Being A Pharmacist: Hope and Healing

Ever wondered why some people chose certain career paths!  Perhaps it maybe to fulfil a passion,  because of a tragedy and for some people it could be just  fate.

Growing up, my parents had always wanted one of their children to be a medical doctor. I had a passion for military service and a missionary doctor.

When I got to my teenage years, I had a firmed conviction to pursue medicine.  In 2000 a tragedy struck my family.  My younger brother Kofi Martin was diagnosed with Leukaemia and died in 2001. We were very close as three siblings. I needed to understand more about cancer so this ignited my desire to study medicine.

Career Ignition

After getting married at the age of 24 and having my first child and then subsequently my second child at 26, I suddenly understood that childcare would determine what I wanted to do eventually.

In 2010 my husband and I decided we needed to study. He got admission to university outside London. I got an offer from university of Brighton to study pharmacy for 1 year, then transfer to medicine the following year. That was a very attractive option for most mature students at the time. However, this option would have required me to pay fees of £9000 instead of £3500.  Secondly, I didn’t want to leave my children in the night with a child minder whiles on placement as a medic student in hospital.  Faced with these two choices, I settled to do pharmacy at Kings College.  

 It is never too late if anyone wants to change career, you just need to have the right mind set. I am very grateful to God that I still have a career I enjoy doing.

Pharmacy has given me the opportunity to understand more medical conditions that I would probably not have come to know. I enjoy being a pharmacist and let me tell you some of the reasons why I do.

1. As pharmacists, we are trusted and respected as a profession and this brings a sense of fulfilment and pride, enabling us to liaise with other healthcare professionals.
2. I don’t think you can just be a pharmacist for the sake of it, you need to have a passion for it. It is just like a calling for me to help my patients.
3. There are many challenges we face being a pharmacist, but it is such a blessing to know that I have made an impact to someone’s life.
4. Trust me, I learn new things every day from patients. I get a lot of tips from patients about growing various types of vegetables, to those who are very excited to share their favourite holiday destinations and every other fun places they have been on the face of the earth.
5. Our job is very complex, depending on which sector you work in. We don’t count tablets like some patients think, we made life-changing decisions when it comes to management of chronic conditions and prescribing medications for you.
6. As pharmacist, we empower patients on how to take care of their health, and this includes advice on how to take their medication, avoid interaction, healthy living advice including smoking cessation and many more.
7. My colleagues and I help to spot serious life-threatening conditions, for which we signpost you for further investigations.
8. Pharmacy is a very exciting career, whether you are base in pharmaceutical industry, retail pharmacy, GP Practice, hospital or as an entrepreneur.

I know that some African and Asian parents tend to have influence on their children to have certain professions.  If you were to ask my son today, at least he will say I tried to persuade him not to do pharmacy. I felt like he wanted to study pharmacy to make us proud, I belief in providing guidance and encouraged him to pursue a career that he has a passion for. While both my parents didn’t do anything wrong in encouraging me to pursue medicine, because my career is aligned with medicine anyway, I would encourage fellow parents to allow their children to choose a career that they are passionate about, a career that will put food on the table for them, and not what we think is best for them as parents.