Career in 2008, I Knew Right Away

¶ … career in 2008, I knew right away that I would undertake a major course of study in pharmacy and have since been completely dedicated to my field. Within two years of matriculating, I became a trainee at the King Fahad Medical City Hospital, where I worked in both inpatient and outpatient pharmacies. After the six weeks of training, I had a much clearer vision of how I wished to develop and apply my skills as a pharmacist in the future. Witnessing the direct interactions between pharmacist, medical care team, and patient, I have become passionate about all elements of pharmaceutical research. I have also become keenly aware of the connections between pharmaceutical research as a business endeavor and the need to provide pharmaceutical interventions to the global population, especially those who lack access to medical care. An advanced degree in the United Kingdom provides me with the thorough indoctrination into the profession of pharmacy from every angle. The angles that interest me most include research and development, business to business and business to government interactions, and serving as liaison between medical community and patient. While pharmacy is largely a behind-the-scenes profession, I intend to keep in mind always the end user of our work: patients.

Laboratory work is my passion, though. While at Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University, I worked as a teacher assistant in the pharmaceutical chemistry department. I delivered lab safety lectures and supervised students, as well as attended professional conferences. The work inspired me to become more involved in academia in the near future. While a graduate student, I intend to continue to attend lectures and conferences and deliver papers and lectures when possible. In the future, I intend to maintain ties with academic organizations even when I am not working in their laboratories. This is because I believe pharmacy must never become completely privatized, and that universities play the most critical role in research and development because of the accessibility of information available to students and researchers. With a team of dedicated professionals, I hope to come up with ways of improving the efficacy of pharmaceutical interventions and remain always at the forefront of cutting-edge biotechnologies.

My uncle is an attorney, and through our conversations, I have learned much about the nuances in international and domestic codes related to pharmaceuticals. Each country, and in some cases, each region within the same country, will have different laws and codes regarding the role of the pharmacist and also how chemical substances are classified and controlled. In a globalized economy, in which ordinary individuals find themselves working for multinational companies and traveling abroad regularly, it becomes crucial to be aware of the legal ramifications of traveling with pharmaceutical products and also how a patient can access the medications they need while traveling. Navigating through the tricky waters of generic vs. branded products and patent concerns is another area of research I intend to unveil through the course of studies because I believe all pharmacists should be able to advise patients about their legal rights. I may also investigate opportunities of working for pharmaceutical companies as both a laboratory researcher but also as a legal consultant related to issues like international patent law.