My daily routine as a hospital pharmacist in Australia

Working as a Clinical Pharmacist in Australian hospitals has always been a dream and it was quite a big struggle to achieve it. The role in an Australian hospital is of course so rewarding. The respect for your knowledge is immense and you have that moral satisfaction that you are practicing your knowledge meaningfully. Working with generalist and specialist doctors is so fun and gratifying. After a few interview rejections, I landed my first clinical Pharmacist role at Swan Hill District Health of regional Victoria. I currently work as a Grade 2 Pharmacist at Northern Health, Melbourne.

My daily routine at work starts with dispensing in-patient medications using i-Pharmacy software. Then I attend the multi-disciplinary team meeting with nurses, doctors, physiotherapists, care coordinators, social workers, and exercise physiologists to know comprehensively about the patients admitted to the hospital in a day. I typically have cases ranging from cardiovascular, mental health issues, pediatrics, and sepsis cases which require antimicrobial prescribing-related reviews and much more. I also deal with emergency cases daily.

Performing pharmacist reviews, medication reconciliation, and pharmacist interventions are my daily responsibilities. In a typical day of dealing with and reviewing 30 patients, I prioritize my patients based on their healthcare needs, medical histories, and complex case histories. Advising doctors on selecting the best treatment regimens to bring about the best health care outcomes is my prime responsibility. I prepare in-patient medication management plans, discharge medication profiles with changes in medications, and a summary of information for patients to refer to upon discharge after a stay in the hospital.

I also involve in designing and implementing policies and protocols to enhance quality in hospital practice and bring about the best patient safety and health outcomes in my daily practice. I have authored many consumer health information brochures, nurse education plans, and leaflets, designed continuing professional development modules for different stakeholders in a multidisciplinary health care professionals team, prepared various patient education brochures, a range of public health documents, authored conference abstracts as a part of my passion for public health research; prepared education monographs and variety of training materials for nurses, student, and intern pharmacists.

I love what I am doing and feel proud of being and contributing to the profession as a clinical pharmacist where I can apply my education to improve the health and well-being of the community. Couldn't ask for more!!

Mr. Arief Mohammad is renowned for his excellent teaching skills and practice-based experience which can contribute to developing practice-based knowledge for a learner. He has been a practicing pharmacist in Australia for the last 5 years and has been a preceptor to several students and intern pharmacists.

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Arief Mohammad

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