When Rebecca received a Pharmacist Support student bursary in 2014, she was balancing full-time study with evening work while also supporting her mum through intensive treatment. The bursary gave her some much-needed breathing space at a crucial point in her pharmacy degree.
Twelve years later, Rebecca is a Senior Medicines Policy Manager at NHS England. We caught up with her to find out where her pharmacy journey has taken her and what that support means to her looking back.
As this wasn’t the first degree I had pursued, I had to pay my fees and support myself through the course.
I worked first as a pharmacy assistant and later as a qualified pharmacy technician while studying full time.
A typical week involved attending university during the day, working in the evenings from 4pm to 11pm, and then using weekends to study and keep up with the demands of the course.
During this time, my mum also became unwell and needed intensive treatment and support, which added a significant personal and emotional pressure alongside my studies and work.
I applied for the bursary because, by my final year, I knew I needed to reduce my working hours to give myself the best chance of passing my exams and completing the course successfully, while also protecting time to support my mum.
Until then, I had been balancing full-time study with evening work, but the academic and clinical demands of the final year, together with my family circumstances, meant that continuing at the same pace was no longer sustainable.
The bursary helped ease the financial pressure of reducing my paid hours, giving me more breathing space to focus on my final-year studies and be present at home, rather than constantly worrying about how I would cover the costs of continuing my training.”
For me, it provided support at exactly the point when I needed to prioritise my studies, be there for my family, and protect the progress I had worked so hard to make.
Since then, I have completed a Clinical Fellowship in the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer’s office at NHS England, working directly with David Webb and the senior leadership team on national strategy, ministerial priorities and high-profile programmes.
My career so far has taken me from senior clinical roles at University College London Hospitals as a specialist haematology pharmacist into national policy and strategy.
I am currently working in national medicines policy at NHS England as a Senior Medicines Policy Manager, leading and contributing to national initiatives relating to medicines optimisation, uptake and access to medicines, and system-wide improvement.
Looking back, the impact of that support has been cumulative.
It helped me continue a career path that has allowed me to care for patients directly, contribute to research and quality improvement, and now work on national policy to improve access to medicines for patients across England.
It reminded me that pharmacists do not progress in isolation; we benefit from the encouragement, generosity, and practical support of others within the profession.
My hope is to continue developing as a pharmacist and policy professional who can bridge clinical practice, policy, innovation, and system leadership. I am particularly motivated by work that reduces variation, improves equity, and helps patients access the right medicines at the right time, wherever they live.
I am very grateful for the support I received from Pharmacist Support. At the time, it helped in a practical way, but it also carried an emotional significance: it made me feel seen and supported at an important point in my training.
I hope my story reassures other pharmacy students and pharmacists that there is support available, and that receiving help at a difficult or uncertain time can be part of building a successful and fulfilling career.