Oluwakorede Adedeji, the overall best graduating student for the 2020/2021 academic session at the University of Ilorin with a 4.96 CGPA, he is an emerging researcher with passionate interests in biomedical informatics, pharmaceutical research and technology.
What inspired you to pursue a career in pharmacy?
From Secondary school, I have liked Chemistry and Mathematics, and from then on, I chose Pharmacy. I used to say to myself that one day, I would be able to find a cure for HIV. I decided to study Pharmacy so that I could create drugs and improve the health of others.
What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the pharmacy profession?
One of the biggest challenges I see facing the profession is the overdependence on imported pharmaceutical products. The pharmacy profession has great potential for expansion if we could research and develop more drugs locally. I think fostering innovation in the pharmacy sector will greatly alleviate many health problems in Nigeria.
How do you envision the future of pharmaceutical education and practice evolving in the coming years?
I envision the future of pharmaceutical education and practice in the coming years to be driven by technology. With the advent of novel tools like Artificial Intelligence, the entire healthcare system can be revolutionized and dramatically improved. I envision a future where pharmacy students do not have to rely on immense bulky textbooks alone but are also trained to be innovative and embrace research even before graduating. The Pharmacy practice will get better not just for the professionals, but for the patients too.
Drug abuse seems to be a growing trend among young people in the country and across the world. As a pharmacist, what advice and policies would you put forward towards stemming this negative growth?
The role of the Pharmacist is inextricably linked towards preventing/curbing drug abuse in any society. As a Pharmacist, I believe that stemming this negative growing trend of drug abuse in the country would entail the development and implementation of evidence-based policies that do not tackle this problem in isolation, but approach it from a holistic view that also targets other multiple causative factors. In Nigeria, major causes of drug abuse include peer pressure, poor socio-economic status, mental health problems, curiosity and more. Possible policies could start with the enforcement of a comprehensive drug distribution system that monitors the movement of drugs across the supply chain, especially for drugs with the potential for abuse. While plans are put in place to curb the illicit supply, it is also essential to curb the illicit demand as well, and this is where health promotion plans and programs can come in place. I have experience working with young people on a research program, by the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, that aims to increase access to HIV prevention options for young people in Lagos, Nigeria. From this research, I learnt that young people are best positioned to solve the problems of young people. If you want young people to stop drug abuse, you need young people to tell their peers how to stop it. It would be productive if the Ministry of Health could encourage the participation of young people in the development of health promotion policies and programs for other young people who abuse drugs in Nigeria.
How can the government efficiently tackle the problem of substandard pharmaceutical products that pose a serious danger to the overall wellbeing of the people?
First, I would like to commend the current efforts of the government in tackling substandard pharmaceutical products through the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control. The government can fund efforts to foster more innovation for useful technology that can accelerate the detection and tracking of substandard pharmaceutical products. Effective collaboration across agencies and ministries will further aid in solving this problem.
Do you see more young people seeing pharmaceutical sciences/technology courses as viable options for career growth and personal development?
Yes, definitely. Pharmacy school does not just prepare you for becoming a Pharmacist, it prepares you for everything. Whether you are in health innovation, public health, drug research, pharmaceutical production, academia, hospital practice, regulatory practice, community practice, or political appointments, you’ll find pharmacists. I am proud of this profession and I encourage more young people looking for career growth and personal development to explore their capacity for various positions in the versatile Pharmacy field.
You were recently adjudged the overall best student, how did you come about that academically and socially considering the various distractions?
I am not the smartest person, nor do I read the most. It is all God. Academically, for every session, I always had the goal for straight As, not because I wanted to be the overall best, but because I had some of the smartest classmates and we were very competitive in a healthy way. Pharmacy school, especially my class, is composed of people who were the best in their various secondary schools. If you had a B in any course in my pharmacy class, you can be sure that someone else got an A. I think being in an environment that consistently motivates and challenges you is one of the best ways you can improve yourself rapidly. You are the average of the 5 people you hang out most with. Socially, I tried my best. No one is immune to distractions. What matters is how you handle it quickly.
What was your reading plan like and what are your plans for further studies, and personal and professional development?
My reading plan varied from period to period and from course to course. You can expect that I spend only a few hours reading at the beginning of the session and more hours towards exams. I do not encourage this for anybody, what matters is knowing yourself. My strategy was reading just enough for courses that I understood well, and reading and practicing way more for courses that I had problems with. My reading plan was to read every course from high credit unit courses to 1 credit unit courses, leaving no course behind. I plan to go for graduate studies, particularly to improve myself in health research, and I hope to gain funding and scholarship opportunities that would enable me to do so.
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