An Interview with the Pharmacist behind ‘Health tips with Layo’
Received on 31/05/2022
Hello OMOLAYO,
Thank you for agreeing to do this interview. Could you please tell us more about your career and what you do as a health influencer?
I am a pharmacist with a deep passion for global/public health. I enjoy everything that has to do with teaching and making people around me feel at their best. I believe that with the right kind of knowledge, people can live at their best health-wise and make the right informed choices. As a health influencer, I work on creating basic and relatable content (videos, blogs and infographics) on social media, especially YouTube to pass timely and credible health information as a pharmacist. I also recently just launched my website to create contents in different forms and encourage other young health professionals who would like to follow this path to show their skills in writing via the website. Asides health promotion, I am also a budding data scientist, taking health promotion to the level of innovation by leveraging technology.
What has been your motivation to do what you do?
During my student internship in pharmacy school, I had the opportunity to work in a community pharmacy and a hospital pharmacy and this brought about diverse conversations with patients I had an encountered one thing I found that is common to both settings is that many people land in serious health situations because they failed to do the right thing because of misinformation or lack of information and this motivated me to start health influencing to reduce these preventable mistakes so that people can live quality lives based on credible information.
Kindly describe your experience in FIP since you became a member.
My experience in FIP has been nothing short of amazing and full of so much exposure and learning. I joined FIP in 2020 and at the same time, I applied for the role of Publications Coordinator which I eventually got. I learned about FIP from a webinar I was opportune to organize and Pharm. Funmbi Okoya talked about FIP and I took interest from there and it was an open door to international opportunities. I enjoyed the role and learned new skills with the team. I also joined the Pharmacy Education Journal team as an Editorial assistant from a volunteer opportunity that was shared among FIP subcommittees. I am happy to be part of the team currently working on the FIP-GPO Compendium project 2022. Every opportunity for me in FIP is an opportunity to learn and contribute to my quota on a global scale.
How do you see the importance of FIP to the pharmacy profession in general?
Very important. FIP has different sections depending on the area of pharmacy practice you are interested in where you can join a community of people to learn and get access to opportunities for growth for both young and older pharmacists. It provides a platform for pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists to learn, contribute knowledge and innovations, raise leaders on a global scale, and constantly raise the flag of the pharmacy profession in different parts of the world.
What are some ways you think FIP- YPG members can get involved in promoting health and advancing the profession?
Health promotion is not limited to social media, health can be promoted by being a part of programs or initiatives that contributes to the general wellbeing of the immediate environment in any aspect of pharmacy practice you choose. FIP members can get involved by volunteering and joining programs, attending conferences, taking part in politics, etc to learn, grow and take part in activities that would improve the health of others.
Thank you so much for your time. We wish you the best in your endeavors.
