Jesvin Xavier - Medicines on our market 

Jesvin recently completed the HPRA Graduate Programme in the Medicines on our market stream.

Read more about Jesvin's experience below.

How would you describe your overall experience in the programme? 

I have found the graduate programme to be a highly engaging and dynamic experience which exposed me to a diverse range of regulatory functions across the HPRA. Upon completing my university studies, I felt it was an immersive introduction into the regulatory working world. . 

During the programme, I gained insights into post-market safety monitoring and surveillance activities for human medicines. It felt great to contribute meaningfully to the highly valuable work carried out at  the HPRA and gave me a much better understanding of my own areas of interest and career direction.

I also felt well-supported by my colleagues and managers across various teams. Being able to learn from their expertise and guidance made my experience on the programme highly rewarding.  

What key skills or takeaways did you gain from your stream? 

During the programme, I gained experience in areas such as pharmacovigilance, market surveillance and manufacturing and learned about the regulations pertaining to these areas. 

Within pharmacovigilance, I greatly enhanced my data-handling and analytical capabilities through processing and reviewing adverse event reports while ensuring my work closely aligned with EU and national guidelines. Handling reports received directly from the public gave me a great appreciation of the HPRA’s role in mitigating the undesirable effects of medicines and  improving patient safety. 

Within market surveillance, I gained experience in coordinating multiple sampling projects for medicines available on the Irish and wider EU market. This allowed me to become more comfortable at engaging with various HPRA stakeholders such as wholesalers, manufacturers, quality testing laboratories and internal HPRA teams to facilitate projects and to identify and handle compliance issues appropriately. 

Alongside the routine responsibilities in each rotation, I also undertook projects aimed at improving work processes. This involved projects developing training guides and user-friendly tools for reporting information on sampling projects, devising live dashboards for monitoring sampling metrics, and exploring the power of AI in trending manufacturing inspection findings. These experiences not only developed my project management skills but also allowed me to think critically and work with a solutions-focused mindset, skills which I am now eager to take into future roles. 

How would you reflect on your time working at the HPRA during the Graduate Programme? 

From the beginning, I always felt a genuine sense of support and community within the HPRA and felt welcomed by colleagues and managers. I was assigned a mentor when I started, and I could easily ask them questions when I needed help.

Additionally, I found the training support and professional development sessions provided to be really useful for deepening my knowledge of the organisation and to gain a better understanding of myself and how I can best use my skills to further impact my work. 

I attended case review meetings and cross-departmental briefings, conversed with colleagues from various teams and learned about the ever-expanding remit of the HPRA. This allowed me to broaden my perspective and explore career areas which I previously would have been unaware of. 

There are also numerous social and wellbeing initiatives and events to partake in which creates a greater sense of belonging and work-life balance. 

Above all, I felt proud and empowered to be part of an organisation where there is such a strong shared sense of pride and commitment to protecting patients and improving public health.