Bendigo-raised Emily Griffin is an antidote to the idea pharmacists just "put stickers on a box".
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Busy elsewhere, Ms Griffin is a co-developer for an Australian-first voluntary assisted dying medication service, a practising senior pharmacist at St Vincent's Hospital, and Monash University rural health school lecturer.
"I can safely say I haven't put a sticker on a box in many years," she said.
The work that had encompassed her seven years in the field culminated in her "proudest achievement" on December 20.
On that date, Ms Griffin was named the country's Early Career Pharmacist of the Year by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.
"Pharmacists in general are a pretty under-recognised health professionals," she said.
"Receiving this award, it sort of encompasses everything that I have been able to achieve."
'A patient choice that they should have'
Ms Griffin said a lot of pharmacists had asked her how she was able to achieve so much in her short tenure, something she put down to her tendency to "say yes to everything".
She co-built and developed the Australian-first Voluntary Assisted Dying Statewide Pharmacy Service in Victoria, leading to the successful implementation of the service in 2019.
"It was set up in Victoria as a statewide pharmacy service and nothing like that existed, so it had to be built from the ground up - which was a huge job," Ms Griffin said.
The service would dispense voluntary assisted dying medication on prescription by the patient's co-ordinating medical practitioner, and deliver it anywhere in Victoria.
"At the end of the day, I'm a pharmacist because I want to give care to patients," Ms Griffin said.
"And that is the type of care that people want available, so it doesn't matter if health professionals agree with voluntary assisted dying or not, it is a patient choice that they should have."
Regional Victoria focus
Ms Griffin studied her undergraduate degree in pharmaceuticals at La Trobe in Bendigo and moved to Echuca to complete her intern year.
One of her lecturers Richard Summers said it was Ms Griffin's ability to "give a focus to the regions" that made her stand out.
"She has worked in both community pharmacy and in hospital pharmacy and brought those clinical skills together," Mr Summers said.
"And she has been able to ... recognise the need for the profession to provide these services in community areas in regional Victoria.
"So I suppose the fascination I have with her story is that - that she's been able to give back to the community while developing her own career."
Ms Griffin plans to continue her work with Monash University as pharmacy liaison officer for the whole of Victoria, in which she will promote and support the rural pharmacy workforce. She also plans to complete further study in 2024.
The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia also named Joshua Cooper from Priceline Pharmacy Maryborough Intern Pharmacist of the Year.
