World Pharmacist Day 2024

Why did you want to become a Pharmacist?

I always enjoyed studying the sciences at school, especially chemistry as well as maths and also I was passionate about helping people as well as my own community. Choosing a career in pharmacy allowed me to combine both those interests so it seemed a like a perfect career choice. Pharmacy is a career where you become an advocate for patients and play a key role in helping patients feel better, as well as working with other healthcare professionals to improve health outcomes and ensure the continuity of care.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

I really enjoy the variety of the work involved in my role as well as the different teams I work with across the Trust. No day is the same and hence I enjoy the challenge. There is no issue about getting bored as there is so much variety and it is rewarding to know that all the work that me and my team are involved with has the common goal of supporting medication safety and hence improving patient safety. The most rewarding part of my job is the role of the Medication Safety Officer (MSO). The MSO offers medication safety specialist expertise and act as a centralised individual to work collaboratively on medication safety and communication of medication risks and associated mitigation strategies within the Trust. The responsibility for safe use of medicines is multidisciplinary and I work collaboratively with healthcare professionals both inside the organisation as well as externally across the ICS and across the East of England to minimise harm from medicines.

How does your role support patients and our local community?

Unsafe medication practices and medication errors are a leading cause of injury and avoidable harm in healthcare systems. Errors can occur at different stages of the medication use process. Medication errors occur when weak medication systems and/or human factors such as fatigue, poor environmental conditions or staff shortages affect prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, administration and monitoring practices, which can then result in severe harm, disability and even death. My role as Medication Safety Officer is pivotal in reviewing medication safety issues and identify trends from adverse events and near misses and to respond to medication safety issues in a timely manner. This role supports patients and our local community to learn from incidents and share learning across the ICS to improve medication safety. The role of the MSO serves as the essential link between the identification and implementation of (local and national) medication safety initiatives and the daily operations to improve patient safety with the use of medicines.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to become a Pharmacist?

In secondary school, it can seem daunting when deciding what to do with the rest of your life. If you find yourself wondering if Pharmacy is the career path for yourself then remember Pharmacists play an important role in helping people get the best results from their medications and there are so many different career options . Most people may think that Pharmacists are just pill counters but that is not true. Pharmacists work in all areas from hospitals( and there dozens of subspecialties within that), community, industry, government, academia etc. My advice would be to explore career options within pharmacy out there and find opportunities to shadow the different sectors because there are countless opportunities within the profession. Pharmacy is also a very flexible career and you can choose  your ideal work-life balance as appropriate at the different stages of your life and career.

Anything else you would like to add...

I have enjoyed my Pharmacy career to date especially the networking both locally and nationally. I have also used my skills gained through my pharmacy qualification as well as leadership skills and have supported charity work in medical aid camps abroad in war torn countries and worked alongside other healthcare professionals in delivering essential medications to those less fortunate. This has been tremendously rewarding in making a difference, however small, to those less fortunate including orphans and widows.