During the final year of my MPharm study at the University of Manchester, I was involved in a research project evaluating an International Student Experience Programme (ISEP) launched in October 2021 to support and help students from China Pharmaceutical University (CPU) transit to the United Kingdom.  

Since the first online peer-mentoring meeting in October 2021, we have received positive feedback from the student mentees. I was privileged to observe the second meeting on 24th November 2021. The session was engaging and informative for both the mentors and mentees. Student mentors covered different cultural aspects of Manchester, such as food, sightseeing and public events, which was eye-opening information for some student mentees. Moreover, mentors learned more about Chinese culture as the mentees shared their experiences.  

Since it was the second online event for the cohort of Chinese students, they felt more confident about sharing their experiences and introducing themselves in front of their peers. As the group was smaller than the group size in the October event, students felt less intimated and had more time to share their experiences and expectations from the programme.  

Furthermore, mentors did a great job at putting students at ease by encouraging and allowing them to open up further by asking open-ended questions and showing empathy along the way. The group with two student mentors enabled the session to flow seamlessly logistic-wise. The content was engaging, and a quiz at the end of the session was playful and made students interact even further. 

It was beneficial to find out what aspects of the university and the city life CPU students wanted to discover and create following sessions centred around their requests. Moreover, having a debrief session for mentors and providing immediate feedback by supporting academic staff improved the quality of future meetings. After all, name, travel and food are the essential ingredients of cultural awareness. 

Pol Donald Nkana Nkana, MPharm alumnus, Pre-registration Trainee Pharmacist at Cohens Chemist 

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