In the April issue of Retail Pharmacy Assistants e-magazine, we spoke with the National President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia about her career journey, her advice to PAs on overcoming challenges and kicking career goals, opportunities for women in pharmacy, PSA’s role in supporting the work of PAs, and more.
Tell us about your journey to becoming the first female National President of the PSA.
It’s been a very, very interesting journey since I graduated in 2008. After this, I went on to do my internship in a community pharmacy because I love community pharmacy. I enjoyed that, but at that time, I felt we could do so much more. So, it’s good to see what’s happening now and what’s ahead.
At that time, I was encouraged by some of my lecturers to come back and do a PhD, which I did, because I love teaching. I started doing sessional academic work first, and I moved on to contract and did more lecturing work, but at the same time, I continued to do my PhD and practised as a pharmacist in a community pharmacy.
Then there was an opportunity for me to buy into a pharmacy and own my own pharmacy. I really wanted that because I felt it was an opportunity for me to have autonomy and to practise pharmacy the way I believe that pharmacy should be practised.
It was around 2014-2015 when, if I’m honest, the profession was at a stagnant level. We weren’t moving in the right direction, or it was very slow. There was very little remuneration for professional services, but I felt we could do so much more [in this area], and I felt I wanted to do more.
Then there was the opportunity that came up to serve or volunteer at the PSA, so I put my hand up. I then went on and served as a WA branch committee member, then was selected to serve as the web president between 2017 and 2021. Then I was elected to serve on the national PSA board in 2021, and in 2022, I was elected National President.
To be elected as the first female PSA National President is an amazing achievement and a testament to the role that women have in pharmacy. What’s your advice to pharmacy assistants on overcoming challenges and achieving success within the industry?
Pharmacists and pharmacy assistants are an integral part of community pharmacy. I think we often talk about pharmacists, but we don’t actually give enough light to pharmacy assistants.
In every single community pharmacy, you have to work as a team, and that means you have your pharmacists, you have your assistants, and you have all the support staff around you to function and operate efficiently. So absolutely, a shout-out to not just community pharmacists, but also pharmacy assistants, and I understand many of them are your readers.
My message is that, at the moment, over two-thirds of the profession identifies as female, and I’ve always loved to believe that whoever is the right person should get the right job. Characteristics like gender, gender preferences, cultural background and any sort of diversity should never be a barrier to anyone wishing to undertake any role.
Therefore, the message to female pharmacists and female pharmacy assistants is that, if this is their area of passion, and it’s their area of interest, they should absolutely go for it. These things shouldn’t be barriers for them.
What are the opportunities for women in the pharmacy industry? How do you see the role of women evolving, specifically the role of pharmacy assistants?
We do know that most pharmacy assistants identify as women, and naturally, pharmacy assistants have a lot of connection and engagement with the community – patients, consumers, and the locals in the area.
I think there are a lot of opportunities there and for pharmacy assistants, but what I also want to see is the empowering of pharmacy assistants so that they have a more formal and structured role and are able to take on more, because, as we allow community pharmacies to expand their scope and to do more, equally, pharmacy assistants should be empowered to do more that’s within their scope.
We each have our scope of practice, and pharmacy assistants have great skill sets as well. Many of them have a wealth of experience. So, what I think needs to happen is initiatives to formalise the role of pharmacy assistants as a valuable workforce within the pharmacy industry.
What services and resources does the PSA provide for pharmacy assistants?
At PSA, we have the Communities of Specialty Interest (CSIs) and one of them, the first one that was started was the Contemporary Community Pharmacy Practice CSI. For that particular CSI, we released a white paper, which specifically talked about the pharmacy assistant’s role and about how important it is to utilise the pharmacy assistant workforce to contribute towards the overall workforce capacity and capability within the community pharmacy environment.
PSA is 100 per cent supportive of community pharmacy assistants, and the PSA is a key training and education provider in the industry. We don’t just train pharmacists, we also train pharmacy assistants. There are various courses and training that we deliver and provide. There are various tools as well as practical guidance.
There are lots of tools available to empower and support the work of pharmacy assistants, but I do think the pharmacy assistant’s role needs to be formalised and to be well remunerated as well. It also needs to be structured and empowered to do a lot.
What support is available through the PSA for pharmacy assistants to help them grow and develop in their careers?
PSA is a key training and education provider. We run what we call S2 and S3 training. This is a key element to upskilling and providing a structured education for pharmacy assistants to not just supply, but also for them to participate in counselling and help pharmacists do the initial screening when it comes to minor ailments management.
We also run diploma courses and Certificate II and III training courses around dispensing. And some assistants may wish to go into the pharmacy dispensing technician side, for which support is available as well.
Where do you see the pharmacy industry heading within the next five years?
That’s very, very interesting. I think I have my vision for the next five years, but I think in the next 12 to 24 months, very exciting things will happen, and I can almost guarantee that. At the moment the conversation has been a lot around scope, but I think one of the key opportunities here is the government’s announcement to revamp Medicare.
Many would know that in February, under the Albanese government and under the leadership of Health Minister [Mark] Butler, they made the announcement and commitment to revamping Medicare. In my mind, this is an opportunity to revamp primary care. It’s not just about Medicare and how Medicare is administered, but it’s also about how primary care is administered.
Pharmacists and community pharmacy assistants play an integral role when it comes to primary care, and that’s why this is an exciting thing. I think we’re going to see the role of pharmacists and pharmacy assistants being emboldened and expanded going into the next 12 to 24 months.
How can pharmacy assistants stay up to date on changes in the pharmacy industry?
Reading Retail Pharmacy magazine [and Retail Pharmacy Assistants e-magazine] is definitely high up there because [both are] great journals that highlight the state of the industry and what’s happening out there. By simply just reading these magazines, pharmacy assistants can get an overview and a bird’s eye view of what’s happening in the industry, but it also highly encourages pharmacy assistants to attend conferences as well.
At PSA we do run our national flagship conference once a year in Sydney, and it’s happening on 28-30 July in 2023. Pharmacy assistants are strongly encouraged to attend, because, as I mentioned earlier, the great work that pharmacists are doing in the pharmacy cannot happen unless pharmacy assistants are available to support them.
I do think that having pharmacy assistants around the industry [at conferences and other events] and hearing about what’s happening can help them not just understand [these developments] but also go back and contribute to the role that they have in the pharmacy.
So, this includes attending conferences, coming to meet with people, networking with people, reading journal articles, and staying up to date. Also, I always encourage, whether it’s pharmacy assistants or pharmacists or students, to reflect on an ongoing basis about where their strengths and limitations are, because through reflection you can identify where your gaps are, and if there are any learning gaps.
So, say pharmacy assistants identify that they have an interest in minor ailments management, but that this is also an area where they feel they may have some learning or knowledge gap – how can they fill this gap? Well … start talking to some people to find out what’s available out there, then undertake CPD to gain that knowledge and continue to grow in that area.
In terms of strategy and vision, what are the top priorities for the PSA in 2023?
A lot is happening in 2023 but, absolutely, continuing to support the scope of work [is a priority]. We’ll continue to work with the government as well as relevant organisations to enable pharmacists to practise to the top of their scope, so that will be another one of the key focuses. Aged care is another focus, and also medicines safety.
At PSA, we’re the custodian of standards and guidelines, and we strongly believe that any work should be underpinned by robust governance that enables standards and quality and also medicine safety.
This year we have a new edition of the medicine safety series, which will be released in the latter half of 2023. We’re also in the process of revamping our professional practice standards. So right now, we’ve gone out to the public and some members of the profession for their feedback. We’re going through a consultation process at this moment, but if all goes well, in July we’ll be launching the new version of professional practice standards.
There’s also the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) International Congress coming to Brisbane this year in September, and we’re delighted to be one of the host organisations. So that’s also another good opportunity for pharmacy assistants to attend and learn what other pharmacy assistants are doing around the world.
This exclusive interview was originally published in the April issue of Retail Pharmacy Assistants e-magazine.
