Hibernia College, with its pharmaceutical industry partner, Pfizer, has won recognition for its international online Masters in Pharmaceutical Medicine.
The prestigious award was presented at a glittering ceremony held on 6 November 2008 at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel in London. The event was an occasion for the who’s who of the e-learning industry to celebrate progress since the millennium (coinciding with the founding of Hibernia College) in the take up and impact of e-learning on business performance.
Clive Snell, Managing Director of Bizmedia (which publishes the e-Learning Age magazine, the organisers of the awards) commented: “The e-Learning Awards are about celebrating excellence and offering important recognition across the learning and development field to the widest range of organisations and this is reflected by the breadth and quality of the entries we receive each year.”
The e-Learning Awards were judged by the e-Learning Network. Chair of the Judges, Joe Quilter, said: “The entries were of an impressive standard and the level of achievement is a real reflection that UK and overseas e-learning is at the forefront of organisational performance development. E-learning is now a 'must have' instead of an add-on to traditional learning interventions.”
Hibernia College and Pfizer competed in a strong short list of UK and international companies to win the silver award in the category of Best Online Programme.
Dr. David Gillen, Pfizer UK’s Medical Director, who joined the Hibernia College team to receive the award, said: “This shows what is possible with e-learning; I see many opportunities for Pfizer to benefit from our collaboration with Hibernia College.”
Soeren Rasmussen, Pfizer’s Senior Director in the Department of the Pfizer’s worldwide Chief Medical Officer in New York (and a graduate of the programme) sees “Hibernia College’s online Masters in Pharmaceutical Medicine as helping build the knowledge, technical skills and leadership capabilities of Pfizer employees, very much required for being competitive in a rapidly changing and challenging marketplace.”
Greg Duczynski, one of Pfizer’s Directors of Clinical Research (and also a graduate of the programme) enthused about his experience: “The interaction with the rest of my class, 45 candidates representing 20 countries from 6 continents was the most wonderful surprise of the program. I had no idea when I started that we would have access to such amazing diversity and that we would be able to connect on a regular basis via the online tutorials."
Dr. Seán Rowland, founder and president of Hibernia College, and an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Emerging Industry winner, said at the awards ceremony “This is a real achievement for Ireland, combining our leadership in education and e-learning to demonstrate again that we can compete with the best in the world”.