My name is María, and I am a fourth-year Hospital Pharmacy resident at Hospital Virgen Macarena in Seville, Spain. At my hospital, we are encouraged to undertake rotations at other centers to expand our knowledge and experience different ways of working, as it is an incredibly enriching opportunity.
A few years ago, a former colleague from my hospital, also named María, completed a rotation at UQCCR. She only had great things to say about her experience and the team here. It was thanks to her that I was able to get in touch with Jason Roberts to arrange my own stay.
At my hospital, we perform therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of beta-lactams and other drugs in critically ill patients—an area I have particularly enjoyed working in. However, I felt the need to deepen my understanding of population pharmacokinetics and model development, as these are aspects we have less experience with. The opportunity to learn from international experts in this field made my decision to come here an easy one.
During my time at UQCCR, what I have valued most is the incredible work environment, the kindness and approachability of the entire team, and their generosity with their time. Everyone is always willing to help and explain things as many times as needed. From day one, they have made me feel like part of the team.
Beyond the human side, the professionalism of this group is remarkable. They are all highly knowledgeable experts in their field, yet they remain open to discussion and eager to hear new perspectives, which makes learning even more enriching.
I am also deeply grateful to the laboratory team, who have helped me further explore drug concentration analysis, complementing my training in this area.
When I arrived, my knowledge of pharmacokinetics was quite basic, and while I know there is still much more to learn, I feel I have made significant progress. As they say here, the learning curve is steep at the beginning, but each day, I have gained more confidence.
I came to UQCCR with high expectations, but I must say that this experience has exceeded them in every way.
