Name: Lauren Haworth

University: UTAS

Winner NSBPC 2015

I am a great big pharmacy nerd. Truly. Eat - Breathe - Drugs - Sleep - Repeat.

At the end of my degree, I moved from Tasmania to pursue opportunities over the ditch in Victoria.

I completed my internship in regional Gippsland with the Advantage Pharmacy Group before becoming a full-time permanent group locum for them.

This gave me the opportunity to experience a variety of types of pharmacies - discount, sole-pharmacist, short-term Pharmacist in Charge in pharmacies ranging from 20 to 1000 scripts a day.

It also gave me experience in regional and rural, as well as metropolitan pharmacies.

As a newly registered pharmacist, this was a great position to get a lot of experience very quickly.

A position then came up working for one of my pharmacy idols, Taren Gill – there was no way I was passing up the chance to learn from and work for her at Priceline Pharmacy Maryborough.

I was there for 18 months before I took up the new exciting role of Pharmacist in Charge at a new greenfield pharmacy, literally on the edge of a paddock, in a new development area of Bacchus Marsh (halfway between Melbourne and Ballarat) – Terry White Chemmart Maddingley.

Opening a brand-new pharmacy, when there are no other shops or infrastructure (other than the attached medical centre) a couple of months before the pandemic hit has certainly been a challenge.

We are a very hands-on pharmacy team full of locals and our community engagement so far has been incredibly humbling, particularly in the social media realm of local community Facebook groups.

My goal of being an owner by the age of 30 is very much within reach. The role I took up is a ‘transitioning junior partner’ role so all things going well I will get the opportunity to join the business mid next year.

I am incredibly grateful to work within a supportive pharmacy group, Millwell Pharmacy Group and Terry White Chemmart where my dreams are likely to become a reality – however, it hasn’t been without a lot of hard work.

The NSBPC gave me an interest in the business side of things and a very basic understanding of how to make the books balance.

At the time there was no other part of the BPharm that focused on what is a significant part of the career path that many of us take so the NSBPC filled a gap in knowledge.

I would happily advocate for further inclusion in the curriculum. Taking part in the NSBPC gave me a really important understanding of the bigger picture of running a business e.g. wage percentage, impact of stock on hand, stock turn and so on – this has been useful right from my registration as obviously a big part of what community pharmacists do, like it or not, is rooted in retail.

Why would you say no to an opportunity to learn and make your university love you all in one? I would highly recommend participating when you get the chance. You never know where you will end up in your career as there is so many pathways and opportunities out there – take any chance to be as prepared for any outcome as you can.