The College of Pharmacy (CoP) and the Career Services Office at the American University of Iraq-Baghdad (AUIB) organized a “Pharma Career Day” event, attended by around 100 CoP students, in addition to faculty members, who followed presentations by distinguished guests, leaders in the industry, sharing their insights and discussing latest trends in the field.
As per its slogan, “Beyond the Counter: Discover Dynamic Careers in Pharmacy,” the event aimed to show CoP students the diversity of possible career paths after graduation, apart from the traditional vocation of the Community Pharmacist. AUIB’s Vice President for Enrollment Services and Student Affairs, Dr. James Pounder, introduced the guest speakers to CoP’s “excellent students,” calling on the latter to capitalize on their general education, or the general knowledge and skills built by AUIB’s Liberal-Arts-based curricula, to embark on various career paths after earning their degree in Pharmacy.
While the vast majority of Pharmacy students in Iraq say they chose their major with an aim to establish or run a community pharmacy, it is conceived globally that the possible career of a community pharmacist constitutes “a maximum of 10% to 20% of what you can do as a pharmacist,” said CoP Dean, Dr. Achraf Al Faraj, pointing out Clinical Pharmacy and Industrial Pharmacy as possible career paths for CoP graduates, in addition to transitioning to careers in fields such as nutrition, or even sales and marketing of pharmaceutical products and related goods such as food supplements and personal care items.
Attendees followed presentations by guest speakers and engaged them in discussion on various relevant topics. Among the speakers were the CEO of Swiss Pharmacy, Dr. Muhammad Neamah, Clinical Pharmacist Dr. Kawthar Al-Tameemi, and Industrial Pharmacist Dr. Ali Khalil.