The Working World.. A Student's Experience

MSD Work Experience

Rhiannon Finney shares her experience of the Working World.

As part of Transition Year I took part in the MSD Virtual Work Experience Programme from the 14th-17th of February. It ran from 9.30 until 3.00. 

Monday 

The first talk began at 10am. It was given by Liam Dunne, a senior manager who works at the Biotech Lab in Dublin. He gave a presentation about the Biopharmaceutical industry in Ireland and MSD. I learned that there are 75 pharmaceutical companies in Ireland  that directly employ over 30,000  people. MSD has 6 sites in Ireland and employs over 2,700 people. The main treatments MSD focuses on are vaccines, oncology, diabetes, infectious diseases and immunology. 

The second speaker was Fiona Croke who works as the lead talent acquisition for Ireland, Spain and Portugal. She spoke about the MSD Early Talent Programme. This programme includes a graduation programme for college students, internships, apprenticeships, TY work experience and summer jobs. Yvonne O’Toole was the 3rd speaker. She spoke about the history of MSD and clinical trials. 

MSD was founded by George Merckin 1891. The company then went on to produce penicillin during WWII, childhood vaccines, the cervical cancer vaccine and much more. I learned that clinical trials take place in 3 stages. Stage 1 involves 10-20 people, stage 2 includes 50-75 people and stage 3 needs 100-300 people. The effect the meditation/treatment has, how much dosage is needed and the side effects are diligently recorded. The findings are then sent to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval. MSD has run 50,000 clinical trials in Ireland. The next speaker was Sarah Jane Curran. She gave us a virtual tour of the MSD site in Carlow.   After an hour-long break Bruce Nelson gave a talk on virtual and augmented reality. Augmented reality is used for training employees on how to fix machinery. Nelson gave a demonstration by pointing his IPad camera at a spare part. A 3D model of the machine the part was used for and an identification number then appeared on the screen. The final part of the day was a Q&A session with apprentices. They talked about their Leaving Cert subjects (the most common were biology, chemistry and construction) and why they decided to do an apprenticeship rather than go to college. 

Tuesday

The first speaker on Tuesday was Willaim Monks. He spoke about CV and interview skills. I learned that you should wear to an interview what you would normally wear to work. Don’t wear a suit to an interview if you are comfortable wearing a suit everyday. He then spoke about how MSD Ireland sponsors it’s employees' education, up to a PhD. They will pay 100% of the fees and give paid study and exam leave. MSD Carlow spent 124,000 euro on school assistance last year. The next speaker was Audrey McCormack, an operations manager in Biotech, Dublin. She talked about her unconventional route to where she is today. After not getting the points for engineering in her Leaving Cert she became an apprentice electrician, and then worked her way up. The final talk was given by 5 interns. They spoke about the courses they are doing (biotechnology, pharmaceutical science, business, environmental science and data science) and how doing an internship is benefiting them. They also spoke about their daily routine and how they acquired the internship.  

Wednesday

Wednesday was an interactive innovation day, hosted by CALMAST.CALMAST is the STEM Engagement Centre in the Waterford Institute of  Technology. The main organiser was Enrica Amplo. The aim of the day was to come up with a pitch and then present it. We had to reimagine the bus experience. My group had to reimagine the bus for people with motor disabilities. My group's mentor was Tapiwa Nyakauru, who is currently working towards a PhD in biotechnology. He has studied it for 10 years. There were 4 other people in the group. 

The first activity was an empathy map. We had to think of how a normal bus is difficult for a disabled person. We then had to brainstorm ways to solve these problems. The solutions we came up with were: wider aisles, single seats, more leg room, automatic ramp, handrails and training for the driver on how to help people with motor disabilities. The name we decided on was the Bus 4 All. At the end of the day we had to present our pitch to another mentor. We did this as a comic strip. We had to come up with a story and then draw pictures. Instead of drawing we decided to use google images. 

Thursday 

The first presentation on Thursday was about the  Human Health Department in MSD. I learned about the 9 business units: pharmaceutical, oncology, finance, compliance, digital and customer solutions, regulatory, medical affairs, quality and communications. All of these units play an integral role in the wellbeing and safety of patients. The next talk was on chemistry and how it is used to develop new medicines. It was told in video format, which was 1 hour long. I found it hard to concentrate on so unfortunately I didn't learn much.

There was then a career talk given by Shaab Din. He spoke about the subjects he studied in his school in Pakistan ( maths, physics, chemistry, Urdu, Arabic and English) and how they inspired him to pursue a career in science. He went on to study material science and then came to Ireland to do a Masters in material development and a PhD in process development. After that Lisa McEvoy  gave a talk on the Digital Lighthouse and how technology, such as smart glasses, have helped development in the pharmaceutical industry. 

The fifth speaker was Eva Gallagher, who spoke about women in STEM. She told us about her career journey and how when she started she was the only woman on her team. The final speakers were 2 members of the Graduate Programme. They both had degrees in Chemical Engineering. They spoke on the recruitment process and what opportunities are available to them as graduates. 

Reflection

Overall, I really enjoyed the Work Experience Programme. I would have preferred to have had it in person but that wasn’t possible given the circumstances. My favourite part of the week was Wednesday. I really enjoyed the interactive bits and working with a team. It was also inspiring to work with people with PhDs and high up roles in the company. I didn’t really enjoy the videos they showed. There were often audio issues and I found myself getting distracted and zoning out. I also would have preferred if there was a 10 minute break in the morning session, as 3 hours straight was a long time to concentrate for. 

After completing the course I think that a career in science isn’t the best suit for me. I am more interested in the marketing and HR side of things though, which isn’t something I considered before the programme.

Rhiannon Finney