Pharmacy and medical analytics without secrets

A group of people in white laboratory coats is participating in a class. Some of them are holding pipettes for titration. Educational materials are lying on the countertop in front of them.

These are fascinating and interdisciplinary fields that combine chemistry, biology, physics, technology, and medicine. They are also essential because helping patients would not be possible without them. To showcase the many facets of pharmacy and medical analytics, the Faculty of Pharmacy once again invited students from Warsaw high schools to participate in “Discover our faculty” workshops. More than 300 students from classes with an extended biology and/or chemistry program accepted the invitation.

“The workshops allow high school students to discover the many ways pharmaceutical knowledge is applied in science and research. It is also a fantastic opportunity for them to verify their ideas about what studying pharmacy and medical analytics actually looks like and to learn about the exceptionally wide range of career opportunities available after completing these programs,” emphasizes Dr. Monika Franczak-Rogowska, the workshop coordinator. “During workshops, students can also test themselves, their abilities, and their strengths and weaknesses, which may help them choose a field of study. This is an important decision that shapes their future."

Welcome address

This year, the event began with a meeting between the students and Dr. hab. Agnieszka Bazylko, Vice Dean for education in the pharmacy program. The meeting was led by Dr. Monika Franczak-Rogowska, who promised participants many unforgettable experiences and encouraged everyone to consider studying at our university.

Vice Dean Dr. hab. Agnieszka Bazylko spoke about the many interesting subjects taught in the faculty’s programs. She also emphasized that graduates have numerous professional opportunities, as they are highly sought-after specialists in the job market due to the specialized knowledge and skills acquired during their studies. They can work, among other places, in pharmacies and laboratories, the pharmaceutical industry, research units, and institutions and agencies in Poland and abroad that oversee all aspects related to the production, distribution, and use of medicines, as well as coordinate clinical trials.
Afterward, the students and their teachers attended engaging lectures. This year’s presentations included: “Pharmacy and sport: can two passions be combined into one profession?”, “What can DNA testing tell us?”, and “Unusual sensitivities: allergies and their diagnostics.” Next, the participants were divided into groups and began the workshops.

Classes in teaching rooms and laboratories

The program of the event was very rich and, above all, practical, because pharmacy and medical analytics involve working with various substances, raw materials, and biological samples. Everything must be examined, measured, and combined to achieve the desired results. Therefore, there was no time for boredom during the workshops.

The following units opened their teaching rooms and laboratories to the high school students: the Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis; the Chair and Department of Pharmaceutical Biology; the Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Bioanalysis; the Department of Organic and Physical Chemistry; the Chair and Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacogenomics; and the Chair and Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Biomaterials.
Students independently identified selected pharmacologically active substances and determined the content of pharmacologically active substances in industrially produced tablets. They examined the properties of vitamin C, oils obtained from medicinal plants, and silver nitrate in various preparations. They also learned about the wide range of applications of thin-layer chromatography, gel structures, and molecular modeling. They participated in microbiology lab sessions, learned how to collect blood samples for testing, and independently prepared ointments and creams.

During the classes, the high school students were active, asked questions, discussed, laughed, and took photos. It was clear that they were having fun while learning.

Meeting with students

Representatives of the Student Government of the Faculty of Pharmacy, the Polish Pharmaceutical Students’ Association, and the Student Association of Laboratory Diagnosticians also took part in the event. From them, participants learned what studying in the faculty’s programs looks like. The students emphasized that although there is a lot to learn and the subjects are not easy, the atmosphere at the faculty is very good. Therefore, they encouraged participants to choose pharmacy or medical analytics at WUM.

“High school students probably expected boring classes and lectures, but they found the pharmacy and medical analytics sessions both interesting and successful,” summarizes Dr. Monika Franczak-Rogowska. “Will they return to us as students? Some will. After all, when we meet our students at lectures, seminars, and practical classes, we often hear: ‘I attended your workshops.’ They smile when they say it, so perhaps we are really doing something good.”

The “Discover our faculty” workshops are organized as part of the program “Touch science: meetings with the WUM Faculty of Pharmacy.” The initiative aims to promote the faculty, popularize science, expand knowledge, and develop students’ competencies.

This year we hosted students from the following schools: Stefan Batory 2 High School with Bilingual Sections, Tadeusz Czacki 27 High School, Edward Dembowski 48 High School, Jan Zamoyski 18 High School, Robert Schuman 137 High School with Bilingual Sections, Heroines of the Warsaw Uprising 155 High School with Bilingual Sections, the “Parasol Battalion” Social High School No. 4, and Aleksander Kamiński 70 High School.

A group of people is sitting in wooden benches in a lecture hall. In the center of the hall stands a woman, the vice‑dean of the faculty, who is giving a speech.

The vice-dean, dressed informally, is standing in the middle of the room and speaking. She is facing the students. Opposite her sits a group of young people.

A group of people is seated in an auditorium. They are looking ahead toward a woman standing in the center of the hall. The woman is elegantly dressed and gesturing. Behind her, a multimedia screen displaying a presentation about DNA is visible

A group of people. Some of them are sitting on chairs and looking ahead at two individuals standing in the center — a young woman and a young man. Behind them, a multimedia screen with a presentation is visible. Next to them, another young woman is seated at a computer

Three people: two women — one on the left, one on the right — and a man in the middle. They are dressed informally and smiling slightly. All of them are wearing glasses.

A young man is sitting at a table and looking through a microscope. Next to him, on the left side, there is a roll‑up banner with the inscription ‘Student Society of Laboratory Diagnosticians, WUM’.

A group of young people is sitting in a room. They are looking ahead at two individuals standing in the center: a young woman on the left, dressed elegantly, and an elegantly dressed man on the right, who is holding a tablet. Behind them, a screen displays a presentation titled ‘Witcher’s Pharmacy’.

A young man, elegantly dressed, is standing and holding a microphone in his right hand. His head is tilted upward and to the right as he looks at something. Next to him, a computer screen is visible, and behind him there are tall windows.

A group of people in a laboratory, all wearing white lab coats. Most of them are seated at tables. One man is standing, with his right hand raised, speaking.

A group of young people in white laboratory coats is sitting at tables, holding pipettes in their hands. Educational materials are visible in front of them.

In the foreground, the hands of a person manipulating a vial containing a yellow liquid are visible. On the countertop there are other vials with substances, a pencil, and a container labeled 'chromatography'. In the background, a pipette stand and colorful sample containers can be seen. The composition focuses on precise laboratory work and highlights elements typical of a research environment.

In a bright laboratory room, four people in white lab coats are sitting at a table, performing practical tasks. In the foreground, one person is holding a yellow container, while another is using calipers. Documents and pens are lying on the table. In the background, two more people are working on their tasks — one of them is holding an electronic device.

On a white laboratory countertop stands a white rack holding eight test tubes filled with colorful liquids: green, purple, yellow, brown, and pink. Next to the rack lie sheets of paper and a pencil. In the background, laboratory bottles and containers are visible

Several people in white lab coats are working at a long table. On the countertop there are bottles with reagents, test tubes, pipettes, and other tools. The participants are mixing substances and recording the results.

In a laboratory, a group of people is sitting on laboratory chairs, wearing blue and green protective gowns. They are turned with their backs to the camera and are listening to the instructor, who is standing in front of them wearing a white lab coat. Various devices and laboratory equipment are visible in the background.

A group of people in white laboratory coats is standing in front of the entrance to a building marked with a sign reading ‘Faculty of Pharmacy’. Flower pots are placed on both sides of the entrance door.