Inspiring Educator Award: Maryam Alobaidly

Maryam Alobaidly is the 2025 recipient of the Inspiring Educator Award reflecting her commitment to teaching excellence as well as her work in bridging the connection between the required knowledge and clinical experiences of her students. Read Maryam's story below.

Growing up, I never gave any serious thought to being a pharmacist. As a very young child, I had all sorts of career aspirations, from air stewardess to an IT engineer. In my teenage years I did seriously consider medicine, in part inspired by my mother who is a physician, but seeing her experiences first-hand probably did dissuade me – it didn’t have the work/life balance I felt I wanted. Meanwhile, a neighbour had opted to study pharmacy in Liverpool and it encouraged me to think about it as I was good at biology and chemistry.

I didn’t expect to fall in love with pharmacy, but as soon as I started studying it, I knew I’d made a really great choice. I liked the logic and order of it all while also appreciating the multi-disciplinary nature of it. That aspect is what really drew me towards clinical pharmacy, where there is such close integration and collaboration with other healthcare professionals. I am one of just a handful of clinical pharmacists in Kuwait but numbers have really started to grow as has the appreciation for the role of the clinical pharmacist in positively impacting patient care.

An international education

I left Kuwait at age 16 and enrolled in the Institute of Education in Dublin where I sat my Leaving Certificate. I know that many might find that daunting, but I enjoyed the challenge and was lucky to meet one of my best friends at the Institute – she is also Kuwaiti and went on to study medicine in RCSI. I really appreciated the quality of the lecturers at RCSI – from Professor Judith Strawbridge to Professor Niamh Moran – we got a really great education and importantly it was all very patient-centred.

My time at RCSI where I achieved both my degrees in pharmacy prepared me well for the seven years I spent in the USA. I’d initially returned home to Kuwait after graduating from the BPharm/MSc course but applied for a Doctorate of Pharmacy in Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston, which is linked to Harvard Medical School. As part of my studies, I undertook several rotations across various clinical specialties which were fantastic experiences and prompted me to go on to complete a fellowship as well as a residency.

I did my fellowship in the Department of Quality and Safety at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston. It was focused on clinical research and gave me the opportunity to expand my knowledge and understanding of several topics including opioid use management; medication reconciliation; anticoagulation plans; and pharmacogenomic testing.

I stayed in Brigham and Women’s for my two-year postgraduate residency – the first year involved rotation across a range of different specialties, but during my second year I specialised in solid organ and bone marrow transplantation.

Oftentimes, people (including other healthcare professionals) don’t realise that you can do a pharmacy fellowship or residency. It was challenging but also really exciting and gave me a great insight into teaching in a clinical setting.

Educating the next generation

The hands-on practical experience I received in transplantation pharmacy was invaluable as after my residency I returned to Kuwait to take on the role of clinical pharmacist in the bone marrow transplant unit within Kuwait’s Cancer Control Centre. I work there three days a week, but I’m kept busy on the remaining days of the week with my faculty role at Kuwait University, where I am based in the Department of Pharmacy Practice.

I’ve always enjoyed teaching. That might come from the fact that I’m the eldest and have three younger brothers! Seeing students progress, watching them as they have that ‘a-ha’ moment is always incredibly rewarding. I do like to challenge the students because I think it is important they appreciate the real world realities of pharmacy practice and are as prepared as possible by the time they graduate.

However, I try to balance the challenges with support and guidance, something which I experienced in RCSI during my time as a student. I get great motivation and inspiration as students graduate, and you then find yourself working alongside them as colleagues in the clinical setting.

It is also an interesting time to be involved in the faculty as we have moved from delivering a degree to a seven-year Doctor of Pharmacy programme. That presents challenges but I also think it shows the commitment within the Kuwaiti healthcare system to enhancing the quality and reputation of pharmacy from the classroom to the clinical setting.