Dr. Anushree Patel: My biggest struggle in the Pharmacy field

Pharmacy has evolved right from its conception. Technology and big data are playing a major role in shaping this. But with all these developments, something seems not to add up.

Our current curriculum is not tailored to train pharmacists for the current world and is ineffective in allowing us to tackle future problems.

The development that allows us to lead and tackle such issues is left upon graduated individuals, if they are passionate enough. Personally I feel like that is a huge burden for graduates. They have to pave the way..

All pharmacists (in England) are working under pressure with fewer resources as the NHS (National Health Service) goes through unprecedented changes. I advocate that every community pharmacy should have a pharmacist present to provide advice and support to the public about medicines and health.  Claire Anderson, 2018

The promise of a “fulfilling career” is not what we are experiencing. There are very few hospitals, usually private and maybe MTRH (Moi Teaching and Referral Hospitals) have ward rounds as part of rotations. In many hospitals, you’re just dispensing.

The essence of clinical pharmacy is lost, and those who are not determined and passionate will not pick it up. That’s a waste of around 2 to 3 years of what we learnt in university. We forget hence we don’t utilise.

About manufacturing, we are not taught how to fill in roles such as Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs and Production. It’s like 90% of what we learn is no longer applicable.