In the era of digitalization, the healthcare industry demands the urgent need for innovation and the development of new tools, products, and services that could benefit all the stakeholders associated with the healthcare industry. So healthcare entrepreneurship has become necessary to identify unmet needs and develop cost-effective and scalable solutions that can be accessible to a larger segment of the population. To counter the imbalance between the number of pharmacy graduates and job opportunities, one needs to produce pharmacy entrepreneurs equipped with the basic skills of entrepreneurship, discussed below.
What is Entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneurship is starting or developing a new business or service that solves the problems of common people. It is an act of owning a business or becoming an entrepreneur ready to bear and face all the challenges and risks and make the business profitable.
Who is an Entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurs are the real heroes of a country who bring economic change. They take challenges and problems and convert them into business opportunities.
What is Healthcare Entrepreneurship?
Healthcare entrepreneurship is about introducing a new product, medicine, service, or process that fills the gap in the delivery of healthcare services. Healthcare entrepreneurs believe their products can bother to diagnose, treat, cure, feed, or fuel millions of people. Healthcare entrepreneurs develop and offer creative and innovative solutions to the challenges patients and healthcare stakeholders face.
Healthcare entrepreneurship provides various opportunities for aspiring healthcare professionals to significantly impact the healthcare industry. Although the healthcare industry is booming and the world has adopted different technologies, the recent COVID-19 Pandemic has exposed the other side of the picture. This has drawn the attention of many healthcare entrepreneurs to the unmet needs and challenges faced by patients and healthcare providers.
Healthcare Entrepreneurship and Pharmacy Graduates
Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm-D) is a very Nobel profession and an important pillar of the healthcare system worldwide. However, it is less recognized in many developing and underdeveloped countries regarding service provision, which can be attributed to the fewer job opportunities for pharmacists in the public and private sectors. Because of the fewer future expectations and frustration, many pharmacists have abandoned their careers.
Talking about Pakistan, it is documented that only about 10 Institutes across Pakistan were involved in training pharmacists by 2000. Private pharmacy institutes were rare before the same year. In 2003, a 4 years B-Pharmacy degree was upgraded to a Pharm-D degree, and the syllabus was approved by the Pharmacy Council of Pakistan and the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.
This was the turning point in the history of the Pharmacy Profession in Pakistan. Currently, more than 53 institutes across Pakistan produce more than 5000 pharmacists annually, and every graduate looks for a job but is disappointed when facing the actual situation. In this situation when entrepreneurship is a hot topic globally, all the Pharmacy Schools should raise the slogan:
“Make students Job creators, not job seekers”
In the context of pharmacy, entrepreneurship is generally associated with establishing community pharmacies and business management. However, entrepreneurship and its associated skills are key to developing a range of healthcare services in the community and hospital sectors. Innovation is a key component of the pharmaceutical industry and biomedical research.
Every drug or medicinal product developed and released to the market stems from an intellectual curiosity that requires a proof of concept spanning years. Pharmacists and healthcare professionals are responsible for the health and well-being of the population, the so-called “social capital.” Therefore, pharmacists may be defined as “social entrepreneurs” rather than the standard “business entrepreneurs,” for whom financial profit is key to a successful enterprise.
Top 5 Essential Skills Every Pharmacy Graduate Should Master
Becoming a healthcare entrepreneur requires a unique skill set due to the sensitivity and complexity of the healthcare industry. Here are the top 5 essential skills every pharmacy graduate should master;
1. Innovative and creative
2. Adaptability
3. Opportunistic and problem solving
4. Leadership and team building
5. Emotional intelligence
1. Innovative and Creative
Creative thinking and innovation are crucial to stand out in the competitive market. The ability to innovate is a distinguished and important feature of the healthcare entrepreneur that every pharmacy student must learn.
2. Adaptability
Healthcare entrepreneurs are willing to take risks and live with uncertainty. Due to the rapid advancements in technology, changes in regulatory needs, and shift in patient needs, pharmacy graduates should learn to respond to these changes and pivot their strategies as needed.
3. Opportunistic and Problem-Solving
Entrepreneurs seek out opportunities to make money. They look at problems as opportunities and bring out solutions that make a profit for them. Pharmacy schools must inculcate this skill in their graduates.
4. Leadership and Team Building
Developing networks and building relationships is a key to success for entrepreneurs. Every pharmacy graduate must have the ability to build a team that works for a shared vision and acts as a strong leader.
5. Emotional Intelligence
A healthcare entrepreneur must have the ability to manage and understand his own emotions and the emotions of people around him. This skill helps entrepreneurs to show others the leader inside them. Every Pharmacy graduate must develop the four competencies of emotional intelligence; 1) self-awareness 2) self-management 3) social awareness 4) relationship management.
In the end, healthcare entrepreneurship has a vast scope and offers a bright future to all those pharmacy graduates who are passionate to work in healthcare and eager to bring a positive impact in the healthcare industry.
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