbial identifications, GSK have helped me learn key techniques in my field. 

What does it lead on to?
My career aspirations are to stay within Quality Assurance, and use my skills to ensure patient safety. The idea of providing tangible, positive technical input to ensure patients can be confident of safety when using GSK products really appeals to me. Ultimately, I’d like to train to become a Qualified Person (QP) and act as the ‘final decision’ maker when deciding whether a batch of drugs is safe to use or not. I’m looking forward to it.

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