RPS Pharma Scene #5 - Black History Month

With Tase Oputu and Adanna Anthony-Okeke

 

This episode, RPS President Claire Anderson and RPS Head of Professional Belonging Aman Doll celebrate Black History Month by chatting with Tase Oputu and Adanna Anthony-Okeke, pharmacists at different stages in their careers, about what it means to be black in pharmacy - and what still needs to change.

Tase is the Lead Pharmacist for Medicines Commissioning and Pathways at Barts Health NHS Trust and is a member of the English Pharmacy Board.

And Adanna is a fifth year Pharmacy student at the University of Nottingham. 

Both have been championing black pharmacists in the workplace and in education in Great Britain and beyond. Find out what they have been doing in this week's instalment of the RPS Pharma Scene podcast.


About Tase

Tase637702374851736947Tase Oputu has worked in the NHS and hospital pharmacy for over 26 years. She has a wide and varied career which has included working in Tanzania with Voluntary Services Overseas, public health strategy with the Healthcare Commission, and several senior hospital pharmacy manager roles in hospitals in London and the South East.

She is currently the Lead Pharmacist for Medicines Commissioning and Pathways at Barts Health NHS Trust and is a member of the English Pharmacy Board and Assembly Member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Tase is passionate about Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, as you can hear in this instalment of the podcast. She is a graduate of the 'Ready Now' NHS Leadership Academy programme for senior BME leaders and has chaired the BME staff networks at Newham Hospital and Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. She is proud to have been part of the organising group for the first ever Black History Month event at the RPS in 2019.

In her spare time Tase is passionate about reading, especially black literature, as well as practicing yoga and other forms of exercise.

About Adanna 

adanna 2637703328094214605

 

Adanna Anthony-Okeke is a fifth year pharmacy student at the University of Nottingham and former Vice President of the university’s PharmSoc, as well as the Eastern Area Coordinator of the BPSA.

Alongside her studies, in her second year at university, Adanna noticed areas within the formal and hidden curriculum lacked racial inclusivity. She formed a team with fellow students at the university to decolonise the course and address diversity in the curriculum. The group are questioning modules taught at the university, and is working with the placing team to make sure students are sent to placements with a diverse range of pharmacists. 

Adanna wants to ensure pharmacists are being trained to cater to multi-ethnic societies and is looking to organise teaching sessions for conditions not covered representatively, such as Sickle Cell Disease. 

She wants to question things and work together to create change and inspire future generations of black pharmacy students. 

 


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