005 Komal George
Sheer determination is the way to describe Komal George. After achieving an E grade in A-level Chemistry and being told she was unlikely able to go to university, she was determined to prove to herself and people around her that she had what it takes to become a professional! She started her career as a hospital pharmacist which she thoroughly enjoyed and then wanted to experience pharmacy from a primary care perspective and transitioned into community pharmacy for a couple of years. She didn't feel 100% satisfied in that role and landed an excellent opportunity as an Information Pharmacist at the NPA. The skills and knowledge she gained here were vital to her to transition to the Head of Information at the PSNC. She is now the proud owner of her own business, Komal The Holistic Pharmacist, and runs the Positive Pharmacy Space Group on facebook. The Positive Pharmacy Space is a platform to help burnt out Pharmacists take control of their health and lifestyle so that they're ready to fully serve their patients and families with more energy. She considers herself to be a lifelong student in her practice, and loves seeing her clients transform themselves through the course of her programmes.
We dive deep into discussion about the positives and negatives of working in a variety of pharmacy environments and understanding where your personality and skills best fit into these different roles. We discuss in depth what skills are learnt in different jobs, what skills you need to have in order to do a particular role, as well as how to get the most of your job using our own personal experiences.
Komal provides us with some motivating advice, some of which you can read below:
"Keep challenging yourself. Push yourself, your boundaries, and seek new opportunities"
"One thing I feel we fall into the trap of is expecting your employer to educate and develop you. You need to develop yourself, because if you don't develop yourself, no-one is going to do it for you. If you are really interested in an area, you need to seek to gain the education you need in that area."
"Surround yourself with inspiring people all the time and reach out to them to learn from them"
"Keep exploring, keep growing, keep learning. Push past your fears because we all have it"
If you have any suggestions for guests you want me to talk or if you’d like to come on yourself, please feel free to contact me via email at info@pharmacistdiaries.com, on Instagram @pharmacistdiariesuk, or on Twitter @PharmDiariesUK
