Four hunded placements are currently available at various universities for students interested in spending a semester at a foreign university as part of the Erasmus programme during the 2008/9 academic year. During anactivity held last Tuesday to launch the application process, past beneficiaries were among those invited to share their experiences with the prospective participants present.

Two such beneficiaries were Ruth Gatt and Ritienne Fenech, who undertook their placement under the Erasmus programme at the Dermatology Department of the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, between October 2007 and last month.

As part of the University's pharmacy course all fourth year students are required to undertake either a local or overseas placement locally for one semester.

The students assisted in the compilation of data for a review article about the properties and use of a dermatology-specific quality of life tool called the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI).

Data was collected and recorded from over 500 studies published between 1994 to 2007 that had utilised the DLQI tool. Other activities carried out during the placement included attending a seminar about quality of life and its measurement in dermatology, as well as attending a number of lectures for health care professionals at the University Hospital of Wales.

Moreover, outpatient clinic sessions with independent pharmacist prescribers were organised. In this way, the concept of pharmacist prescribing and the UK healthcare system was also observed in practice. For further infomation on the Erasmus programme, contact Annhelica Scerri at the International and EU office on e-mail: annhelica.scerri@um.edu.mt or tel: 2340 2804.