Manchester student wins PJ and BPSA writing competition

Sumayyah Khalid has been named as the winner of the 2025 Pharmaceutical Journal and British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (BPSA) writing competition.

The competition was open to pharmacy students and foundation trainees, with entrants asked to discuss ways in which the MPharm curriculum, placements or foundation training could be changed to help graduates get ready for practice. In total, 21 entries were received and considered.

At the time of submission, Khalid was a fourth-year pharmacy student at the University of Manchester. Her entry — ‘Preparing MPharm graduates for practice: integrating understanding of community pharmacy, mental health and digital health‘ — stood out to the judges for its thoroughly-researched and clearly articulated arguments for improving pharmacy students’ mental health literacy, and for strengthening education around digital health.

Amandeep Doll, director for England at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), who sat on the judging panel, commented: “This winning piece offers a thoughtful and forward-looking perspective on pharmacy education in a practical way, highlighting the critical need to integrate community pharmacy practice, mental health awareness, and digital health literacy.

“It reflects the qualities we seek in the next generation of pharmacists: insight, adaptability, and a commitment to holistic patient care.”

Two runner-up entries, which were highly commended by the judges, have also been published. ‘Ready for the real world: peer-led pharmacy skills clinics to transform practice readiness‘ by Hafsah Anwar, a foundation trainee pharmacist, and ‘Beyond graduation: closing the readiness gap in UK pharmacist training‘ by Salman Diriye, at the time a third-year student at the University of Hertfordshire.

Judging panel member Mark Pollard, associate publisher at The Pharmaceutical Journal, said: “It was a great pleasure to take part in the judging of this competition. Overall, the entries were very interesting and had some fascinating insights into how pharmacy training might be improved from those who have such close experience of it.

“Sumayyah Khalid’s entry stood out owing to its close attention to every part of the brief and the succinctness of its writing style.

“I would like to congratulate everyone who took part, and particularly Sumayyah”.

Zeenat Akmal, former BPSA subcommittee member who also sat on the judging panel, said it was “inspiring to see the creativity and passion in all the entries”.

“The quality of ideas was excellent and it was a real pleasure to read such thoughtful contributions about the future of pharmacy practice.”

Molly Chambers, publications officer at the BPSA, also sat on the judging panel and applauded the quality of the submissions.

“It was a pleasure to mark so many essays of high quality. What stood out to me was the passion and enthusiasm in each entry. It’s inspiring to see how engaged and forward-thinking students and trainees are, identifying key issues in pharmacy education and proposing innovative yet realistic solutions.

“A huge well done to all who entered — you’ve highlighted the need for change and helped create a vision for the future of pharmacy.”