A consultant pharmacist, Audrey Serwaa Bonsu in partnership with Lead-it Africa, a leadership development consultancy has organized a maiden one-day seminar for young pharmacists in Ghana in an attempt to bridge the knowledge gap that exists between young and expert practitioners.

This according to Miss. Bonsu, is to expose the youth to opportunities within community pharmacy practice, medical technologies industry, international developmental agencies, and the public health sector in Ghana.

She called on senior experienced pharmacists to take more interest in mentoring young ones and offer them structured internship opportunities in their outfits. She said the purpose of the forum “is to serve as a platform for young pharmacists to gain wisdom and insights from senior colleagues in the profession”.

The forum which was held on Thursday, September 2, 2021, was addressed by Dr. Ohene Manu, the past president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana and founding chairman of the Pharmacy Council of Ghana. He urged pharmacists “to be bold, confident and acquire new knowledge as they develop their career”. He cautioned participants to guard against individuals who seek to exploit their hard-earned professional certification for selfish ends.

Healthcare delivery has seen some major changes and expansion globally over the past decade, with cutting-edge technologies introduced to different aspects to keep the patient safer and speed up the recovery process of patients. 

Pharmacy practice is no exception to these changes. With the introduction of robots and digital health, there is the need to build capacity to meet up with these new demands.

Ghana currently has over 4000 registered pharmacists practicing in different fields across the country with an estimated 60-70% classified as young pharmacists with less than 10 years of practice. This group forms the target audience of the forum.

Against this backdrop, Mrs. Patience Tsegah, managing director of Unicom Chemists Ltd, highlighted the need to work diligently and patiently at building a business which will stand the test of time. She emphasized the importance of pharmacists engaging with their clients to build confidence and increase demand for their professional guidance in the use of medicines.

The managing director of Sysmex West & Central Africa and MedTech Chamber Africa, Eric Osei, touched on the importance of advanced technologies in medical diagnostics. He said pharmacists especially younger ones, must use the opportunity to build their capacity in the field of healthcare delivery.

He advised pharmacists to align their passion and focus to their careers and emphasized how much the community depended on the expertise of pharmacists in the use of their medication.

He entreated pharmacists to seek knowledge and guidance from the long-serving experienced experts to help provide top notch professional services to their clients.

The forum served as the first in the series of events to support young pharmacists to identify mentors and discover innovations and new opportunities within the industry.

Sylvester Segbaya, a public health practitioner and a pharmacist threw more light on ways in which pharmacists could explore their knowledge from their background training to venture into advanced herbal therapy services as well as explore huge opportunities in public health, research and international developmental work.

The next forum which is earmarked for November promises to provide extensive insight to young pharmacists on how to build capacity and access opportunities in global health and logistics management, public health and developmental health services.

Healthcare delivery has seen some major changes and expansion globally over the past decade, with cutting-edge technologies introduced to different aspects to keep the patient safer and speed up the recovery process of patients.

Pharmacy practice is no exception to these changes. With the introduction of robots and digital health, there is the need to build capacity to meet up with these new demands.