Highlight your Career Progression. In addition to your degree in pharmacy, have you obtained any certifications, or are you currently pursuing any that you would like to mention?
Soon after completing my Bachelor’s degree, I pursued an internship at two different intern centres for six months each. I started at the Pharmacy Council of Tanzania, the regulatory authority responsible for regulating and controlling the pharmacy profession and practice in Tanzania mainland. I then completed my internship at Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute, a public national specialised cardiovascular teaching and research hospital in Tanzania, where I was certified upon completion in December 2022.
I am currently conducting medication safety education for the community through a digital platform. My passion for educating society began during my first year of undergraduate studies. I engaged in Antimicrobial Resistance awareness and other health promotion activities under the Tanzania Pharmaceutical Students Association(TAPSA). Following graduation, I created a Tiktok account (@your_pharmgirl) that enabled me to create awareness videos on medication use and safety despite my busy schedule during my internship.
I am a member of the WHO AMR Community Exchange, a global online collaborative space established to enable those developing, implementing and monitoring a national action plan on AMR to access prompt advice, guidance and peer support for operational challenges.
My colleague and I created a blog named Dawaspace. We use it to write about medicines, targeting healthcare professionals and the public in general.
What are you most passionate about in your Pharmacy practice?
I am very passionate about educating our societies about medicine use and safety, considering there is a lot of misinformation and misconceptions, especially in the digital space. When we, as pharmacists, do not take up the responsibility of giving the correct information, people will be misinformed, and their health will be at stake. I am eager to continue learning and updating myself with knowledge while building a sense of responsibility for everything concerning medicines and health in general.
What do you love about being a Pharmacist?
I love everything about being a pharmacist and would choose to be one again and again if I had to. Here is why: I am a custodian of medicines and directly impact patients’ health by working with other healthcare professionals. Knowing about drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics always excites me.
I feel accomplished whenever I give patients important information about their medication use and emphasise the value of a pharmacist’s advice during dispensing. I also love engaging with other health professionals to ensure the success of pharmacological management while avoiding adverse effects on patients.
I also love how wide pharmacy is, from manufacturing, supply chain, regulatory authorities, academia, research, pharmacy business and consultancy; these make pharmacists ‘busy bees’ and successful.
What do you consider the most significant achievement in your career as a pharmacist thus far? How has this achievement impacted your professional journey?
My most significant achievement is working with my colleagues to learn, research, and write about medicines in our blog. We deliver the information to healthcare professionals and everyone who can access it. This has significantly impacted my professional journey as I practice continuous professional development on one side and impact my community on the other.
I am looking forward to putting more emphasis on this platform.
What has been your most challenging moment in the profession, and what valuable lessons did you learn from it?
The most challenging moment was my internship, especially during my hospital rotation. I was overwhelmed by the fact that I had to learn and work simultaneously. There was also little time to practice during clinical rotation, whereas the dispensing unit was jam-packed, thus making the work of reviewing every patient file and reconciliation very hectic. However, this experience taught me the importance of teamwork. It made me realise how each member plays a crucial role in positively or negatively impacting the efficiency at work. I can now organise and build a sense of responsibility for myself and whoever I am working with and select an excellent approach to doing activities effectively and efficiently.
What keeps you going?
The pride of being a pharmacist keeps me going, in the sense that I am not ready to shift from my career path as a pharmacist. I have people in the pharmacy profession that I look up to and admire what they are doing. This ignites my passion for impacting society through my profession.
In addition to being a Pharmacist, what else do you enjoy doing?
I love creativity. I am learning graphic design and am ready to become the best self-taught graphic designer.
I watch a lot of vlogs and podcasts based on daily life practices where I improve my life skills.
What can you say to the young Pharmacist?
Pharmacy is very broad. Give yourself time to learn and engage with seniors and colleagues. There is a lot to learn from everyone, and anyone ahead of you may have the potential to impact your profession.
Engage in conferences, seminars, and outreaches as they create a beneficial network, impact knowledge, and add value to our professions.
Is there something else you’d like us to add to your feature?
I invite everyone to visit our blog, Dawaspace, to read and share our posts.