Sarah Dowman - Unichem Peninsula and Unichem Harbour View, Auckland

Auckland pharmacist Sarah Dowman divides her time between two Guild member pharmacies – often starting off half an hour early to catch up on emails, faxes and to get the shop organised.
She shares the load with two other pharmacists, one intern pharmacist, two technicians and three shop staff. The pharmacists work between the two pharmacies, so communication is crucial. This includes emailing each other with any problems or queries, a fortnightly meeting and a staff meeting every three weeks - which often means an even earlier start than 7.30am.

THE DAILY ROUTINE
Sarah spends a lot of her time organising blister packs for her regular patients so that she can make things as easy as possible for them. She often liaises with her patients and their doctors to ensure they are taking their medication and have scheduled their next doctor’s appointment. Many of these patients are Medicine Use Review (MUR) patients who have been referred to the pharmacies by their GPs.
The pharmacies also supply medication to a rest-home and hospital. Once a month they pack all their medication into blister packs, and process their “when required” medication requests daily.
Sarah believes that maintaining a close relationship with nursing staff, and holding regular educational meetings with them, helps the process run smoothly.

COMMUNICATION IS CRUCIAL
A large part of Sarah’s day involves dispensing prescriptions, counselling patients on their medication and diagnosing and treating minor ailments. She also answers numerous telephone queries from doctors, nurses and customers. Any day can also include Emergency Contraception Pill consultations, weight management consultations, blood pressure monitoring, syringe drivers to be made up, drug reps to see and staff trainings to organise.
Sarah deals with a wide range of health issues - from the very ill (there is a hospice in her area) to minor ailments and preventative measures. Typically the health issues tend to be seasonal. One of the pharmacies has a physiotherapist next door, so they have a lot of patients seeking advice for pain relief and mobility aids.

LONG DAY
For Sarah her day ends at either 6 or 6.30pm - it all depends on which pharmacy she is working at. She does like to leave a clear bench so she is ready to start again the next day. After work her time is taken up with meetings and educational sessions which are important in helping to keep up-to-date with new products and procedures. It all makes for a very long, yet rewarding day.