Name: Connie Arronis

University: University of Sydney

Finalist NSBPC 2013

I selected a career in pharmacy as I have always been interested in both the health/medicine and business/finance domains.

So not surprisingly I’ve found community pharmacy to be the perfect environment to satisfy both of these passions.

I am the Pharmacist Manager at Illawong Discount Drug Store in Sydney and I’ve worked in this role for over three years.

I feel very grateful and proud to lead a wonderful team that constantly strives to provide holistic health solutions to our patients.

Our store is situated in a small shopping village, so we have a very unique and intimate community feeling in our store.

Our team works hard in the field of professional services. We’ve been awarded the National Winner for Professional Services in the Discount Drug Stores franchise over two consecutive years in 2018 and 2019. I was also very humbled to be recognised as one of the Top Ten Pharmacists in Discount Drug Stores in 2019.

I’m also an accredited pharmacist and thoroughly enjoy performing Home Medicines Reviews with eligible patients where possible. I also find in-store pharmacist vaccinations a rewarding aspect of my role.

In 2013, I was part of the four-member team from the University of Sydney that placed third in the NSBPC. I found my involvement in the NSBPC to be a very positive, educational and rewarding experience.

Our business concept focussed on the issue of childhood obesity. It involved the implementation of an interactive and innovative health program named ‘Kids Active Plus’ in schools, with the aim to prevent childhood obesity and empower children with knowledge of a balanced diet, health education and an active lifestyle.

My experience in the NSBPC was very worthwhile and valuable during that stage of my pharmacy career.

It reaffirmed my interest in the community pharmacy retail environment and enhanced my knowledge of concepts that weren’t covered to the same extent with university subjects at the time.

This includes SWOT and demographic analyses, risk assessments and financial forecasts, as well as profit-and-loss projections and coordination with various third parties that would need to be involved in order to bring the business plan to fruition and turn it into a reality.

I also made beneficial contacts with university colleagues, pharmacist owners and accountants who served as mentors to our team and assisted us in the development of the business plan project.

The finals at the Pharmacy Connect Conference in Canberra also provided useful networking opportunities with various members of the Pharmacy Guild and passionate community pharmacy owners in attendance.

I would definitely recommend final year pharmacy students to participate in the NSBPC. It is an excellent and valuable opportunity to learn about business plan development, pharmacy management and team building.

The networking opportunities available with university colleagues and the wider Pharmacy Guild community can also prove beneficial when applying for intern year positions, or be retained as contacts throughout one’s career in pharmacy.

Connie was recently announced as the 2020 National Pharmacist of the year by Discount Drug Stores.