I was truly honoured and delighted to be invited to Batley Girls’ High School for their Careers Breakfast event in April 2025. It was brilliantly organised by Iffat Ahmad, Careers Leader, and Amneet K Mehat, Careers Achievement Mentor.
It was a wonderful opportunity to speak with students about the pharmacy profession, how our roles are continuously evolving, and why it’s so important to empower women pharmacists and support them in thriving at work. I wanted to highlight that pharmacy is not just about checking medicines, it’s about leadership, advocacy, innovation, and making a real difference in people’s lives.
It’s vital that young people, especially young women, see the full potential of a career in pharmacy. Platforms like the PDA NAWP (National Association of Women Pharmacists) Network play a crucial role in creating safe, supportive spaces for female pharmacists to grow, lead, and inspire.
I also wanted to help the students see pharmacy as a dynamic and rewarding career, and to encourage them to use their voices to shape the future of the profession. By sharing real experiences and breaking down outdated perceptions, we can create a more positive, empowering image of pharmacists. An image that reflects the passion, skill, and diversity of those in the field.
Ferhana Lunat, Student Services at Batley Girls’ High School, said, “Ayah’s visit to Batley Girls’ High School was very insightful. It gave me a deeper understanding of what being a pharmacist actually entails and how a career in pharmacy is very rewarding. Our students found Ayah’s talk very interesting and helpful, especially how much Ayah has achieved and gone on to do. Thank you, Ayah, for your inspiring talk which has led many students to want to become future pharmacists.”
A student from Batley Girls’ High School who attended Ayah’s talk said, “I found the breakfast amazing! It was the first breakfast event I went to, unlike the other girls in my class who went to others before, however, they all said that this was the best one they had been to. Ayah was extremely clear on not only her passion but the amount of opportunities she made available to herself. She helped us realise that if we don’t know what to do in the future, it’s best to focus on what we want to do for A Levels in order to shape our future. She not only reached out to those who wanted to become pharmacists but also to those who wanted to go into dentistry or those who didn’t know what they wanted to do in the future. Her advice was extremely helpful and overall, she was clear throughout and easily to talk to when asking questions.”
Thank you again to Batley Girls’ High School for having me. It was inspiring to meet such bright and curious minds, and I hope to have left them with a new and exciting perspective on what it means to be a pharmacist today.
By Ayah Abbass, clinical pharmacist and Immediate Past President of the PDA NAWP Network (left) pictured with Amneet K Mehat, Careers Achievement Mentor (right)
Get involved
- Follow the PDA NAWP Network on social media using the hashtag #PDAnawp
- For more information about the PDA NAWP Network, click here.
- If you would like to get involved with the network and its activities, please email: [email protected]
- Join the PDA NAWP Network.
Learn more
- CV Writing and Interview Skills
- Getting the best from your relationship with your supervisor (Being a mentee)
- How to thrive in your trainee year
- PDA Education launches 2024 Summer School to support members in their career development
- PDA Early Careers Network Newsletter – July 2024
- NAWP host inspiring career-focused events
- First ‘Shaping your career in pharmacy’ event is a success
Not yet a PDA member?
If you have not yet joined the PDA, we encourage you to join today and ask your colleagues to do the same.
Membership is FREE to pharmacy students, trainee pharmacists and for the first three months of being newly qualified.
Read about our key member benefits here.