Shades of Color!

Sailing through the tides of pharmacy school, I must say for all, was not a mean feat! The times in the laboratories,  late night readings,  cramming of structures you weren’t sure you would ever use, industrial attachment experience ( for the newer generation pharmacists) and of course the trepidation that gets the best of you when  final results are about to be released. Whether it was at the first or second attempt, eventually you qualified as a pharmacist! Then comes the induction ceremony and the Pharmacy oath is taken, relief and excitement is fully expressed when celebrating with family and friends. The day ends and reality dawns; its Welcome to the real world of Pharmacy! One with various options, filled with opportunities but laced with surmountable challenges as long as you are clear on your vision and purpose for choosing to follow this path.

Developing as a professional could be seen as a series of colors. The first color is black which could be likened to total confusion.

Ironically, a greater percentage of pharmacy graduates fall in this category, many grope in the dark and are totally unsure of what they really want to do. The various career paths in pharmacy are laid before them; hospital, community practice, academics,  marketing,  manufacturing,  and newer ones like logistics and supply chain, public health, journalism, digital health and honestly many are confused and not sure which route to take. To exit this state you need to do a soul search, try to discover who you are, answer the questions, why did you study pharmacy, what’s your purpose and passion and what skill sets do you have to make an impact? As you begin to answer these questions you gradually step into another color state, which is grey.

In the grey state, darkness is gradually receding, it’s still a bit hazy though, but your instincts seems to have started joining the dots together slowly. This is where you hear most people make statements like,” I think this is what I want to do!” It’s possible to remain like this for a while  without taking any  decisive step but just musing over so many things you could do.  It’s important you get motivated and move to the orange side of life.

The orange side of life is where you decide to expand your horizon, step out of your comfort zone, get some exposure, attend seminars and workshops, get an extra degree in your field of choice or you obtain a relevant certification, connect with a mentor who could possibly help you with career mapping and get you on the right track. Your natural talent can only get you so far without input from your colleagues, teachers and a good network.You keep fine tuning and keep moving and transit to the illuminating state of yellow.

Yellow is where the future is much brighter, all the knowledge and experience gained is put to use, you’re beginning to make yourself relevant and not just another number or an ordinary knowledge bag. The contributions you make, bring solutions to problems faced by individuals and the society as a whole.  Your impact is felt and then the white zone becomes the place of appeal.

In the white zone,your vision is distinct, and palpable. You are fully convinced, this is it! Great opportunities, which you had been prepared for, will keep showing up under the radar of your light. You beam with such brightness, and in turn bring illumination to one in the state of darkness.

It’s important you ask yourself where you would rather be in the color scheme of being a professional. Note that through these series of color changes, one will meet with naysayers, critics and antagonists who may want to discourage you but don’t give in. Turn every adverse situation into an opportunity. Gravitate towards those who would positively influence you, interact with professionals from other industries to boost you creativity. Look within you and find all that is there.

Pharmacy is said to represent the third largest profession globally and our influence as “Men of honor” must be felt. The world awaits that clinical pharmacist that will help solve various medication therapy problems and save lives, the organized logistics and supply chain pharmacist that would improve patients’ access to medicines, the community pharmacist who is a neighborhood life saver, the digital pharmacist who would explore the world of technological advancement to develop an app that brings drug information at our finger tips and the production pharmacist that manufactures drugs of high quality for the benefit and safety of the patient. Will you be willing against all odds to be that person? The choice is yours!

This article was written by Mrs. Olufunto Olude Bpharm PHRi, CSC, CCSP, a Senior Pharmacist with the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba, the convener of The Meeting Point Ng and Project Administrator for the NAPHARM Young Pharmacist Mentoring Programme. She can be contacted via email at funto_olude@yahoo.com