“Cervical cancer rates are high in Africa,” Tamer said. “It’s killing a lot of women. Young women with kids and families — and it breaks my heart.”

There was an in-person training already scheduled in the Ivory Coast in July 2023, and she wanted to be a part of it.

“I am in academia because I feel I can impact more cancer patients by passing knowledge onto my students,” Tamer said. “I’ve always dreamt of helping places that lack access to high-quality health care, so this was an opportunity of a lifetime.”

Tamer worked with BVGH and a fellow oncology pharmacist in Canada, Charles Collin, for weeks to develop the specialized training. Collin traveled to Africa first, with Tamer and the BVGH team set to arrive two weeks later. But before Tamer and BVGH even touched down, they all realized the training would need to be drastically modified.

“As soon as Charles got on the ground, we realized what the situation was,” Tamer said. “They wanted us to advance clinical pharmacy services, but basic pharmacy services needed to be developed first.”

Over the next two weeks, she reworked the entire training to outline many of the best practices that are the norm in oncology pharmacy and infusion centers in the United States. Tamer went over everything that health-care professionals expect in a modern clinical oncology pharmacy setting.

Once she arrived on the Ivory Coast, she trained 20 health-care workers eight hours a day, for three days straight.

“I’ve never talked this long in my life,” Tamer said. “Typically, on the days I teach for a few hours at UMKC, I am wiped out for the rest of the day.”

In addition to the trainings, Tamer also toured hospitals, cancer centers and pharmacies. As time went on, the health-care providers gave a more complete picture of where their health-care system stands. On her last day, the doctors on site invited her to present her findings and outline how they could work to fill in the gaps they have relative to modern clinical pharmacy practices in countries like the United States.

Tamer continues to work with the BVGH team to complete a post-visit report exploring opportunities for improved oncology pharmacy services there, as well as improved cancer patient treatments and outcomes.

A promise Tamer made to one of her first oncology patients is what continues to push her forward. In 2017, she developed a strong bond with two women in their early 30s receiving treatment for cervical cancer. One of the women survived, but the other did not.

“Before she died, she told me, ‘Promise me you will never quit what you are doing, and you will continue to make a difference in people’s lives,’” Tamer said. “People like her make me want to continue doing what I’m doing, despite all the challenges. And that’s what drove me to go to help in Africa.”