Ilies Mimouni, valedictorian of the 2024 national pharmacy internship competition
At just 22, Ilies Mimouni, a 5ᵉ year student at Montpellier's Faculty of Pharmacy, has secured the 1ʳᵉ place in the 2024 national internship competition. He looks back at his career path, his preparation and shares his advice to future candidates.
How does it feel to be top of the class in this competition?
Passing the exam is already a real relief! No matter how hard you work, you can never be sure of succeeding. So to finish first is a huge honor. It's just great!
What's your secret for preparing for the competition?
Official preparation begins in 4ᵉ year, in the second semester, so around the end of March for a competitive examination in December. Personally, I started much earlier, but indirectly. As early as 2ᵉ year, I chose to be assiduous, to attend all lectures and to always have in mind the goal of the internship competition. In 2ᵉ and 3ᵉ year, as soon as a lecture was related to the competitive examination program, I tried to go deeper.
How did you feel on the day of the competition?
Paradoxically, I wasn't as stressed as I'd imagined. In fact, I saw it as a release. I'd worked so hard that I said to myself, "You give it everything you've got and then we'll see. I had no regrets, because I'd done everything I needed to, even if you're never 100% ready for everything.
Why did you choose to study pharmacy?
After finishing high school, I had no idea what to do. At an orientation forum in Montpellier, I came across the Faculty of Pharmacy stand. What attracted me was the diversity of possible career paths: double degrees, research... With the Covid context, this path seemed even more relevant to me, I wanted to contribute to public health. I did a year's PASS and chose pharmacy, as I had originally intended.
How do you see yourself in the future?
I haven't yet made a definitive choice of specialty, but I'm leaning towards medical biology. I can see myself working in a public hospital, because I love hospital pharmacy, but I'd like to be more directly involved in patient diagnosis. Medical biology offers so many possibilities, and I'm particularly interested in specializing in infectious diseases.
I'm currently doing an internship at a hospital, and it's really exciting, especially here in Montpellier. There are lots of research teams and opportunities in my field of interest.
What advice would you give to future applicants?
Be regular in your work, it will save you time. Of course, you'll have to come back to certain subjects, but everything you learn during your four years of study will be useful.
Cross-reference your sources! Don't limit yourself to a single book or manual, try to understand and learn as much as you can.
Work rigorously and consistently. There's no secret: you have to be prepared to make sacrifices. Preparation takes place in the summer, and that's difficult, because you want to take a breather... But don't give up! It's hard, but it's rewarding when you succeed!