by Temitope Ben-Ajepe

I remember vividly albeit cringing, last summer at this very cool ICT parastatal where I interned, after being asked by a fellow intern (seeing as I was the only one with a background in Pharmacy) what my course entailed and how it tied in with my being there. While I knew my major goal was to learn all I possibly could about technology as a tool in a bid to improve healthcare delivery where Pharmacy was concerned via channels such as data collation, analysis and interpretation, I was tongue-tied for the few seconds that followed his question. I actively scanned my memory for a universally accepted and clearly defined response – one that would have made any of my Pharmacy professors swell with pride. And here’s why: When it comes to Pharmacy — where I school, at least — I don’t know if I’m allowed to express (read: study and/or practice) Pharmacy in a style that is known to be particularly unique to me.

It seems for every question that may arise, there is an answer already set in stone with an accompanying footnote on why it cannot ever be changed. In other words, I met Pharmacy here, not the other way around. But in a fast paced and ever evolving world, this is a most dangerous stance to retain as we risk being dropped by the sidelines (there is still hope for the runner lagging behind in my opinion) in the advancement of health care, its delivery and more importantly, how it’s taught.

Pharmacy is viewed as a very thorough, impeccably detailed profession — which as you might already know, it is. It is governed by a strict work ethic, sanctioned by eagle-eyed regulatory bodies and the path to this begins early on in Pharmacy school. It is an open secret: The typical course load for the average Pharmacy undergrad is voluminous and understandably so, given the nature of the work that will be expected of us upon induction. There is always a lot of material to cover; notes, practical manuals, text and of course, handouts.  In reality, we have one job only: To read. Plus the fear of probation or being asked to withdraw is the beginning of wisdom. My only grouse with this? That a good number of Professors and lecturers demand word for word replicas of their notes to be reproduced in exams. I presently take about 4 core Pharm. courses with equally bulky and exhaustive materials to boot in addition to a few other borrowed courses. It is

In reality, we have one job only: To read. Plus the fear of probation or being asked to withdraw is the beginning of wisdom. My only grouse with this? That a good number of Professors and lecturers demand word for word replicas of their notes to be reproduced in exams. I presently take about 4 core Pharm. courses with equally bulky and exhaustive materials to boot in addition to a few other borrowed courses. It is pretty common place to hear my colleagues make passing comments about just reading to pass and not necessarily understanding when study group is interrupted because someone needs to genuinely grasp a concept of why so is so or the application of a certain concept. Why do I think this is such a bad thing? Because I could sing you a song depicting what the Placebo Effect is all about and not really understand it myself. Hence, crop after crop of students struggling to make their units pass through Pharmacy school without being able to translate knowledge into real life modifications leaving much to be desired for Pharmaceutical innovation in this part of the world.

At this point, excellent performance in examinations is glorified highly above mastery of a subject matter even though mastery is what goes on to cause disruptions in the ecosystem, improving on already working models that will create real value of hundreds of people; patients, doctors, analysts, the pharmacists themselves…

And our knowledge is of no real use if it can’t help the next person.

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Temitope is on her way to becoming a Legal Drug Dealer during the day and weans her sweet tooth at night because jedi jedi is a real thing. She tweets from @temi_benjamin