In this issue:
- CAPSULE: Making unseen fields visible in pharmacy and building inclusive student communities
- Racism in Pharmacy: De-Prescribing a Hushed Reality
- PDA NAWP attends Fawcett Society event on combating racism and misogynoir
- My first book: The Medication Manual
- A poem: Yelled at by a White man, comforted by a Black woman
CAPSULE: Making unseen fields visible in pharmacy and building inclusive student communities
The PDA’s ‘Pharmacists for Humanity’ conference offered insight into a field of pharmacy I didn’t know existed. For a group of University of Nottingham (UoN) pharmacy students, it was our first conference and opened our eyes to how much there is to learn beyond the curriculum. This inspired us to launch CAPSULE UoN, a society to make such possibilities accessible to all.CAPSULE provides student-led teaching sessions, workshops, peer mentoring, relaxed study sessions, and career-skills events, focusing on inclusivity and bringing under-represented voices into teaching. We hope to show that what starts as a good idea can create real impact and that with the right encouragement, you can set things in motion and find others who share your interests.
Our student committee is already working on future events, expanding teaching beyond the curriculum and liaising with pharmacy professionals to bring in guest speakers who can introduce students to careers they may never have heard of.
If you want to learn more, share ideas, or lead a session, we’d love to have you aboard. Join us in building a pharmacy community where every student can see the full range of opportunities the profession offers.
If you want to learn more, share ideas, or lead a session, we’d love to have you aboard. Join us in building a pharmacy community where every student can see the full range of opportunities the profession offers. Connect with the CAPSULE University of Nottingham Society via:
- Emailing [email protected]
Racism in Pharmacy: De-Prescribing a Hushed Reality
In 2017, I lost my role as Deputy Chief Pharmacist after reporting discrimination and wrongdoing. I was shocked and devastated. The years that followed were some of the loneliest of my life. The fruitless fight for justice left me broken, unemployed, and questioning my future in a profession I have always loved.
Trying to make sense of it all, I turned to research to uncover the long-hidden history of racism in healthcare and pharmacy. Out of that came my book, ‘Racism in Pharmacy: De-Prescribing a Hushed Reality.’ In it, I explore the unspoken truth of what many pharmacy professionals quietly endure. The racism that harms not only us as professionals but also the patients we serve.
The book dives into topics like colourism, microaggressions, the lack of diverse leadership, staff collusion, health inequalities, and the student attainment gap, among other relevant subjects. It also includes questions to initiate group conversations and encourage reflection on this side of pharmacy that often gets ignored.
I am pleased with the feedback received from members of the public, and I look forward to hearing what pharmacy professionals think of the book.
Some reviews on social media:
I do not want anyone else to feel the isolation I once experienced. So, I ended the book with a call to action: SpeakUpPharmacy. This is a platform I am building to give pharmacy professionals a space to share their experiences of racism and be heard.
Next year, I will be travelling to Australia and the USA as a Churchill Fellow to explore how racism manifests in pharmacy globally. What I learn will shape future editions of the book. I aim to help build a profession that truly reflects fairness, inclusion, and justice.
‘Racism in Pharmacy: Deprescribing a hushed reality’ can be purchased from Amazon.
PDA NAWP attends Fawcett Society event on combating racism and misogynoi
The Fawcett Society event, ‘How to Be an Ally – Combating Racism and Misogynoir’, was delivered by guest speakers Naomi and Natalie Evans, sisters and founders of Everyday Racism, and delivered alongside Fawcett Society trustee and former MP, Anum Qaisar. This poignant and informative session focused on misogynoir experienced by Black women, how it manifests within personal and professional lives, education, parenting, and in the workplace, and the importance of continued learning and allyship. Powerful testimonies and discussion points were led by Natalie and Naomi, sparked by their lived experiences of navigating misogynoir within the context of everyday life.Misogynoir was introduced as a term coined by Moya Bailey in 2008, to describe a particular kind of racism experienced by Black women. It combines misogyny and anti-Black racism to describe the uniqueness of this type of discrimination. Naomi and Natalie highlighted the distinct challenges faced by Black women, which are not always acknowledged by wider feminist movements or spaces. For example, the adultification of Black girls and harmful stereotypes such as ‘the angry Black woman’ or ‘the mammy’ trope. They went on to describe how these compounds result in unequal treatment across various aspects of Black women’s lives, such as in health, education, and employment.
My first book: The Medication Manual
In my years of pharmacy practice, I have always loved to leave a footprint field and future of pharmacy practice, something to support our patients, for pharmacists of the future and for our community.
From my childhood experience in Nigeria, growing up in a developing country where research into medicine as seen in every country is still evolving, I have always wanted a space to tell the world about medications, how to use them, how to manage issues related to medication and more importantly how to tell the world how amazing pharmacists and pharmacy are in helping us, our patients and our community in the use and management of our medicines.
On my 40th birthday, I started my little write-up, which last year became my first book titled, ‘The Medication Manual: Your Comprehensive Guide To Safe and Effective Drug Use.’This essential book offers valuable insights into optimising health outcomes by taking control of your medication regimen.
Inside the book, you’ll discover:
- How to interpret medication labels accurately to avoid dangerous dosing errors.
- The ultimate checklist for effective communication with healthcare providers.
- Strategies to ensure you never miss a dose, enhancing treatment effectiveness.
- Tips for managing and reporting side effects effectively.
- Safest practices for storing and disposing of medications.
- Guidance on navigating medication changes stress-free.
- Tips for ensuring medication safety for children and the elderly.
- Empowerment to advocate for your health needs.
- Actionable steps for creating a medication-safe community.
For patients, healthcare professionals, carers, healthcare students and caregivers, it’s an essential guide for support in helping patients with medication usage.
Duncan Rudkin, Chief Executive and Registrar of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) said, “Thank you so much for the book you kindly gave me. It was a lovely surprise. I have now finished it. It was very readable and full of useful information. I honestly think I’ll be safer as a patient, thanks to your book.”
Earlier this year at the BPSA conference during the curry night, which is sponsored by the PDA, Jay Badenhorst, PDA Director of Pharmacy presented my book as awards to two active PDA student members, Temiloluwa Fanijo and Ewura-Adjoa Yamoah, who is also the Vice-President of the BAME Network.
‘The Medication Manual: your Comprehensive Guide To Safe and Effective Drug Use’ can be purchased from Amazon. However, I am offering a discount to PDA members. For members of any of the PDA’s 4 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Networks (Ability, BAME, LGBT+, NAWP), the discount is 25%. For other PDA members, the discount is 10%. To receive the discount, please contact me directly by emailing [email protected].
A poem: Yelled at by a White man, comforted by a Black woman
By Soh Xi Ken, specialist clinical pharmacist and PDA BAME Network member
“Pick the BBQ chicken, that’ll blow you away”
Said smiling, friendly, Black lady, in the burger takeaway.
A scowling White man flying by on a bike, yelling at me –
Upsetting but not unusual, unfortunately.
They think they can get away with murder
But they forget my anger.
The Black lady was right, it was a great burger!
So the pot goes back to simmer…
Get involved
- Follow the PDA BAME Network on social media using #PDAbame
- For more information about the PDA BAME Network, click here.
- If you would like to get involved with the network and its activities, email [email protected]
In case you missed it
- PDA BAME Network comments on flag displays linked to the ‘Raise the Colours’ campaign
- PDA BAME Network comments on NHS pay disparity review
- Sir Keir Starmer responds to the PDA BAME Network’s letter regarding the Immigration White Paper
- PDA responds to disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting
- Celebrating 5 years of the PDA EDI Networks
- A third-year pharmacy student’s insight into Ramadan
- Addressing racial undertones in the language of pharmacy
Not yet a PDA member?
If you have not yet joined the PDA, we encourage you tojoin todayand ask your colleagues to do the same.
Membership is FREE to pharmacy students, trainee pharmacists and for the first three months of being newly qualified.
Read about our key member benefitshere.