Prime Paragon of the Month
“The role of mentorship in the pharmacy profession and even beyond cannot be overemphasized. There’s a saying that goes like “The shortest path to achievement is to find someone already there”
Pharm. Oluwagbade is an astute, young professional, with outstanding leadership qualities. He is a medical representative and the FIP YPG, Webinar Team lead, 2021. He was the Internal Committee coordinator for PSN YPG Lagos in 2018, and a member of the External Relations committee in 2019. He is passionate about promoting professional development in young pharmacists across the globe. In this interview, he shares his thoughts on capacity development, his backstory into the profession, and a call to Young pharmacists to create value wherever they are.
Enjoy!
Twitter: @gbade_eo
LinkedIn: Emmanuel Oluwagbade
BRIEFLY INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO US, WHO YOU ARE, AND WHAT YOU DO.
I’m Emmanuel Olusegun Oluwagbade. I’m a Pharmacist and currently, I work as a Medical representative in one of the pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria.
WHAT WAS GROWING UP LIKE FOR YOU (education, family, etc.)?
Growing up was fun. I grew up in a Christian home, I have 3 siblings. I was born in Ilorin, Kwara state, but I spent most of my childhood in Osogbo, Osun state. Did a part of my primary school education, and secondary education in Osogbo. After that, I gained admission into Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife to study Pharmacy and there I bagged my pharmacy degree.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO PHARMACY? WHAT FACTORS INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO STUDY PHARMACY?
Well, there was a time we had a patent medicine store back then, as at that time I was in primary school, whenever school closes, I just go to the store. I got familiar with some OTCs and I think that was what spurred my interest in drugs generally, how they work, how they are formulated, and when the opportunity came, I chose to study pharmacy.
WHAT WAS PHARMACY SCHOOL LIKE FOR YOU (in the great Ife)? WHAT ARE SOME CHALLENGES YOU FACED AND HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO NAVIGATE THEM?
My Pharmacy school experience was a mixture of everything literally; the good, the bad, and the ugly. Yeah, I had great moments as the president of PANS, myself and my team were able to achieve quite many feats and also redefine politics at the faculty. I met awesome people with diverse and unique skills. Well, I’d say it was a bit of a challenge combining my academics with politics but it was a great learning opportunity, and yeah, here we are.
YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE IN HOSPITAL AND COMMUNITY PRACTICES AND NOW, YOU’RE IN SALES, HOW WILL YOU DESCRIBE YOUR EXPERIENCES IN THESE FIELDS, THEIR PECULIARITIES, AND SIMILARITIES?
I had a wonderful experience as an intern at the Lagos State Health Service Commission; the medical intervention in cases of prescription errors, and counselling were the highlights for me, and that’s what I enjoy about community pharmacy practice as well. Nowadays, I don’t relate directly with patients as a medical representative, but I ensure I communicate with my prescribers effectively about my products so that the patient can get the best treatment plan. So basically, the three fields are similar with respect to having to communicate either with a patient or a prescriber, they all require a high level of communication skills and interpersonal skills generally.
WHAT ARE SOME CHALLENGES YOU’VE FACED IN YOUR CAREER AS A YOUNG PHARMACIST AND HOW HAVE YOU MANAGED THEM?
As a young pharmacist, you can be very confused about the career path you want to choose, if you’re not careful you’d most likely just jump on the bandwagon or just leave things to chance, so for me recognizing what my strengths are and building on that has really helped me, also having good mentors have been invaluable.
WHO ARE YOUR MENTORS AND HOW DID THEY COME TO BE? HOW CAN YOUNG PHARMACISTS LEVERAGE ON MENTORSHIP TO PROPEL THEIR CAREERS?
I have quite a number of mentors, and I may not be able to mention all of them. Well, I didn’t meet all my mentors the same way, I approached some of them for mentorship after sharing with them my goals and aspirations and they agreed, for some of them it wasn’t exactly like that.
The role of mentorship in the pharmacy profession and even beyond cannot be overemphasized. There’s a saying that goes like “The shortest path to achievement is to find someone already there”.
Mentorship can be leveraged upon by the mentee seeking guidance from the mentor before making crucial decisions and also getting recommendations from the mentor when looking out for opportunities
CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR COMMITMENT TO THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF PHARMACISTS (FIP-YPG) AND WHAT YOUR ROLE ENTAILS?
At the FIP YPG, I am a member of the professional development team, which is under the project subcommittee. Currently, I am the webinar team lead for this year, 2021; basically, my role is to ensure that webinars are well planned, well-executed, and that set goals and objectives are met.
HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO MAKE THE TRANSITION FROM PSN-YPG TO FIP-YPG?
Well, I have had a bit of leadership experience at PANS and PSN YPG and basically, the skills and experience gathered during those times were very much applicable and needed for the role I applied for.
HOW DID YOU (AND HOW CAN OTHER YOUNG PHARMACISTS) APPLY TO BE A MEMBER OF FIP-YPG?
You are eligible to be a member of FIP YPG if you are: A pharmacist/pharmaceutical scientist; under 35 years or graduated less than 5 years ago with your first degree in pharmacy or pharmaceutical science.
As a member of the FIP YPG, you are entitled to pay an annual membership fee of 19–50 euros depending on your region.
YOU WERE INVOLVED IN THE CAREER DEVELOPMENT TOOLKIT FOR PHARMACISTS AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENTISTS, WILL YOU SAY THE AIM HAS BEEN OR IS BEING ACHIEVED?
The career development toolkit is a wonderful piece. I was a co-lead on the project, big shout out to the entire team and Ayodeji Matuluko, the team lead for her vision and courage throughout the whole project. It’s a tool created to guide early career pharmacists in making the right career choices in the course of their professional journey, it’s quite very easy to use with relevant case studies and a workbook. The aim is definitely being achieved; pharmacists have started using it across the globe since it was launched. I also use it as well from time to time.
Presently the professional development team’s priority is to increase awareness on the toolkit because awareness is key, young pharmacists can only benefit from it by reading it and applying the lessons. We are collaborating with several FIP YPG member organizations by introducing the toolkit to their members through several programs so that we can cover a wide reach.
HOW CAN YPs ACCESS THIS CAREER TOOL KIT?
The FIP YPG career development toolkit is available for free for registered FIP YPG members, it’s on the FIP website (http://www.fip.org), just log in and access the toolkit.
Presently the professional development team’s priority is to increase awareness on the toolkit because awareness is key, young pharmacists can only benefit from it by reading it and applying the lessons. We are collaborating with several FIP YPG member organizations by introducing the toolkit to their members through several programs so that we can cover a wide reach.
WHAT BENEFITS WILL YOU SAY YOU’VE ENJOYED AS AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF FIP-YPG?
As a member of the FIP, I have had the opportunity to network with great minds and leaders across the globe by working on several projects that are exclusive to only members, I am also a co-author and co-editor of a top publication thanks to the FIP YPG.
YOU HAVE A CERTIFICATION IN LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT IN HEALTH FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON. THIS COURSE IS SOMETIMES PROVIDED BY PSN-YPG AT A DISCOUNTED RATE. DID YOU BENEFIT FROM THIS? HOW WAS THE EXPERIENCE FOR YOU?
Yes, I benefited from the discount provided by PSN-YPG, Lagos. I enjoyed the online course, kudos to the YPG Lagos team for organizing the course at a good discounted price, the program affords you the opportunity to refresh your knowledge about certain leadership skills needed in health systems and also to learn new ones. I expect the program to continue so that more pharmacists can also enjoy it.
WHAT ARE YOUR INTERESTS, GOALS AS A PHARMACIST, AND WHAT MORE SHOULD WE BE EXPECTING FROM YOU?
I have interests in health policy and advocacy, product and project management, you’d see more from me in those areas in the future.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING AND THINK EVERYONE SHOULD EMULATE TO IMPROVE PHARMACY PRACTICE IN NIGERIA AND WHAT AREAS DO YOU THINK WE AS PHARMACISTS NEED TO FOCUS MORE ON IN THIS TIME?
The pharmacy profession in Nigeria is improving gradually, but the pace has to be increased. Pharmacists should focus on adding value in whichever space that they are. Generally, the recent creation of the pharmacy consultancy cadre is a step in the right direction, it will encourage continuous professional development and will increase the value of pharmacists within the health sector.
FINAL WORDS FOR YOUNG PHARMACIST
Young Pharmacists should continue to challenge themselves in whatever sphere of life they find themselves in, we should dare to stand out and endeavour to create solutions to whatever problems or issues we identify around us.
Thank you for honoring our call, we truly appreciate you.
This interview was conducted by Sejoro Tonuewa.