In this interview with Segun Adebayo, Adeola Banji, a seasoned pharmacist and Medical Representative at Novartis with over seven years of experience, speaks about her inspiration for pursuing a career in pharmacy, her impactful journey in the field, and the vital roles she plays.
With over 7 years of experience in pharmacy, what inspired you to pursue a career in this field, and what has been your most fulfilling experience so far?
Pharmacy is a profession that integrates healthcare, science and has a direct impact on the well -being of people.
Personally, I have always loved to help people in my little way. My mum worked as a Nurse in LUTH for over 35 years and I believe that was part of what inspired my choice. I also remembered when my Aunty was ill and we all felt her chance to survive was slim. To my greatest surprise , she made it and I noticed the significant role the pharmacist played in imorov8ng her health. This also got me curious and made me really interested in knowing how drugs are produces and their mechanism of actions, etc.
Well, I have lots of fulfilling experience but one which stood out for me was when I was able to intervene in a patient’s treatment journey ( medication). The drugs she was placed on were not giving satisfactory result or figures tha5 the doctor wanted. After some minutes of discussion, he decided to give the patients new medications and in less than a month we saw drastic change in the numbers.
This made me feel excited and fulfilled because that alone helped to prevent some complications which the patients might have developed from poor management.
How has your affiliation with the Pharmacist Council of Nigeria and the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria influenced your professional growth in pharmacy?
The bodies (PSN, PCN) have influenced growth in several ways such as:
Education: ensuring access to continuous education programs, workshop, training which has kept one updated on industry trends and best practices.
Professional Networking: Membership in such organizations gives opportunity to connect with colleagues, mentors which helps to gain insights and build relationship.
Could you elaborate on how your role as a Medical Representative at Novartis has deepened your understanding of the drug development process, from research to market distribution?
My Role as a Med Rep at Novartis has provided me with unique insight which includes understanding CLINICAL TRIALS: interaction with the MSLs during training has made me realize the importance of clinical trial phases and data which they rely on to make prescribing decisions. Also, I gained better understanding into how clinical outcome influence a drug’s position in the market.
• Also, working in a highly regulated Industry made me have a better understanding of the roles of regulatory bodies in approving and monitoring drugs for market entry.
• I have also gained insight into pricing strategies, supply chain management, and how Novartis ensures drugs gets to the patients effectively.
• Communication and education: my role also requires me to communicate complex medical information to healthcare practitioners through presentation, face to face to deepening my understanding of how science translates into medical solution.
• By engaging with doctors and Pharmacists, I have the opportunity to get feedback on drug performance, side effects which informs potential drug improvement.
As someone who has worked closely with Novartis products like valsartan and vidagliptin, what strategies do you employ to stay updated on emerging drug innovations and their therapeutic applications?
Personally, continuous education such as pharmaceutical and healthcare conferences where drug innovations are presented.
• collaboration with colleagues like MSLs, engagement with R&D
• Training sessions where new drug development is also discussed.
• Field experience, insights from the HCPs during my interaction helps to understand how new drugs are welcomed.
During your time at Wellrose Pharmacy, what systems or processes did you implement to ensure efficient inventory management and timely distribution of medications?
At Wellrose, we had different inventory management such as:
• Barcode scanning: it helped us track inventory levels, monitor expiry dates, and automate ordering process when stock or product is low.
• Automated dispensing cabinet was also used to reduce errors and improve inventory management.
For Timely distribution of medication, we implemented the:
• Just-In-Time delivery to ensure drugs are delivered to the right location at the right time.
• Route Optimization which helped to streamline delivery routes, reducing transportation costs and improving delivery time.
• we also made sure we had different reputable distributor that we normally purchase from to avoid getting stranded or out of stock of medication.
In your previous roles, how did you ensure adherence to safety standards and confidentiality laws while handling the storage, dispensing, and distribution of drugs?
In my previous roles, adherence to safety standards were ensured by:
• Proper storage conditions: drugs were stored in a controlled environment, optimal temperature, humidity and light conditions were all maintained.
• Standard Operating Procedures: I made sure I adhered to SOPs for storage, dispensing and distribution of drugs.
• Storages were secured such as locked cabinet, shelves and automated dispensing cabinets to prevent unauthorized access.
• I ensured proper labeling and signage on storage areas, shelves and containers.
• Regular inventory checks were conducted to detect and prevent loss or theft.
• I also ensured proper disposal of expired, damaged or unwanted drugs according to guideline.
Confidentiality Laws:
• Patients information such as name, medical records and prescription information were all handled in accordance with the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) guidelines.
• Patients record and prescription information were stored in secure encrypted systems.
• Access control such as password, biometrics authentication and role-based access were implemented to restrict unauthorized access to confidential information.
For Distribution and Dispensing:
• Prescriptions were verified for accuracy and authenticity before dispensing or distributing drugs.
• Patients information such as name, date of birth and address were all verified before dispensing.
• Secure tamper-evident packaging were usually used for distribution and dispensing.
• Accurate record of drug storage, dispensing and distribution including expiry date were maintained.
How do you approach educating patients about the proper use of prescription and non-prescription drugs, particularly those with complex treatment regimens?
This requires a comprehensive and patient-centered approach.
You start with Pre-Education Assessment:
• Evaluate patients current knowledge and understanding of their drugs.
• Identify barriers that may make explanations difficult such as language, health literacy issue.
• Establish specific education goals tailored to the patients need.
Then Education Strategy:
• Simple language is used to better understanding.
• Visual aid such as pictures, diagrams are also used to facilitate understanding.
• I will also provide a list of medication used by the patient including name, dosage and frequency.
• Also, I will demonstrate proper use in situation where injectables or inhalers are part of the medications.
• I will address concerns and questions if need be from the patient.
For those with complex regimen:
• I will break down the complex regimen to smaller one.
• I will educate the patient on one medication at a time.
• Written instruction will be provided to support verbal one.
• Lastly, a follow up session will be scheduled for the patient.
Can you share a specific instance where you had to collaborate with doctors or other healthcare professionals to make critical decisions about a patient’s treatment?
I remembered early 2024, there was a patient that had heart failure and he was on cocktail of drugs with little improvement. I was in the doctor’s consultant room and he called my attention to the situation. Luckily for us, we launched a drug for heart failure some months back. After some minutes of discussion, the doctor concluded and prescribed the drug for the patient stating why he wanted him to switch to te drug and te benefits the patient tends to get.
After few months, the doctor called to share the positive feedback about the patients’ health and how the same patient that was brought in on a wheel chair on the first visit and how he walked into his office after few months of using the new medication. I was so happy and excited.
What techniques have you found most effective in promoting new pharmaceutical products to both healthcare professionals and patients?
There are so many approaches such as:
TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES:
• Medical representative visits doctors office providing them with product information and clarifying objections.
• Product sampling: free samples of new drugs are given to the doctors to give to patients in need to try before prescribing.
• Print Materials: flyers, product guides, brochures are given to the doctors so as to have a better knowledge and something they can easily refer to.
• Medical conferences: This is an avenue where doctors can learn about the new drug and network with peer.
DIGITAL TECHNIQUES:
• Email marketing: targeted email campaign are sent to the doctors explaining the benefits and features of the new drug.
• Online Advertising: targeted online advertising e.g google Ads and social media ads are used to reach the doctors.
• Digital sales aid such as tablets and laptops are also used to present product information to doctors.
RELATIONSHIP BUILDING TECHNIQUES:
• Key Opinion Leader: the pharmaceutical company partners with influential doctor known as KOLs, to promote new drug.
• Speaker led Program: companies sponsor speaker programs where doctors can learn about the new drug from expert speakers.
In my opinion, the Key Opinion Leader has been a very strategic technique because the KOL is usually someone highly respected and because of that it is very easy for the doctors to accept and at the same time the number of doctor tat will be spoken with at that particular time is normally a lot.
How do you balance achieving sales targets with maintaining ethical practices in drug distribution and marketing?
For me, I work with a company with high integrity. Most of my doctors know I will not compromise. Therefore, I go directly to my points such as efficacy and other benefit a patient will enjoy when prescribed a medication from my company. This has been my style and also relationship is key for me. This allows the doctors to feel free when discussing with me even when they need clarity.
In your role at Novartis, how have you demonstrated leadership or problem-solving skills in resolving challenges related to drug supply chains or customer satisfaction?
There was an issue whereby this particular product has been unavailable for months in the country which means the customers did not have access to their medications. I had to collaborate with the supply chain team to really understand the reason for the delayed shipment. I then went ahead to explain the situation to the wholesalers and the reason behind it. They felt a lot better because no one carried them along or told the Mehta exactly was the cause for delay. I also spoke to some of my bosses who were able to fast track the process and the drugs came in earlier than expected.
With your expertise in communication and interpersonal relationships, how would you handle a scenario where a key pharmaceutical product is delayed in distribution, potentially impacting patient care?
From experience, I will go to the key distributor and have a one-on-one discussion with her. I will apologies on behalf of the company and admit to the fact that the delay is affecting patient care. will let her also know that I am doing all my possible best to get the product out so patients can benefit. Most likely a timeline will be put to it so as to make her feel better. I will also work endlessly from my end to make the product available as early as possible and make sure to keep her posted with information she needs to know about.
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