December 3, 2015
Fire flood or cyclone the pharmacy still opens
Australia is known for its outback, intriguing wildlife and laidback lifestyle. However Australia is also notorious for its natural disasters. And when it comes to dealing with the consequences of natural disasters pharmacist are often in the thick of it, Catherine Waterman writes in the cover story of the December issue of Australian Pharmacist due out today. (4 December)
In the article several pharmacists who have experienced the fury and aftermath of natural disasters discuss their experience. (www.psa.org.au/download/ap/apdec15/cover-story.pdf )
Tasmanian community pharmacist, Dr Shane Jackson said: “Our number one priority was to ensure people got the health service they needed – whether that be primary care advice, the medicines they needed or referral to the overworked GP”.
Tasmanian Pharmacist Rachel Dienaar, who was caught in the Nubeena bushfires on the Tasman Peninsula, said: “I think now if there was something I would do if planning for a disaster situation. It would be to try and ensure we had a power supply. In the fires it took us quite a while to get a generator, and we needed electricity to run the pharmacy. Everything is electronic now”.
Also in the December issue of Australian Pharmacist Victorian-based pharmacist Michael Nunan writes about his experience as part of the team dealing with a disaster of another kind – the Ebola outbreak in Africa. (www.psa.org.au/download/ap/apdec15/news.pdf [see page 34])
According to Michael the pharmacy team had to balance its logistics role with its clinical one.
“This was another unique challenge, for a disease that had a tiny evidence base supporting the treatments being rolled out. Rather than being able to sift through the best available data, staff was required to apply logic and common sense to the scant evidence that was available to formulate treatment plans.”
Australian Pharmacist is the official journal of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and is distributed to Society members each month.
December 1, 2015
Patrick McGorry to present at PSA’s NSW Annual Therapeutic Update 4–6 March 2016
“Advancing therapeutic knowledge and medication management” will be the focus of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s 2016 NSW Annual Therapeutic Update (ATU) Conference being held at Terrigal from March 4-6, 2016.
Leading Australian mental health advocate and former Australian of the Year, Professor Patrick McGorry AO, will be the keynote, presenting on the topic of Strategies to strengthen mental health care in Australia.
Professor McGorry is Executive Director of Orygen Youth Health (OYH), a world-renowned youth mental health organisation, as well as being Professor of Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne and founding member of the National Youth Mental Health Foundation (headspace) board.
He is a world-leading researcher in the area of early psychosis and youth mental health, and has a strong interest in promoting the mental health of the homeless, refugees and asylum seekers.
His work has played a critical role in the development of safe, effective treatments and innovative research into the needs of young people with emerging mental disorders, notably psychotic and severe mood disorders. He has also played a major part in the transformational reform of mental health services to better serve the needs of vulnerable young people.
Professor McGorry was a key architect of the headspace model and has been successful in advocating with colleagues for its national expansion. He is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and the current President of the Society for Mental Health Research, and the President-Elect of the Schizophrenia International Research Society.
NSW Branch President of PSA, Dr Stephen Carter, said the ATU was widely regarded as the State’s premier pharmacist continuing professional development (CPD) event and features a robust program.
“ATU provides delegates with valuable face to face learning opportunities with fellow health professionals assisting you in obtaining up-to-date clinical education.
“The focus of the ATU is Advancing Clinical Knowledge and Medication Management and will engage key practitioners in the field of mental health, diabetes, dermatology, respiratory, ophthalmology, gastroenterology and nutrition – just to name a few!”
To register or for further details go to www.psa.org.au/atu16 Hurry, early bird pricing ends 26 January 2016.