Personally,
I have arranged my preregistration in a community pharmacy situated
in Dee Why, Sydney.
It is a busy pharmacy within a medical centre, containing GPs, paediatricians,
dentists, eye specialists, dietitians, and psychologists.
This pharmacy was one of the first medical centre pharmacies in
Sydney.
Some of the main reasons for my interest at this pharmacy are that
all the health care professionals are in constant communication.
It really feels like a team effort, supporting the visiting patients
to the greatest potential.
Also, Dee Why is a booming area within the Northern Beaches.
There are hundreds of new units being built, with further sites
still under planning.
It will grow further, requiring more and more pharmacists, so I
feel that there is potential for me to work here.
One
of the biggest changes that has occurred recently within this
medical centre is that the GPs will now only bulk bill until 4pm
on a weekday, and until 12pm on Saturday.
It is amazing how much a difference this has made to flow of patients.
After bulk billing times, the doctor's surgery is almost empty,
and this does concern me a great deal.
When working at the pharmacy, patients come in and complain about
paying $40 to see a doctor, even refusing to see a doctor.
This can be detrimental for many of the patients.
In one example, a patient came in needing a morning after pill,
but couldn't afford to see a doctor to get a script.
In the end, she had to catch a bus to the closest medical centre
that would be open on a Saturday afternoon.
Dee Why accommodates a lot of old people who visit the local doctors
on a regular basis.
My concern is, will the elderly's health be compromised due to
their inability to afford to see their doctor? Possibly, this
could result in a higher dependence on the local pharmacies, who
are providing a free service.
Beyond
student options of working within community and hospital pharmacy,
there are many alternatives. Unfortunately, these jobs are not
promoted very well at university, and other job possibilities
are not properly explored.
One of my other great interests is in computers, and I would be
interested to know how I could relate this to pharmacy.
There seems to be more and more possibilities to buy pharmacy
products on-line, and I believe this will be the way of the future.
Honestly, I am not thrilled with this technological advancement
because we are bypassing all the counseling to the patient, which
we are told is so vital for safe administration of drugs.
It may even have the ability to phase out pharmacists to a large
extent.
This threat to pharmacy is one that I believe has been taken quite
lightly by the profession.
Pharmacists are so afraid of deregulation, and the thought of
pharmacies being within supermarkets, that other threats have
been overshadowed.
What I learnt from working in the UK is that pharmacists over
there are actually happy that pharmacies are now within supermarkets
and owned by people that are not pharmacists.
Supposedly, pharmacists working there are all paid extremely well,
receive great benefits, and do not have the huge responsibilities
of running their own business.
So, possibly we are subjecting our fear to the wrong beliefs?
Once
again, I would like to remind anyone who is requiring new, young
staff to send an e-mail to me anytime!
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