Tuesday, November 5th 2024 became a monumental moment for Pharmacy Study Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Brawijaya. Three pharmacy undergraduate students competed in the 11th Indonesian Pharmacy Olympiad emerged victorious and led the contingent to win the Overall Champion trophy presented by the Indonesian Association of Higher Pharmacy Education (Asosiasi Pendidikan Tinggi Farmasi Indonesia/APTFI).
Indonesian Pharmacy Olympiad (Olimpiade Farmasi Indonesia/OFI) was a biennial (now annual) prestigious pharmacy competition held exclusively for pharmacy undergraduate students across the archipelago. Hosted by the University of Andalas, University of Brawijaya’s debut was spearheaded by its three delegates: Christopher Kuncoro Johan (Pharmacy 2021), Daffa Rizky (Pharmacy 2021), and Nur Ahmad Arhamul Ghony (Pharmacy 2021), competing in the field of Pharmacology & Clinical Pharmacy, Pharmaceutics, and Social & Administrative Pharmacy, respectively. Prior to their departure, the contingent had their preparation in less than a month to compete against esteemed 149 pharmacy undergraduate students from 47 universities in Indonesia.
The preliminary stage was held in November 2nd morning, where each participant was required to solve 100 multiple choice case-based questions, consisting topics from their respective fields and trivial questions from the other fields. Campus tour was held before the semifinal stage was conducted. Their successive journey started when the three delegates passed the preliminary stage, and were eligible to solve paper-based test consisting true-or-false and essay-based problem-solving questions. Sunday morning, all participants were brought to stroll around Padang, where they visited several landmarks, including Adityawarman Museum, Grand Mosque of West Sumatra, and Nirwana Beach. The final was conducted in November 4th, where the delegates continue their winning spree by passing to the final stage in their respective fields. The final stage consisted of three stages: simulation, case study, and international journal reading.
Few minutes past midnight, the Head of OFI Committee announced the awaited results, where Nur Ahmad Arhamul Ghony and Christopher Kuncoro Johan won the 1st place in the Social & Administrative Pharmacy and Pharmacology & Clinical Pharmacy fields, while Daffa Rizky stood in the 5th place of the Pharmaceutics place. A total of 210 accumulative points gathered by the delegate were enough to bring home the Overall Champion trophy. The host had to be content with the runner up title, while Bandung Institute of Technology claimed the 3rd place.
According to Christopher, the contingent came with modest expectation before their departure due to limited preparations. He also stated that some of the members were even working on their thesis, splitting their focus in the preparation. Arhamul also said that this impressive achievement is a result of collective works by the contingent members, lecturers, and the Pharmacy Study Program itself. Through this achievement, Daffa hoped that this moment may serve as a trigger for pharmacy undergraduate students from the University of Brawijaya to excel and strive for greater achievements in the future.