What's your job about?
Ramsay Healthcare provides a comprehensive array of healthcare services ranging from day surgery procedures to highly complex surgery.
At Westmead Private Hospital, I work as part of a close-knit team of pharmacists, intern pharmacists and pharmacy assistants in providing clinical pharmacy services to the hospital.
A day in the life of a hospital pharmacist can be quite exhilarating – no working day is exactly the same!
A typical day can involve a lot of inpatient and outpatient dispensing, counselling patients on the appropriate use of medications, communicating and liaising with other members of the multidisciplinary healthcare team (whether that be doctors, nurses, allied health, or hospital staff), ensuring timely supply and quality of use of medicines, performing medication reviews and medication reconciliations and conducting clinical rounds on various wards.
On the side, I am also involved with antimicrobial stewardship at my hospital and the monitoring of HAIs (Hospital Acquired Infections) and analysing of highly restricted antimicrobial use in the inpatient setting.
What's your background?
I grew up and did all my schooling (primary, secondary and tertiary education) in Sydney. When I completed my HSC, I knew I wanted to pursue a degree in healthcare and Pharmacy was the degree I happily chose to study. From a young age, I was always fascinated by how medicines work and how medicines can exhibit a pharmacological effect on the body, ultimately impacting one’s health and wellbeing.
How I got to my current position was no easy feat (a combination of hard work and luck I must say). However, I did take on board what many of my university lecturers and professors at USYD recommended: which was getting experience working in a pharmacy. During my pharmacy student years, I was very fortunate to work in a variety of pharmacy settings (both in community and hospital pharmacies). At the end of my pharmacy degree, I was successful in securing a graduate internship with Ramsay Health Care.
From my graduate role as an intern pharmacist and later followed by obtaining general registration as a Pharmacist, overall it has been a fulfilling journey with many learnings along the way. Working for Ramsay has also taken me to places that I did not envisage of - a lot of places interstate in VIC and QLD which I thoroughly enjoyed working at. I eventually found my way back home to Sydney in the end
I am close to 1 year working at Westmead Private Hospital now and enjoying every moment of it.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
I believe any pharmacist, who is willing to learn and give it a go, can undertake this job. The fundamental aspects of being a pharmacist are still required – the ability to provide valuable medicines information, advice and counselling, ensuring medications are supplied at the right dose, at the right time and for the right person, managing inventory and understanding pharmacy operations, etc.
Having great communication skills and problem-solving skills is vital for this role. In terms of previous hospital experience, this is not essential, but is helpful – you can always learn on the job!
What's the best thing about your job?
Meeting and talking to different patients about their health and their medicines is always a highlight.
What makes my job satisfying is hearing back from patients about their encounter or experience with the pharmacist or receiving appreciation or gratitude from patients for taking the time to properly explain their medications or how to correctly take/use their medications (e.g. showing patients how to use inhaled devices for the first time). Lastly, if patients want to remember you by your name, that definitely means something!
It’s really fulfilling for me as a pharmacist to make a positive impact on patient's lives in the way they perceive, understand and take medicines.
What are the limitations of your job?
Sometimes, you have to be open to the challenges the role of a hospital pharmacist may face – e.g. non-stop dispensing (at times), multi-tasking, answering medication-related queries left-right and centre, attending to both inpatient and outpatient medication requests, working extra hours if a team member is away/sick, working weekends if needed, being on call, deciphering doctor’s handwriting… to name a few.
However, with an open mindset, willingness to learn, and tenacity to thrive and grow, nothing is too difficult to handle.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...