Médecins Sans Frontières - Portrait of Barbara

Unique Identifier Code / URN MSF226469

Date taken / Date Recorded 15/12/2017 12:00 AM

Country Unspecified Country

Commissioning section MSF-UNITED KINGDOM

Copyright /MSF

Usage Rights (MSF) External Media, MSF Publications, Social Media

Formal Consent Copy available no

Editor's rating ★★★★★ (C)

Video format h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661)

Duration 5m41s

Maximum Size 1920px × 1080px 794.49 MB

Additional Information / Shotlist Retranscription_EN Barbara – Pharmacist

(Are you MSF?)

For me a big personal motivator is being able to make a difference.
(Barbara Pawulska
Pharmacist)
(What’s the typical role of a pharmacist?)
I’d primarily be supervising national staff in the pharmacies. They do most of the day-to-day work and they’re more than capable of that. The pharmacist is responsible for keeping supplies of medicines flowing, avoiding running out of medicines and dealing with overstocks of medicines. Working with an MSF mission that's dependent on imports of medicines from Europe, we get three or four deliveries a year. The pharmacist is responsible for making sure that that doesn't run out. We’re checking the consumption and prescribing figures, addressing problems as they arise, making sure that MSF protocols are followed and also predicting what's likely to be needed when it comes to the time to prepare an international order. You work with both the medical team and the logistics team. So, it's both clinical and supply.

(What inspired you to work for MSF?)
I wanted to work with MSF because I wanted to use my skills and experience in a humanitarian context and also MSF brings together three of my big interests in life: medicine, politics and travel.

(What is a typical day like in the field?)

Typical days on mission is hard to describe because there aren't many typical days, but for example in DRC, I spent days updating things like order forms for the pharmacy, order forms from hospital departments to the pharmacy. There's a consumption tool which shows the usage of every medical item by different departments so I'd be looking and analysing that to make sure that medicines were not being overconsumed. If they were, then trying to find out why and doing something about it if it wasn't appropriate. I would work with the pharmacy staff from time to time. Things like the monthly stock inventory in the pharmacy which is dreaded and hated: every last tablet has to be physically counted. I would also prepare training material. There's a lot of call for training in pharmacies and that's something that I did a fair amount of, particularly in DRC.

(How does working with MSF compare with other pharmacist jobs?)
It's quite different from community pharmacy or even hospital pharmacy because one thing you won't do or you shouldn't get too involved in is the day-to-day work. You won't be doing dispensing and that sort of thing because the national staff are there. It’s their job. Your job is to empower them to do that, to give them the space to do their work, to make sure that procedures are followed and the structures are in place to enable that to happen, to look at any training gaps and fill those. It’s actually quite different.

(Do you have any advice for someone thinking about joining MSF?)

Try and find out as much as you can about MSF before applying. It really helped me to find somebody who's worked with MSF before and talk to them, just to get an idea of what the life is like. Once you are out in the field, remember that you're only there for a short time. Ask questions and don't change anything until you understand why it's like that. Don't change anything without involving the national staff in your decision. You'll be gone after your mission. They stay and they have to deal with things.

(What do you enjoy most about working in the field?)
The best thing about working for MSF for me is the people. A pharmacy role sits in between medical and logistics. You have to understand how to work with both of these teams, to understand the tools that they use, even the language that they use. There can be a lot of misunderstandings between logistics and medical. Part of a pharmacy’s role is to smooth the way and get the best out of both sides. Then there's the national staff of course. They’re a joy to work with. Being able to give them the space to do their job well and to empower them to carry on the job is very rewarding.

(Barbara is MSF, are you?

Find out at
msf.org.uk/pharmacist

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msf.org.uk/work-overseas)

Portrait of Barbara - Pharmacist (ENG)

Portrait of Barbara - Pharmacist (ENG)