My experience in the UK as a Nigerian Pharmacist

As a young Nigerian Pharmacist and of course a university of Benin graduate, I thought I could 'waltz' into UK and practice pharmacy . Who would have thought that with my doctor of pharmacy degree, I still require to a one year conversion course to practice in the UK.Actually I was hoping to convert my six months visit visa to work visa but I couldn't.  In order not to be idle,  I started searching for any Job especially the ones related to my field. Surprisingly I was not also qualified for a pharmacist assistant. Who would have thought?
After about 1 week of job hunting,  luckily I got one......Pharmacist assistant at a pharmacy in Oxford.  I was happy and of course my employer seemed friendly.  Well, the company is family run and I was made aware of that on my first day.
Now let's get to the job itself.  There weren't much difference between the theoretical aspect of Nigeria pharmacy practice and the British own but a lot difference on the technical and legal aspects. I was introduced to new method of patients records and the do's and don'ts of the practice. I was supposed to work under a pharmacist (what an irony) and to never give out drugs without checking with the pharmacist. Phew!! I met and worked with people from different nationality and background; Spanish,  Pakistani,  Lithuanian,  Christians, M and of course 'not Christian not muslim '.I felt really bad when I made a slight error and It was immediately recorded in their 'black book of mistakes' officially called near miss error log book. I instantly took a dislike to the pharmacist. Childish isn't it? I later learnt the record is not to implicate whoever made the error but as a form of correction and a proof of record. Although I noticed the ' pharmacist ' never actually write their own error. In order not 'fall my hand',  I immediately adjusted and got used to the system. I decided to have an open mind and learn new things in order to improve my skills as a pharmacist.  Hopefully, I can apply these knowledge back home to my profession. 

My next article will be on the challenges I faced.




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