A career that cares for community
Pharmacy is a dynamic and flexible field. Pharmacists are stalwarts within their community, dispensing vital services to a variety of patients. When you're a pharmacist, everyday is different. Discover the rewards that come with a career in Pharmacy, from both a teacher and a student of the field.
From the emergency department, paediatric ward, research laboratories, out in the community, in lecture theatres and beyond, wherever there is medicine there are pharmacists. They are on the front line when it comes to medication advice and expertise and play an important role in keeping our communities healthy.
Those who study pharmacy have an in-depth knowledge in the areas of chemistry, physiology, human anatomy, pharmacology, applied therapeutics and research. Before entering the profession, they receive hands-on learning opportunities and put their theoretical knowledge into practice by completing over 600 hours of work placement.
As a result of this extensive experience, Pharmacy graduates enter the workforce with effective patient communication skills and the knowledge required to diagnose and treat certain ailments.
We caught up with JCU Pharmacy Academic Shane MacDonald and third-year JCU Pharmacy student Gage Ede to find out more about pharmacy, the scope of work involved and some of the career options open to pharmacy graduates.
Uncapping pharmacy's potential
Shane says it’s an exciting time to study pharmacy with demand for pharmacists on the rise and an expanded scope of practice trial underway.
Tell us about some of the career options for pharmacists:
Shane: Of course, most people are familiar with community pharmacists who play an important primary care role and that is only increasing. Pharmacists can also work in a range of settings including academia, industry for companies such as Pfizer, government departments, general practice, aged care and in the hospital setting. Within these settings, pharmacists may also choose to specialise in similar ways to other health professionals. For example, you can be a cardiac pharmacist or a geriatric pharmacist, or you can work in intensive care, paediatrics and so on.
What do pharmacists do?
Shane: Basically, pharmacists are medicines experts. A pharmacist’s core work is around how medicines work, their effect on the body and how that could improve (or worsen) a patient's condition and quality of life. So wherever medicines are used you’ll have pharmacists there to improve the quality use of medicine for our communities.
Tell us more about the role pharmacists play in aged care:
Shane: Pharmacists already play a significant role in aged care through the supply of medication and services such as residential medication management reviews (RMMRs). More recently though the federal government has committed $345.7 million to embed pharmacists in aged care facilities to improve older Australians' medicine use. If I was an aged care pharmacist, I'd be looking specifically at medicines and how they affect the older population. Some medications are fine to take into middle age but as you get older, the body slows down so some medications could be problematic for an older person, or they may need to be taken in a lower dosage. Older people might have an issue with their liver function or their kidney function and that can happen naturally or because of their lifestyle choices. Pharmacists need to be across this and how the medication could affect the individual and the risks and benefits of using different medications for each patient.
Is it an exciting time to study pharmacy:
Shane: Firstly, there is huge demand for pharmacists. Second, a lot is happening in the pharmacy space right now. The role of a pharmacist is ever-changing. We are excited for pharmacists to be able to expand their practice through the North Queensland Community Pharmacy full scope of practice trial and the JCU pharmacy team is involved in teaching new skills to pharmacists as a part of that trial at the moment. I would say it’s an exciting time to get into the pharmacy profession. As an example, when I graduated pharmacists couldn’t vaccinate and now pharmacists are one of the primary locations for vaccination services. It is likely we will have a health system under further strain in the coming decades due to Australia’s ageing population. This means we will need our current health workforce and our future health workforce to work efficiently and to the best of their ability. I think there are inefficiencies at present and there are areas where pharmacists can help out. That's what is going to be best for our community.
What are the challenges and rewards of a career in pharmacy?
Shane: I think all jobs have their challenges and it would depend on your personality type as to what they would be. Positively though, for me, I love the teaching/education aspect of the job, I really enjoy watching patients learn and improve their health literacy about their disease state. It’s rewarding to go on that journey with the patient. I guess that is more of the emotive side of pharmacy. Every job has its detail-oriented tasks and it's more professional caring roles. I have not regretted doing pharmacy.
Discovering opportunities with placements
Third-year pharmacy student Gage Ede excelled at chemistry in high school. He initially planned to study science at university but when he heard about the demand for pharmacists he pivoted and changed course. He says he hasn’t looked back.
Why pharmacy?
Gage: I like that it is a blend of healthcare and science. I’m a big fan of chemistry and throughout the degree, we are continually exposed to science, and you get a good introduction to healthcare.
What are your plans after graduation?
Gage: Queensland is introducing the expanded scope of practice so that will be my first priority to study after I’m qualified.
Were you aware of all the different roles pharmacists play in our community?
Gage: My idea of a pharmacist was that it was someone that sits behind a counter and dispenses your medication, but there are so many different opportunities depending on where you want to work. I’ve discovered a community pharmacist does much more than sit in the dispensary. They are out talking to customers, doing blood pressure checks, blood glucose checks, all kinds of things. And that's just community pharmacy. You've got hospital pharmacy as well or you can go into research or aged care. Aged care is my area of interest and the focus of my honours project. I’m looking at the embedding of pharmacists in aged care facilities to make sure patients are getting the right treatment. The aim is to prevent issues like excessive use of sedation, ensuring it is only ever used when there is no other option. Pharmacists will also look at all the medications people are taking and try to simplify it where possible, as well as reduce issues caused by medications. That could be adding medications or reducing medications, it just depends on the patient and their situation.
What has been the highlight of your university degree so far?
Gage: I'd say placement is one of the best parts of the degree. So far I've gone to Townsville University Hospital, Charleville and Port Douglas. The community pharmacies at Charleville and Port Douglas were very different from each other. One serviced a local, farming-based population while Port Douglas was very touristy and a lot of customers were visiting from Melbourne, escaping the cold. A lot of the conditions we saw in Port Douglas were fungal infections due to the humid climate and infections from swimming and not so many chronic health conditions. In Charleville were serviced a lot of local elderly patients who were on regular medications. Both placements made me realise how important the local pharmacist is in their respective community.
Discover how you can make an impact within Pharmacy. Explore JCU's Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) today.