The feature articles below are "opinion" pieces and reflect the views of the individual authors. They are not the views of AusPharm.net.au P/L, its directors or editorial group unless explicitly stated to be so.

Increasing dispensary efficiency :: Wendy Morton : 4/4/2007 : Quiet moments in the dispensary I call home are rare, but sometimes furnish the opportunity to reflect on how we might increase the efficiency and productivity of the place. Our grand plans range from whimsical notions, like an employment policy that limited new hires to people with unique or quota controlled birth months to regulate the demands on our petty cash tin for birthday cake morning teas, up to extensive redesigns and refits.

But at the APP2007 conference this year, the display of tailored dispensing solutions by Willach provided some genuine food for thought to pharmacies of all sizes in addressing the challenges of working smarter rather than harder to maintain or increase both our margins and professional involvement, as reduced funding models seem destined to force us toward higher dispensing volumes.    More...

I am terrible at filling out forms :: Irwin the evil chemist : 29/3/2007 : Bridgekeeper: Stop. What... is your name?
Galahad: Sir Galahad of Camelot.
Bridgekeeper: What... is your quest?
Galahad: I seek the Grail.
Bridgekeeper: What... is your favourite colour?
Galahad: Blue. No, yellow. Auuuuuuuugh.

[he is thrown over the edge into a volcano]

Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail
   More...

Tales from the helpline: Update on zolpidem: the 'oh my god' factor :: Dr Geraldine Moses : 27/3/2007 :

When pondering my AusPharm topic for this month, I just couldn't get zolpidem off my mind. We have had so many bizarre adverse reactions reported ....well..I just have to share.

Not only have we had lots of calls at the Adverse Medicine events Line from worried consumers, but we have also had many requests from doctors and pharmacists seeking advice for consumers who take zolpidem without obvious ill effect. I will give you some guidance on this later, but first let me fill you in on what's being reported.    More...

Have you considered becoming a preceptor? :: Karalyn Huxhagen : 22/3/2007 : Largely driven by the huge increase in pharmacy graduates in recent years the demand for pharmacist preceptors is at an all time high. There is a real need for more preceptors to be available to both pre-registration students and undergraduate students.    More...

Superannuation - should you give it a boost? :: Mark Nicholson : 22/3/2007 : In today's AusPharm feature managing partner of JR's Pharmacy Services, Mark Nicholson, talks about the importance of keeping your superannuation contributions up.

"You may be of the opinion that superannuation, with its history of changing rules and long-term returns doesn't suit you. The reality, however is that the Government is prepared to pay you to save. As such, superannuation saving should be at the forefront of every worker's and every business owner's mind."    More...

Now listen up all you smart city b*stards . . . (Part 3) :: Peter Crothers : 15/3/2007 : Here is the third and final part of Bourke pharmacist Peter Crothers' article that looks at life as a rural pharmacist.

"Pharmacy organisations and regulatory authorities seem obsessed with narrow definitions and tight regulations that may well suit the majority of practice situations, but the same people seem indifferent to, if not outright hostile towards, the pharmacy service needs of atypical groups, such as rural people."    More...

PHARMACY IS CHANGING: A need for state based pharmacy development :: John Gibson : 13/3/2007 : In today's AusPharm feature, Pharmaceutical Council of Western Australia member and clinical pharmacist John Gibson writes about the need for pharmacists and pharmacy organisation to work more closely with state governments.

"...change....is creating a conundrum for pharmacists, who have traditionally focused their efforts to sustain pharmacy services primarily on the vehicle of the PBS. Whilst this has worked reasonably well in the past, the changing methods of health care delivery are increasingly leaving Canberra based pharmacy organizations out of touch with what is happening where the 'action' is, in the states."    More...

'Sue your pharmacist' week :: Michael Page : 8/3/2007 :

"It is a source of comfort for many pharmacists - probably some more than others - that a pharmacist being sued for malpractice is an incredibly rare occurrence. It's also a source of comfort for our professional indemnity insurers and it keeps our indemnity premiums low, lower than those for most other health professionals.

But there is a clear implication in this, and it would be rather naive to assume that this implication is that pharmacists are so thoroughly competent and faultless that we never make mistakes worthy of litigation."    More...

Now listen up all you smart city b*stards . . . (Part 2) :: Peter Crothers : 7/3/2007 : Here is Part Two of Bourke pharmacist Peter Crothers' article that looks at life as a rural pharmacist.

"At our local Aboriginal Health Service...the access issues are similar, although less extreme, to those Robbo describes.....Of more immediate concern to me and many other bush pharmacists however, are the entrenched PBS access barriers to aboriginal people. In my town, 80-90% of the 1200 or so local aboriginal people have immediate physical access to my pharmacy and we work very hard to ensure aboriginal people get the same access to services and standard of care as anyone else, but sadly they often don't."    More...

Muggling jutherhood :: Wendy Morton : 6/3/2007 : "It is 1.55am in the morning on Tuesday November 15 and the School Fete is tomorrow. My 25th or 26th dozen of home baked biscuits is just going into or out of or through the oven (under, over, beside... one's grasp of all things spatial does tend to fray somewhat by this time of night). A moment of deja vu as I recall the opening scene of a novel I read about 3 years ago - the protagonist gently tapping store-bought mince pies at 1.37am with a rolling pin to "distress" them, the aim being to make them look home-made so she can take them to the school carol concert and hold her head high amongst "the proper mothers, who bake."   More...

Now listen up all you smart city b*stards . . . (Part 1) :: Peter Crothers : 28/2/2007 : Today's AusPharm feature from Bourke pharmacist Peter Crothers is the first of a three part series that looks at life as a rural pharmacist.

"Our local hospital's "pharmacy service" is almost 400km away. The pharmacists there seem good at their jobs and terrific people BUT . . . . they're almost 400km away! They service about 120 beds and (wait for it) no less than 23 outlying hospitals like ours. Twenty three! Our hospital pharmacists can manage 1 or 2 visits per year to our town for clinical audit activities - probably quite good in the circumstances - BUT . . . they're mostly still almost 400km away!"    More...

So Pharmacy's Boring? :: Veronica Nou : 27/2/2007 : Veronica's back, and talks today about how 'boring' life in a community pharmacy can be.

"I was idly perusing my always colourful inbox one day recently, when I noticed one of those ubiquitous chain mails people send me in the mistaken belief I want to be a part of whatever it is they're doing. I do in fact often read the darn things, and read thoroughly, just so I can spend the next five minutes of my life cackling hysterically at someone's unabashed stupidity."    More...

Tales from the helpline: Zolpidem - what did you do in your sleep last night? :: Dr Geraldine Moses : 22/2/2007 : I hope you've read the February edition of the ADRAC bulletin, because it is imperative that pharmacists are familiar with the range of bizarre neuropsychiatric reactions increasingly associated with the non-benzodiazepine hypnotic zolpidem.    More...

The role, responsibility and risk of saying 'No' as a practising pharmacist :: Kevin de Vries : 15/2/2007 : Pharmacists have been in the news in the last week for being unable (or unwilling) to say 'no'.

In today's debut feature from Kevin de Vries, he offers some practical advice on how to decline a request for supply.

"Do you make New Year's resolutions? I do. My resolution for 2007 is to be more positive and less negative, so it's with some bemusement that I sit here contemplating the role, responsibility and risks of pharmacists when saying "no" in their professional duties."    More...

Discredit of the Pharmacy profession in the media: Kos Sclavos responds :: Kos Sclavos : 14/2/2007 : Last week Andre Kung wrote "In this age of media saturation of everything that is bad in our society and community, wouldn't it be good for people to see something positive happening at their local pharmacy?"and several 'listers replied with similar concerns about negative press the industry has received of late.

The Guild appreciates how frustrating negative media can be, especially when it is sensationalist reporting and consequently damaging to the industry's reputation.    More...

On empathy (or: the importance of seeming Ernest) :: Bruce Moffat : 13/2/2007 : In today's debut article from NSW community pharmacist Bruce Moffat, he takes a look at empathy and canvases some skills pharmacists might usefully have.

"Every time we dispense a drug, we have an opportunity to maximise the quality of the care we give. It only takes a few moments with a patient to reduce medication errors, reduce wastage of expensive drugs, identify adverse events, and increase the chance of a patient complying with, and understanding their medication regimen. But to do this we must go out and, quelle horreur, actually talk to them."   More...

The ancient art of perfumery :: Eta Chow : 8/2/2007 : After the recent AusPharmList discussion on perfumes 2 AusPharmers have sent along features for your entertainment. The first of these, from Eta Chow, is in your (e)news today.

"I'm glad there are still some of us out there who have an interest in this ancient art despite the loss of pharmacy market share.

There is still quite a collection of classic fragrances available out there and my interest in this art lies mainly here. Classic fragrances are not "old people's perfumes" as the names night suggest, but works of art, some taking many years to develop just to create a single masterpiece."    More...

Ibuprofen, all the other NSAIDs and safety: we've fed the chooks, looked for the smoking gun, now what? :: Ron Batagol : 6/2/2007 : Ron's back, with his first feature of 2007, with an update on ibuprofen scheduling.

"On AusPharmList recently I reported that I had written to the Federal Health Minister expressing my concerns over the fact that ibuprofen is still available for purchase in supermarkets without the availability of professional advice and counselling for the consumer. I have recently been advised that the TGA is in the process of undertaking an extensive review of the safety of NSAIDs, which is to be concluded early this year."    More...

So you want to buy a Pharmacy! :: Mark Nicholson : 1/2/2007 : In today's feature managing partner of JR's Pharmacy Services, Mark Nicholson, writes:

"Young pharmacists often ask me what they need to do to buy a pharmacy. One answer is to gather a deposit and get in line. The question then becomes which line to get in - brokers, wholesalers, succession plan or simply cold calling are all avenues which could lead to an opportunity. Unfortunately though, being in line doesn't necessarily lead anywhere. Each line has more potential purchasers than the number of pharmacies on offer. What's more, they are filled with queue jumpers who get preference for a myriad of reasons."    More...

A tale of 2 infections :: Stuart Baker : 24/1/2007 : In todays' AusPharm feature Stuart Baker asks whether we really have moved on with the rational use of antibiotics in the last 10 years.

"Two encounters with antibiotics on the last day we were open before Christmas troubled me. The first incident was an ex-employee asking about her 3-year-old son who'd crashed his scooter, mangled his front teeth and split his lip."    More...

About this page 

This features page will be updated with new opinion pieces regularly. Unlike the hard copy publications that publish all their content once each week/fortnight/month we will publish on a rolling basis.

Got something to say? Fancy yourself as a features writer? 

At AusPharm.net.au we are always on the lookout for people with an opinion to express. If you think you fit the bill, contact Mark Dunn to express an interest or to get further information.