By Professor Claire Anderson, RPS President
I am Claire Anderson, President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, and Professor of Social Pharmacy at the School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham, and Mentoring has been of great importance in my career.
I’ve worked in hospital and community pharmacy, as well as in academia for 25 years: at King’s College London and Nottingham, and I’ve been a professor since 2003. Through my research, I have helped lead and inform the development of pharmacy in the UK and globally for example, in my role in public health, influenza vaccination, prescribing and pharmacists in general practice. In my role as a social pharmacy researcher of international renown, I have shaped global research and set the agenda in pharmacy education research and development through my work with the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). I helped develop the UNITWIN network on pharmacy education development in Africa and persuaded WHO to recognise pharmacy workforce issues.
I am also a proud trustee and patron of the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association.
However, the mentorship and support of others have been invaluable throughout my career, as have the excellent role models I have worked with. Upon reflection, I realise that my mentoring skills were developed with generations of university tutees - which is why I was so excited when the RPS mentoring scheme was set up. As a member of the English Pharmacy Board at the time, I immediately volunteered to be a mentor to give something back to our profession. Since then, I have mentored a number of people, who wanted support in the area of research in Consultant Pharmacist credentialing, and I’ve been privileged to help numerous pharmacy colleagues begin and extend their research journeys. I’ve advised them to get involved with multidisciplinary team colleagues already doing research, and some of them have since been credentialed as consultant pharmacists. It’s immensely satisfying to look back and see people whom you’ve helped succeed in their lives and careers.
I’ve got to know some wonderful individuals through mentoring for the RPS; some I mentored for only a short time, while others became longer-term mentees. Some I met face to face over coffee in a café, but most meetings were online, which was a good fit for our busy schedules. Mentoring is not about being an expert or a leader in the profession, rather it’s about helping people to develop, to solve problems, and to take action. Mentoring is about walking in the mentee’s shoes, helping them to find their own solutions, and not judging, but being supportive and encouraging.
Before you begin your mentoring journey, I suggest you look at the resources the RPS offers to support you on your mentoring journey. They certainly helped me, and I hope they’ll do the same for you.
Find out more about RPS mentoring.
Read more RPS blogs.