Pharmacy ‘just the right prescription’

PHARMACIST Erin Treston has seen her job evolve quickly over the past four years.

These days a medicine dispenser will often take over some of the tasks usually undertaken by a general practitioner, including issuing medical certificates and administering vaccinations or other injections.

Pharmacists are employed in private businesses as well as public hospitals. They distribute drugs prescribed by doctors and other health practitioners and provide information on medicines and their proper use to patients.

After completion of a fouryear university degree, pharmacists are equipped to advise on the selection, dosage, interaction and side-effects of a host of medications.

Ms Treston said pharmacy seemed like a logical second career choice after she decided not to pursue a science degree.

Innisfail born and bred, the 27-year-old completed her tertiary studies at James Cook University in Townsville and returned to the Far North to complete an internship at Chemist Warehouse’s McLeod St store.

Ms Treston eventually gained fulltime work at the store in 2012.

“I really like the people I work with and every day is different,” she said.

“I have found in recent years the public expects more and more of pharmacists. The role is constantly evolving and can be difficult to keep up with sometimes.

“You just kind of have to find the time.”

Work in regional and rural areas was often easier to come by as competition for spots in metropolitan centres becomes more intense.

“There are a lot of pharmacy graduates these days but you’ll always get a job, you just have to be prepared to move,” Ms Treston said.