Student Spotlight: Ethna Man

All students eligible for co-op can apply to take a global placement for their compulsory work placement giving them the opportunity to experience new cultures while putting their academic learning into practice. 

Ethna, a third-year bioscience student chose to complete her co-op in Malta, in a pharmaceutical company. She shares her experience with us from the first few months. 

Choosing to do a global co-op was one of the best decisions I have made since starting in UL. Science is such a vast field and with graduation edging closer I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so I knew that coming into co-op would be a good opportunity to help me narrow down the many options. 

When I decided to do a global co-op, I knew that moving countries would be challenging but also recognised that it would provide me with many opportunities. I moved to Malta for eight months to work for a pharmaceutical company. I'm working in the quality management department as an assistant quality management trainee. I have met many experienced professionals who have guided me and opened my eyes to what different career paths could be explored. As someone who studied Bioscience for 3 years, I assumed my only path led me to work in the biology industry. However, working in a different environment, showed me how the skills I had gained through my university course could be applied to a variety of sectors. 

My daily schedule varies from managing and issuing active/inactive documents, issuing artwork specifications and being exposed to the pharmaceutical processes. The pharmaceutical industry is quite demanding at times to ensure that deadlines and expectations are met. This fast-paced environment has undoubtedly helped me develop patience and taught me how to work more effectively under pressure, honing my ability to prioritise tasks and think critically while managing multiple responsibilities at once. Which will be useful going into fourth year. 

After being in lecture halls for over two and a half years coming into co-op was definitely a big change. Instead of going into lecture halls, I'm going into an office. Instead of going to labs I am going into production rooms where they make pharmaceutical products. It’s exciting to see it all in action!

Living abroad, I knew that a place like Malta offers opportunities for personal and professional growth. I was apprehensive about a move to a new country that I hadn't been to before, but I was also lucky in that there were eight other students from UL here in Malta too, so we all experienced this change together. I think the key thing in moving abroad was to have an open mind to everything.