The Doctor Is In Dr. Suzanne Soliman On Finding Balance, Creating Networks and Sharing Knowledge

By tara delorenzo

In an effort to not only create a supportive community but to also make pharmaceutical knowledge more accessible, Dr. Suzanne Soliman has launched an Instagram and Tik Tok page, @ drsuzannesoliman, to help give out no-nonsense advice, which will now feature a monthly live show inspired by questions Soliman is asked.

Soliman, a current resident of Norwood, has an extensive pharmaceutical background. After earning her PharmD from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy (UIC-COP), she went on to complete a residency in primary care, with a focus in education, at Midwestern University Chicago College of Pharmacy and a teaching fellowship at UIC College of Medicine. Soliman worked then as a clinical pharmacist, a medical science liaison and an educator before going on to becoming an Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at UIC-COP. She was also an Associate Dean at Touro College of Pharmacy New York and an independent pharmacy owner. Currently, she is the Chief Health Officer at the Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs (ACMA), which is in Oradell, and is a global organization that provides solutions for certification, training, analyt- ics and insights to support the healthcare and life sciences industries.

And in addition to this extensive resume, she is also a mother of five, so when juggling became harder to balance, she turned to social media to find other moms in her situation.

“I was really stressed out with work-life balance and being a mom, so I went to the internet and looked for other moms like me who were pharmacists who were similarly stressed out and didn’t know how to figure out the balance. I couldn’t find a lot of pharmacist groups, so I started my own, and within a month we were at a thousand members. Now, we’re at a little over 40,000 members of pharmacist moms in the country and women pharmacists,” Soliman said. “We talk about things from what to make for dinner to what’s happening with shortages, which is especially relevant right now with drug shortages.”

She now has more than 62,000 followers on Instagram and 11,000 on Tik Tok.

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“I did not intend to do anything on social media. I was just stressed out and I was missing my son’s games because as a pharmacist, you have to work nights and weekends and holidays, and I felt like a terrible mom who was missing all of my son’s baseball games and then it was like, ‘Well I must not be the only other person feeling this,’” she said. “I really didn’t expect the response I got too; it took off organically.”

Two-thirds of pharmacists are women, said Soliman, and for her, what really got her interested in the field was making an impact on society in patients. Her main areas of interest include parenting, women’s health, vitamins and supplements and the pharmaceutical industry.

With her job with the ACMA too, she can work with pharma companies and help accredit organizations to ensure rules and regulations are being followed so the overall safety of the patients and healthcare system is looked after. The organization can work on certification programs and training healthcare providers who are leading clinical trials to make sure there is more accountability.

“We do a lot of work for the pharma industry to really help to get everything into place and help raise the bar for patients, and that’s my goal,” she said.

Another current topic Soliman is increasingly interested in is nutrient deficiencies and how medication’s potential side effects can affect a patient. And more than that, it’s the education she’s most interested in.

“Even if you pop an Advil, it’s like it can affect your vitamin D, so think about that when you’re taking Advil for a couple days. Every medication you’re taking does impact your vitamin and micronutrient absorption,” she said. “I’m really passionate about educating people on that because I don’t think we do a good enough job with that.”

That’s where her Instagram and channel come most into play. When her group started, it was mostly to meet other women in pharmacy who were mothers and to grow a network, but then her reach expanded, and she began getting questions and gaining followers who weren’t just in the pharmacist or physician fields, but that just wanted answers to medical questions.

“My goal is to just educate the public on a lot of these medications and questions and shed more light,” Soliman said.

With the questions she was getting and the information she had to share, she has now started to do month lives for people to tune in to, which will take place the first Wednesday of every month. January’s session was related to the thyroid, as it was Thyroid Awareness Month, but over the rest of the year, she wants to focus more of her lives shows to brain health, including sleep disorder and related topics.

Her goal for her platforms is to make the knowledge of the pharma industry more accessible to patients and help them understand how the different medications can really affect them.

“I want to empower patients to have a better understanding of their healthcare and to answer any questions they have,” she said. “My goal is to bring a lot more transparency to the pharma industry and to also our health, what we’re eating, what we’re taking in, and what the importance is.”

And making that difference for her is what is her favorite part of working both at the ACMA and the platforms she uses.

“I think as the platform grew, I was initially shocked, but as it grew, I felt there was a purpose, and my goal is to help others. I can’t take it lightly,” Soliman said. “I’ve learned that what I’ve put out there can make a difference. Initially, my channel started out for pharmacists and moms, and now I get messages from people all over who are just parents who like the content and are interested. I’ve seen people are interested in taking more ownership of their health and so far, it’s made a difference for me, and it feels like my purpose now is to help educate on what’s going on.”

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Looking forward, Soliman is looking to add interviews to her channel and hopes to be able to do more both locally and nationally. She is also working on a book that will cover healthcare issues related to vitamin supplements and medications.

And just as much as she is looking to make a difference in the lives of those going to her platform, it’s a support system that has also changed her life.

“When I first moved to Norwood and just Bergen County in general, I didn’t realize how many other pharmacist moms there were and we had a meetup, and I met 25 women for dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Paramus. I think this network has shown me how small the world is,” Soliman said. “What I’ve learned is we’re all somehow connected, and for me it’s shown we’re all really connected in different ways, and this network has been there for me in good and bad times, and that’s what we do for one another – just support one another through everything, we were together in the pandemic when pharmacists were the first giving out vaccinations, treating patients when people didn’t know what was going on back then, and people were coming to the pharmacy. Forming relationships pre- and post-pandemic has been great and then for moving into a new area, it’s been great for me having a support system in place.”

To those looking for a community too, Soliman encourages people to investigate different outlets too, and if there isn’t one available, to start one up, much like she did for this network.

“For anyone reading, know your goals or whatever you intend to do, you can accomplish them,” she said. “It might sound cliche, but you can. I never thought I’d be doing what I’m doing and if you’re thinking of starting your own business or thing, do it. It’s never too late to invest in yourself.”

More information about Dr. Suzanne Soliman can be found on her website at drsuzannesoliman.com, as well as on her Instagram @drsuzannesoliman. Her Instagram live show will take place the first Wednesday of each month.

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