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Friday 18 December 2020 4:12pm

Jacob Dresser Main
Jacob Dresser (left) and Associate Professor Kyle Wilby.

It’s very uncommon for undergraduate students to have their work published in international journals. It’s virtually unheard of to have it happen three times.

But University of Otago School of Pharmacy graduand Jacob Dresser says his achievements aren’t all down to his own hard work. He cites his upbringing, his family’s support and the ongoing help from an Associate Professor as reasons for his success.

Jacob Dresser, who graduates with a Bachelor of Pharmacy with Honours on Saturday, is a Hawke’s Bay boy who says he didn’t head to University to become a pharmacist.

“Originally pharmacy wasn’t my plan coming down to University, but I ended up loving the idea of it. I’ve always wanted to work as a health professional but was never sure what was best for me. Pharmacy shares the most important quality of all health professions – the care of people and improving their health – which has always been my top priority. I also happen to have a special interest in all things medication-related, so it was a great match.”

Such a great match that he completed significant extracurricular work, contributing to his publishing outcomes. As well as his two already-published papers, Mr Dresser has another accepted and two more under review for publication – all in leading journals.

Associate Professor Kyle Wilby, who has worked closely with Mr Dresser in both academic and research capacities over the last two years, says this level of output is “largely unheard of”.

“The publishing achievement is honestly next level for an undergraduate student. Normal publishing requirements are basically zero; students are not expected to publish and only on rare occasions may publish one paper - Honour’s or otherwise. The fact that Jacob completed these projects, both for coursework and extracurricular, is largely unheard of for an undergraduate pharmacy student, let alone any health sciences student.”

Mr Dresser says it was the quality and enthusiasm of support he received from the School of Pharmacy, in particular Associate Professor Wilby, which made his publishing achievements possible.

“I owe my success in this area to Associate Professor Kyle Wilby. He has taught me so much about the process of doing research, writing it up correctly, then getting it published. He has also always been there to help me when I am stuck.

“Knowing I have ‘back up’ has really supported me and made the process so much more enjoyable. He has been great as a teacher and collaborator in research, and I can’t thank him enough for that.”

Thanks also goes to his family who always believed in him, Mr Dresser says. Looking back, it was the way his family raised him that steered him to his current academic success.

“I think it’s as simple as having a great family who really care about me and my future and have always pushed me to do the best I can. Even living away from them I still want to put out my best effort wherever I can, and what better way to do it than in the study for your future career?”

That career is likely to involve more research, he says. While next year will be challenging – he will complete his internship in Hawke’s Bay and, hopefully, get his pharmacy licence – the longer term holds one certainty.

“One thing is certain – I want to further my education, although I need to figure out if that will be a PhD, taking post-graduate clinical curricula, or doing a board certification. I’m also very interested in oncology, so I’m hoping that aseptic dispensing will be part of my practice in future.”

That pharmacy future is something he says current school leavers should seriously consider.

“Pharmacy is not chemistry, not pharmacology, nor is it ‘just counting pills’. There is so much more to it than that. I think the best way to describe it is with one goal: to ensure that our patients can use medicines to improve their health both safely and effectively. Whether it be medicine counselling, taking a medication history, or discussing which medicine is best for a patient with their prescriber – all of our practices contribute to this goal.”

High achieving with a higher goal – to help patients have better outcomes – seems to sum up Mr Dresser, but he is adamant he is only part of the success.

“I would just really like to thank my family and friends who have been incredibly supportive throughout my degree – I could not have gone through University without their support.”

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