On March 23 and in honor of International Women’s Month, Student Happiness Centre, College of Pharmacy organized a session for students and female faculty on “Empowering Future Female Pharmacy Leaders” with guest speaker Dr. Hillary Blackburn, PharmD, MBA. Dr. Hillary Blackburn is currently the director of a charity-based medications distributor called “Dispensary of Hope”. She is also the Founder and Host of the podcast known as “Talk to Your Pharmacist” and Author of “How Pharmacists Lead: Answers from Women Who Are Leading, Succeeding, and Impacting Pharmacy”; a book that aims to inspire readers along their own leadership journey by highlighting role models who have been leading organizations as CEOs or VPs or those with various career paths who are entrepreneurs with their own personal brands and businesses as well as some of the challenges that women face in the workplace, and solutions to overcome them.
During the session, Dr. Hillary discussed her journey through pharmacy school, residency, volunteer work, internships and organizations she took part in and how they shaped her views on leadership. She explained how networking and creating platforms such as the podcast introduced her to the stories of inspiring women in the field of pharmacy. She also discussed findings from her 100+ interviews on stories of common challenges women face in their workforce that are relavant to the current generation and key tips on developing skills sets that help overcome such barriers. She shared with students key points on how they can lead, inspire and make an impact in their current spaces.
Director of Student Happiness Centre at College of Pharmacy, Dr. Eman El-labbad commented: “Dr. Hillary’s session provided an amazing example on how women in pharmacy can connect, inspire, support each other crossing time, location and cultural barriers. The session inspired all attendees to believe in their capabilities to lead and drive change in the field of pharmacy practice. It was a true reflection on the essence of International Women’s day “.