Every good organization seeks ways to improve the competencies and capacities of its members, all the while fortifying their repositories of knowledge. This premise very much applies to the Ghana Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (GPSA), KNUST. The association organized a conference at the new pharmacy building in Lecture Hall One for her members. This conference was aimed at enlightening the members of the association on the evolving landscape of the pharmacy profession beyond the conventional roles and thus, the theme for the conference “Exploring Diverse Career Paths: Pharmacists in Non-Traditional Settings”.
The conference was graced by the presence of Pharm Josephine Tweneboa Osarfo, the keynote speaker, Prof. Samuel Asare Nkansah, the dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Dr. Mrs. Vivian Etsiapa Boamah, a lecturer in the faculty. The president of the association introduced all the distinguished guests and notable among was the impressive array of achievements and qualifications of the speaker indicating she was apt for delivery.
Pharm Josephine Tweneboa Osarfo began by shedding light on the seven traditional settings within the pharmacy profession, including manufacturing, regulations, academia, marketing, research, hospital and community roles. These traditional domains were elaborated upon, emphasizing the wide array of opportunities they offer to pharmacists.
Following this, she talked about the non-traditional roles within the pharmacy field. She highlighted several emerging fields such as oncology pharmacy, nuclear pharmacy, veterinary pharmacy, informatics, pharmacovigilance, research and development, among others where pharmacists are needed. She emphasized the diverse opportunities available for pharmacists in health information technology (IT), elaborating on six specific roles: clinical informatics, pharmacy applications analyst, pharmacist in consumer health informatics, data science analyst, clinical development in retail pharmacy software, and professor in pharmacy informatics.
More so, she elaborated on additional career paths for pharmacists in health insurance management, supply chain, public health, and health consultancy practice. She further spoke on the importance of capacity and skill-building opportunities, advocating for continuous learning through short courses of which she shared some platforms, development of soft and hard skills, proficiency in artificial intelligence (AI), networking, and data analytics.
The conference gave nothing short of what the students expected. Pharmacist Josephine Tweneboa Osarfo’s presentation revealed the dynamic nature of the pharmacy profession and the spectrum of opportunities awaiting aspiring pharmacists. As we navigate the evolving landscape of healthcare, it is necessary for us to remain open-minded and proactive in exploring and seizing the plethora of career possibilities within the pharmacy profession.