Just what the doctor ordered
Michelle Rothwell (above) loves the daily challenges that await her when she arrives at work. Find out what it’s like to be a pharmacist.
ALICIA NALLY to ensure patients receive the right medications and also monitor adverse reactions and interactions with other drugs already being taken by the chronically ill, as well as children and older people.
They may also take part in medicine management reviews to ensure drugs remain effective and safe to consume.
“Within hospital pharmacy you are dealing with acutely ill patients and we work very much as part of a multidisciplinary team and side-by-side with GPs,” Ms Rothwell said.
“We go on rounds with doctors so we are there at the point of care and help advise the doctor on what medicine to prescribe.”
The scope for specialisation within hospital pharmacy roles is greater than in community pharmacy, with some professionals choosing to become experts in oncology drugs or antibiotics, to name a few.
Ms Rothwell, who has an interest in pharmaceutical research, is usually based at Atherton Hospital and helps provide a far-reaching medicine service right across the Far North’s most remote regions via video consultations.
“Community pharmacists can do home medicine reviews but aren’t funded to do that throughout regional and rural areas,” she said.
“There is a lot of patient contact in my job which I love.
“It is always interesting and there are so many different diseases people can come in with, especially here in the tropics.”