Meet Patricia, RiKO intern at Roche

Hi, my name is Patricia…

I’m a 20-year-old undergraduate in the field of molecular and technical medicine and I come from the Black Forest, Germany. This is my first internship in the pharmaceutical industry. I previously did an internship at the Institute for Medical Diagnostics in Berlin. It is very interesting to spend 11 months in an international company, gaining new knowledge of its activities and processes.

During my typical work day…

there is always a lot to learn. Basically, I am responsible for the key performance indicators. These are important to ensure that open GMP documents, such as deviations, are finished on time. A typical week also includes checks of equipment orders from production and their entry into the release system. By doing this, I support the routine activities of the QA Manager in compounding. In addition, I accompany my colleagues in periodic floor presence. This gives me the opportunity to get to know the company better and to learn how to deal with GMP questions. Besides my daily business, I attend seminars, meetings on different topics, and gain insight into other projects.

The location I am working at is…

an open-space office in Kaiseraugst, near Basel. From my seat, I can even see the Roche Tower in Basel. The Kaiseraugst site is beautiful, especially in summer, as there are many green areas and the possibility to work outside. I live in a very nice shared flat directly in Basel city centre. It takes about 30 minutes to commute to my workplace in Kaiseraugst.

My work helps Roche to…

ensure the high quality standards in the department are met in order to comply with the timelines and therefore ensure that the patients receive their medication on time. In addition, periodic floor presence ensures that the applicable work instructions are followed and that patients receive a sterile high quality product.

Roche as an employer…

supports personal development. By enabling you to go on many visits and tours in other areas, Roche enables you to broaden your horizons. In addition, the culture in my department is very friendly and open. This allows me to ask many questions and to get to know different interesting people.

How would you describe working at Roche in three words?

Exciting, enriching, challenging

What do you do to help balance life and work?

Another nice thing about Roche is that there are a lot of interns. We spend a lot of time together after work and/or at weekends. I also relax by doing sport and going swimming in the Roche indoor swimming pool, for example. At home in the Black Forest I also enjoy going for a walk outside with our dog.

Interested in learning more about the RiKO Program? Click here for more information.