Now that I’ve been working in healthcare communications for just over a year, it’s easy to forget the transition I made from my previous job as a pharmacist.
It has been a big learning curve. There are some things from my previous ‘pharmacy life’ that I’ve been able to bring with me to this new industry, and also a couple of differences I’ve discovered.
Me now, in my healthcare comms role
The main difference is the working environment…
Cast your mind to a room in the depths of a hospital, piled high with baskets of medications, prescriptions whisked from station to station scrawled with doctor and pharmacist markings, computers and labellers running at lightning speed and perplexed patients staring blankly at their white paper bags as advice is reeled off to them by rote at the collection hatches.
In a hectic hospital pharmacy department, sitting down is a rare luxury and just six desktop computers amongst 80 staff calls for an extremely hands-on and active working day.
By contrast, I’ve found the communications environment to be similarly busy but rarely hectic, to have a high workload but rarely stressful, to be office-based but never dull!
Another difference is how creative the work is…
You can make a big impact in both roles, but the impact in pharmacy seemed mainly in keeping patients safe on a day-to-day basis without having much chance to see the long-term impact.
To me, healthcare comms looks at the bigger picture. Addressing the growing need for disease awareness and medicine education through creative angles makes me feel like I’m contributing in some way to help further healthcare innovation!
Benefits of a pharmacy background?
Pharmacists today are different from the stereotype of the white-coated stern-looking shopkeeper running a dark, uninviting shop.
These days, pharmacists are heavily involved in a wide range of useful services including smoking cessation support, travel vaccination clinics, and teaching patients about using their medicines.
This science-based background mixed with training in people skills, as well as having a pretty sturdy knowledge of the healthcare system, are all now invaluable in my communications role.
So why the career move?
It wasn’t until I embarked on the five year process to qualify as a pharmacist that I began to understand the avenues available – either taking you to the hustle and bustle of the NHS or to becoming a cog in the massive machine of health retail giants such as Boots. Neither felt like the path to my ‘dream job’.
And why communications?
Communications opens a door encouraging you to bring as much of yourself and your skill set to the workplace as possible. This has been invaluable in encouraging more of my creativity to come out and realising more of what my piece in the puzzle is to help the success of a company.
Various investments are made at Just:: to support these areas, including one-to-one sessions with drama experts and an emphasis on pursuing interests outside of work.
I feel as if my career move has been an investment both inside and outside the office!