Say no to dumbing down of profession

PHARMACEUTICAL Society of Australia (PSA) Pharmacist of the Year, Peter Crothers, believes his peers should “speak up” against the “dumbing down of the profession”.

At PSA19 on Fri, the Bourkebased pharmacist described himself as a “grumpy bastard” and “persistent”, when accepting the award.

“None of us should accept things like the trashing of our profession or the dumbing down of our skills,” he said.

“Nor should we accept the remuneration system that allows this.”

PSA Western Australia Branch President, Dr Fei Sim, was named as the Young Pharmacist of the Year.

She urged pharmacists to focus on their patients and believe in themselves as clinicians.

“As pharmacists we are clinicians,” she said.

“Every day in everything that we do we have that patient contact... everything we do should be for the patient’s benefit.

“We need to really believe in ourselves that we are clinicians.”

The PSA’s Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to former Pharmacy Board of Australia Chair, Bill Kelly, also served as the Chief Pharmacist in the Army Medical Corps.

Former National Australian Pharmacy Students’ Association (NAPSA) Executive Director of Public Relations, Ayomide Ogundipe, was named PSA/MIMS Intern Pharmacists of the Year.

Accepting the award, the Western Australian urged students approaching their internship to “stay teachable”.

“You are a few steps away from your general registration, use the year to consolidate everything you’ve learnt...build your professional experience and find areas the interest you,” she said.