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An Orchestrated Attack on a PhD Thesis
When my PhD thesis was published on the University of Wollongong website (January 2016) the copyright act was used to selectively publish the research. In addition, journalists and lobbyists have attempted to discredit the research by disparaging me, the university’s processes and my supervisor. These members of the public do not counter any of the information…
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Collaboration- What does it mean for health professions?
The new “buzz” word floating around the health professions is “collaboration”. In the same breath it is linked to other expressions such as “patient-centred homes” or “patient-centred neighbourhoods”. But what does it all mean – particularly when referenced in respect of community pharmacy? Starting with the dictionary terminology we find collaboration means: 1. “the action…
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Shopping
In this ever-changing world we have constant disruption. Beliefs that we once held for marketing concepts are forever changing as consumers react to the environment around them. And the online environment, while having many presentations and converts, is an environment that community pharmacists have yet to fully embrace and conquer. Particularly in the portrayal of…
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Interesting weight loss perception
The Australian Doctor online flashed an interesting headline recently titled “10 weight-loss products pharmacists push most”. Other than the offensive tone of the actual headline, it serves a timely reminder that weight loss is not solved by simply selling a product. So, in spite of this belittling attack, let’s look at what is implied here.…
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Drug Overdose Increasing – Known Solutions Ignored
Dear Colleagues, BMJ article: increasing overdoses but they ignore known solutions (+ Hari TED talk). There is no more ‘final’ statistic regarding drug use than overdose deaths. And in England the official figures go back to Victorian times, then often involving opium, laudanum and other strong drugs including alcohol. The British Coroner’s Act of 1844…
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Phoctors and Docpharms
In these days of constant change or business disruption we often find ourselves in a constant state of anxiety. This is not good for mental health and is probably the underlying reason why mental health issues have shown such a massive increase across the spectrum of entire populations, over the past five years As a…
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Back to Basics – What is your marketing strategy?
I have heard many comments floating around in pharmacy discussions, that community pharmacy has become exceptionally vulnerable since the “Big Yellow Box” has demonstrated that it can outspend all the rest of pharmacy in advertising. In other words, only two camps exist – them and us! To me, that is a lot of nonsense, since…
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The Concept of a Precinct Pharmacy – a Different Form of Collaboration
We are all aware of the changing dynamics with our own profession of Pharmacy and the fact that it is a global phenomenon, even where different health funding models exist. We have seen the rapid growth of Retail Clinics in the US after a decade of evolution. The now accepted model is showing a high…
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Practice Based Pharmacy – Is it the future direction for pharmacists?
Having recently shifted house, I am still locating items long forgotten. One of the many treasures I stumbled upon was an 1890 formulary for pharmaceutical chemists, containing a myriad of formulations, for a myriad of problems and many of which I became intimately acquainted with during my apprenticeship. Formulas and directions for making Syr Ferri…
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A Glimmer of Hope – A Tentative Leadership Initiative
A glimmer of hope has begun to emerge for those clinical pharmacists who would like to work in a GP environment engaging with patients, GP’s and other health professionals in a practice setting. On the 24th August, the PSA organised a forum on “Pharmacists in General Practice” and had as a keynote speaker, UK pharmacist…