EARLY career pharmacists and pharmacy students are being urged to show their passion for the profession, with Priceline Pharmacy People and Program Manager, Jeyda Shiaxiates, saying it will create opportunities for growth.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Raven's Recruitment Your Pharmacy Career podcast, Shiaxiates discussed how her desire to differentiate herself as a pharmacist-in-charge led to her being approached about a role in Australian Pharmaceutical Industries' (API's) Priceline Pharmacy head office.
The opportunity to switch from her community pharmacy position into the group's head office was the result of her willingness to reach out with new ideas and support to implement them in-store.
"I remember contacting the marketing team saying 'I want to make a flyer for the store'," she said.
"They said, 'okay, what do you want to put on the flyer?' and I said, 'I want to talk about how I'm different from every other pharmacist, because I like to touch my patients'.
"And this joke went on, 'you can't put that on a flyer', and I was like 'no, no, I mean I like to connect with my patients, and I strongly believe that you have a doctor, so why don't you have a pharmacist?
"So I got some flyers together and a few months later head office contacted me and said 'we've got a head office role [available] are you interested?'
"I applied for it and then moved into the role."
Shiaxiates said that while she did not see heself as the best at what she was doing, her proactive approach to pharmacy was a key factor in creating new opportunities for career progression.
"I love being a pharmacist, and that kind of stemmed all these opportunities where I could go, 'how do I bring this to life and how do I make sure that my customers know me by name and feel comfortable to talk to me'," she said.
"So the message from me is just do your best and as long as you're passionate about what you do every day, people will recognise that and it opens up a lot of opportunities for you."
CLICK HERE to listen to the latest episode of the Your Pharmacy Career podcast.
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