I sat in my MPharm admissions interview as a first‑generation applicant, wearing heels as high as my hopes and carrying a little naivety, when I was called an “unusual candidate”. Perhaps I was. But you, and the patients I have cared for, welcomed me anyway. From that moment, I fell in love with what you truly are: not a stereotype or a fallback but a profession defined by compassion, science, precision and possibility.
As our scope expanded and our responsibilities grew, that love deepened. Pharmacy has transformed from a medicines‑focused discipline into a clinical profession entrusted with diagnostics, prescribing, clinical reasoning and autonomous patient‑centred decision‑making. It is one of the most significant evolutions in modern healthcare. Yet our training structures, systems and professional voice have not kept pace.
Today’s pharmacists practise at a level our current education and development pathways were never designed to sustain. Undergraduate reform is welcome, but it cannot alone create the confident, clinically capable workforce our patients depend on. We need multisector training pathways that are appropriate and accessible, clear specialty routes and robust advanced‑practice frameworks rooted in structures similar to medicine — not because we want to be medics but because our patients need us to stand beside them with equal confidence and competence. We need supervision, protected learning time and competency‑based progression that empowers pharmacists across all sectors to deliver the care patients expect.
This is why I am standing as a candidate for the National Pharmacy Advisory Council.
I want a future where pharmacists no longer fight for professional identity or development, where our potential is recognised, our expertise nurtured and our contribution valued. I want us to move beyond the idea of pharmacy as a “thankless profession” and instead build systems that make our work visible, respected and sustainably supported.
As my career progressed, I realised I remained “unusual” in another way, an early‑mid‑career pharmacist willing to challenge outdated norms and speak up when systems fall short.
Pharmacy, you showed me what it means to grow into a role no one expected of me. Now, I want to help you grow into the profession you are destined to become: unified, confident, clinically strong and leading change.
This is my love letter and my promise. If elected, I will advocate for the education, support and recognition you deserve, so every pharmacist can thrive and every patient can benefit.
Katherine Pearson
Candidate for the National Pharmacy Advisory Council for England
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