Throughout my 15 years in the pharmaceutical industry, I’ve had the privilege of wearing several hats – from HCP as a clinical pharmacist, to commercial roles including here at A Life in a Day, sales team manager and even as a patient. Few people know this (until now), but I’ve even contributed to the A Life in a Day programmes as a patient! From sitting on various sides of the table when it comes to conversations around patient centricity, there are some key findings I have discovered that, had I known them before, would have made a remarkable difference to the roles I’ve been in.
What I wish I knew then, given what I know now…
Had I known programmes such as A Life in a Day existed during my career, it would have been a game changer in so many ways. The term patient centricity has many different meanings and implications depending on where you work within the industry, and yet all of them would have seen significant and tangible improvements if A Life in a Day was around or if I knew about it!
In the commercial roles I’ve been in (aside from here at A Life in a Day), I would spend an excessive amount of time trying to get my teams to understand how to truly articulate the patient experience. Understanding patient unmet needs so to align our conversations with stakeholders was our biggest challenge, and a process that A Life in a Day would have accelerated dramatically.
And this isn’t just my opinion. In every debrief session I’ve had with my clients here at A Life in a Day, participants share how impacted they were by being able to walk in a patient’s shoes for 24 hours. They discuss how that impact improves their awareness, understanding and empathy for patients – an essential knowledge that goes on to drive changes in their roles and organisations.
As a clinical pharmacist, I could have seen myself using these experiences to enhance communication between all stakeholders within my role. Having a greater understanding of the patients I served alongside establishing a clearer communication with those I worked with on how better to work with our patients would’ve led to improved outcomes for everyone involved.
The truth is however, that we are more than just employees in this world. As many of us will experience, I have also been a patient and worked with my colleagues as a contributor to our newest experience of A Life in a Day of a person living with obesity. Having undergone intense treatments including surgery, and dealing with my own physical and mental health, it has allowed me to share my story and know that my experience is being heard and making a difference within the industry.
Now, in my third year at A Life in a Day, I support pharma professionals and healthcare providers ensuring they leverage A Life in a Day to get the best possible outcomes for their teams, and ultimately the patient. By seeing the industry from various angles through my years’ experience, it fuels my passion and belief in the power of A Life in a Day to help pharma professionals truly see the world through their patients’ eyes.
