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A fourth-year ̨ÍåÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ Leicester (DMU) student will be welcoming international experts to a conference she is organising for fellow students.

This is just one part of Beenish Chaudhry's role as Eastern Area co-ordinator for the British Pharmaceutical Students' Association (BPSA), an opportunity she was encouraged to take up by DMU lecturers.

Beenish has taken on the work in addition to her study commitments, but she believes it has given her the edge to land her first-choice pre-registration placement at Derby Hospital.

She said: "Being part of the BPSA is an amazing opportunity for any student and an incredibly unique position to be in. I really enjoy working with and getting to know students all over the UK, representing pharmacy students and the school on a national level and working alongside the BPSA Executive to ensure the student voice is heard.

"Some of the people you meet within the pharmacy world are inspirational. You learn so much more about the profession, and it really makes you stand out."

The area conference will take place at DMU on 13 February and students can learn all about global pharmacy from national and international leaders in the field. No sooner will this be over than Beenish will be concentrating her efforts on a national conference for pharmacy students at DMU on 12 March.

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Beenish was inspired to take on the role after fellow fourth year Shahd Abdelaziz organised a student conference in 2013. She said: "I learned so much from it I wanted to run for the BPSA the following year."

She also credits her lecturers for encouraging students to get involved with the BPSA as well as the Leicester Pharmaceutical Students' Association, which combines academic and social events.

Beenish was originally keen to study at DMU because of its 100-year history of teaching pharmacy while the subject was appealing because of the variety of career options available, from academic to clinical and industry.

"Pharmacy is considered science but you learn so much more here - about the journey of medicine from its discovery and production to being given out to patients," she said.

"If it wasn't for being at DMU I don't think I would have had the opportunities to do as much as I have done. I definitely feel that it has equipped me to go on to my pre-registration place and make the most of every learning and development opportunity."