Sheila is a hospital pharmacist. She loves what she does and knows that her profession allows a range of possibilities. Based on that, she decided to step out of her comfort zone. She recently enrolled in a Postgraduate Program and will soon become an aesthetic pharmacist.
In a short time, Sheila dos Santos will be able to reap the good fruits this market allows: work with more flexible hours and profit. At first, she will not leave the hospital because she likes being there. At the same time, she knows the future of aesthetics is promising.
“Besides improving in one area, I can increase my income with something I like doing, using new skills. And aesthetics makes autonomy and increased income possible, and the more you want to dedicate yourself, the greater your return will be. The autonomy is amazing”.
For anyone with professional training in health care, this text will be inspiring. You know those moments when, even though we really like what we do, we realize we can go further, face challenges, and step out of our comfort zone? That is what Sheila is doing.
The Many Options of Pharmacy
Sheila knew that Pharmacy had this advantage of allowing its professionals to work in many specializations. It is what she called “the many options of Pharmacy”. And among the possibilities, she chose the hospital.
“In Pharmacy, you have the chance to specialize in hospitals, nutrology, laboratories, and now in the aesthetic side too. This diversity of practice was one of the biggest motivators for me choosing this undergraduate degree”.
The first curiosity about Sheila is that, unlike most hospital professionals who suffer from intense routines, she likes her work. “I love what I do, I work at a big hospital in a big network. I am very happy in my current profession”.
This part is quite interesting because we have told a similar story before. Only that time, Renata Lima Ribeiro told us about her turbulent routine in hospitals. “I worked more than 24 hours in a tight routine”. Revisit it here.
The fact is that even though she likes working at the hospital, Sheila decided to step out of her comfort zone and learn new areas of practice within Pharmacy. “One of the reasons I chose the Postgraduate Program in Aesthetics was the idea of never stopping studying”.
The Specialization in Aesthetics
She said she already has a specialization in her field, which is hospital pharmacy. However, she wanted to do “something different”. And it was during the pandemic that she had this shift in mindset, when remote care took the spotlight among health professionals.
“I started out looking for a Postgraduate Program in prescribing. I thought about prescribing in patient care. And in that search, aesthetics appeared, or rather, the aesthetic pharmacist, who could prescribe and treat patients with aesthetic procedures”.
What did she do? She went looking for answers. After all, it was a topic she had not yet mastered and she was not sure about. So the next step was to contact the Federal Council of Pharmacy (Brazilian professional council) and ask for the information officially.
“They told me about the scope of practice and I thought this would complete me, proving to be a great challenge for that moment. It also fit the idea of expanding my field further, taking advantage of the fact that Pharmacy allows that. And that is how I started the Postgraduate Program”.
The aesthetic pharmacist says this was one of the best choices she has ever made because she took advantage of the flexibility that the aesthetics market and the course offer. In her case, a hybrid course, where the theory classes were online and the Clinical Immersion took place on weekends.
“The platform is amazing. It serves me both with the course materials and the classes on Zoom, in addition to the hands-on classes. I am super happy to be learning more every day about this new field”.
Sheila says that using technology is very viable for today and was even one of the most important points driving her choice of the Postgraduate Program she enrolled in. “Online study and the easy platform made it possible for me to study”.
The Future of the Aesthetic and Hospital Pharmacist
In Sheila's view, aesthetics is one more important area of practice for pharmacists. It has advantages such as autonomy, and this can be added to your résumé, your day-to-day, and each professional's differentiators. She took advantage of this chance.
“In my case, I am satisfied with hospital pharmacy, but I want to complement it and broaden my range. That way, when I have availability, I can see patients. I made the right choice”.
So, close to becoming an Aesthetic Pharmacist, she says she intends to balance the two jobs at first: the hospital and aesthetics. “And as things happen, I will see what I think is best”.
For now, what really matters to her is seeing that there is indeed a broad market of possibilities. “In the long term, I have not thought about that yet. But for me it is great because it allows one more option: increased income and flexibility of practice”.
Sheila comments that one of the achievements of working in aesthetics is precisely the flexibility the field allows. “In my case, I can balance alternative hours and days, which is amazing for any professional”.
Other Stories to Inspire You
Besides Sheila, there is an aesthetic pharmacist who also saw in aesthetics a new chance to “widen the range” or simply change the direction of her professional career. In fact, not just one, but several. Below, you can check out some of them.
Five years after graduating, Wanessa decided to change careers. Since she always liked cosmetics and the aesthetics field, she did not hesitate and pursued her specialization.
When she was not even thinking about aesthetics, she owned a small pharmacy. Today, she has a drugstore and an aesthetics clinic. This is a summary of the story of Anny.
She left the salary of big pharmacy chains to earn her own money through aesthetics. This is the story of Carolina, who had the courage to change.
Success Stories>Aesthetic PharmacyIrving Malaguti
NEPUGA content team — Núcleo de Especializações Ana Carolina Puga.
