Spotlight on medicinal chemistry education

The field of medicinal chemistry is constantly evolving and it is important for medicinal chemists to develop the skills and knowledge required to succeed and contribute to the advancement of the field. Future Medicinal Chemistry spoke with Simone Pitman (SP), Yao-Zhong Xu (YX), Peter Taylor (PT) and Nick Turner (NT) from The Open University (OU), which offers an MSc in Medicinal Chemistry. In the interview, they discuss the MSc course content, online teaching, the future of medicinal chemistry education and The OU's work towards promoting widening participation. SP is a Qualifications Manager in the Science Faculty at The OU. She joined The OU in 1993 and since 1998 has been involved in the Postgraduate Medicinal Chemistry provision at The OU. YX is a Senior Lecturer in Bioorganic Chemistry at The OU. He has been with The OU from 2001, teaching undergraduate courses of all years and chairing the master's course on medicinal chemistry. PT is a Professor of Organic Chemistry at The OU and has been involved with the production and presentation of The OU courses in Science and across the university for over 30 years, including medicinal chemistry modules at postgraduate level. NT is a Lecturer in Analytical Science at The OU since 2009 and has been involved in the production of analytical sciences courses, as well as contributing to the presentation of a number of science courses including medicinal chemistry.