A group of visiting pharmacy students has seen first hand the difference they can make in people's lives in rural pharmacy.
Pharmacy students from New Zealand have been working on the frontline in regional New South Wales in an initiative aimed at encouraging the next generation of pharmacists to live in regional Australia.
The Life Pharmacy Group placement program provides Bachelor of Pharmacy students, from the University of Otago, a practical understanding of working in an Australian community pharmacy.
It's a rotation that encourage students to join the group for their intern year, and in turn increase the number of newly qualified pharmacists eager to work and live in rural NSW and the ACT.
Zandra Hinton, Aisling Casey, and Jonah Smith have been working with Life Pharmacy and Flannery's Pharmacy in Forbes, and Parkes Pharmacy, over the past week.
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For Aisling, the difference between city and rural pharmacy has been eye-opening.
"Especially with people having such long waits for GPs, you find the pharmacy has to fill a much bigger role," she said.
"Australia I find is really well equipped to deal with that: with more efficient dispensary processes, and just having everyone more hands-on."
The pharmacy's dispensary robot is one of the big differences, and for Zandra it's a game-changer in giving pharmacists more time to spend with people.
"The pharmacists have way more time to communicate with the patients," she said.
"Getting to be out on the floor, feel like you're making a difference, talking to patients and making a connection - I've really enjoyed that."
The students have really noticed and appreciated how welcoming everyone has been and willing to speak with them.
They've also appreciated the opportunity to learn from how our local pharmacists work with and advocate for their patients, to see the networking between health professionals in our community.
They can see clearly the opportunities to use the knowledge they have to advocate for patients.
"That's something I don't take lightly as a training health professional," she said.
Next stop for the students is Canberra - and we do hope we see you all again!
