WA PSA recognises outstanding pharmacists
10 May 2021
The high quality health care provided by Western Australia’s pharmacists has been recognised at the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s (PSA) WA Annual Therapeutic Update (ATU) conference.
WA PSA President, Dr Fei Sim, presented awards for WA Intern of the Year, WA Early Career Pharmacist of the Year, WA Pharmacist of the Year and WA Lifetime Achievement Award at the award ceremony held at the WA ATU in Perth on Saturday 8 May to:
- Ashtyn Pitts MPS, WA Intern of the Year
- Kate Fulford MPS, WA Early Career Pharmacist of the Year
- Richard Smirk MPS, WA Pharmacist of the Year
- Rhonda Clifford FPS, WA Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr Sim noted the awardees had gone above-and-beyond for their patients and colleagues at a time of uncertainty and change in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As pharmacists and frontline health professionals, our routines have been altered and many changes have been made in the last year. Our profession has shone during these difficult times and we can add the words ‘resilient’, ‘excellence’ and ‘collaborative’ to our expertise”, said Dr Sim.
“For example, Ashtyn volunteered to compound hand sanitiser in the pharmacy after-hours to help protect the community at a time of extreme shortages, while Kate has produced resources for doctors and pharmacists to help reduce the unnecessary and often dangerous use of sedating antipsychotics in people living with dementia.”
Dr Sim said the awardees were an inspiration to other pharmacists and to their community.
“The winners of this year’s Western Australia PSA awards have all demonstrated PSA’s vision and excellence. Whether it was empowering pharmacists to be more responsible for medicine safety, demonstrating working collaboratively within a healthcare team, or providing support and education to the next generation of pharmacists.”
Awardee Profiles
Ashtyn Pitts, Intern of the Year
Stay Home and Stay Safe
Ashtyn is a versatile and resourceful professional who embraced her local community during the COVID-19 pandemic period.
Undertaking her intern year in Dalyellup, just south of Bunbury, she organised and advertised a Stay Home and Stay Safe health promotion for the local community during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, there were also significant shortage of alcohol-based hand sanitisers and Ashtyn organised the sterile manufacture and supply of sanitisers to nearby schools and the community. Ashtyn also conducts presentations and checks the blood pressure and blood glucose levels monthly at the nearby retirement village.
Quotes attributable to Dr Fei Sim:
“Ms Pitts is well liked in the community and extremely approachable. Her work after-hours to produce hand sanitisers for her community during extreme shortages, as well as collaborative approach to patient care shows initiative, drive and a focus on patient needs.”
“Ashtyn embodies the PSA’s values and has a bright future ahead of her.”
Kate Fulford, Early Career Pharmacist of the Year
Expanding the scope of pharmacy practice
The Early Career Pharmacist Award has gone to Kate Fulford, for her innovative ideas and challenging the scope of pharmacy practice.
Kate is a practicing GP pharmacist in Perth’s CBD whose interests lie in in improving medicine use in elderly and vulnerable populations by increasing education and support during transitions of care. Her special interest in chronic disease has seen her take on further qualifications as a diabetes educator, to further the work of GP Pharmacist’s and improve quality use of medicines.
Additionally, she is a senior research assistant in an NHMRC funded research project aiming to improve brain health in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations.
Kate has been a consultant pharmacist with Dementia Training Australia. She has developed educational programs for health professionals focusing on improving understanding of dementia care, and has overseen the development of an app that optimises the use of antipsychotic medications in people with dementia.
Quotes attributable to Dr Fei Sim:
“Kate has developed educational programs for health professionals focusing on improving understanding of dementia care, and overseen development of an online app to reduce unnecessary and dangerous use of antipsychotic medicines in people living with dementia. She is an impressive early career pharmacist.”
Richard Smirk, Pharmacist of the Year
Richard Smirk received the Pharmacist of the Year Award in recognition of decades of support to the profession and the community in Western Australia. Over many years, Richard has devoted countless hours of his time as regulator and governance leader to protect the community and foster the next generations of pharmacists.
Integral to the establishment of AHPRA in WA, Richard has also contributed to ongoing improvements to the processes for registration of pharmacists, examining intern pharmacists and framing the governance around the restructure of the Pharmaceutical Society of WA.
Richard has demonstrated his love of the pharmacy profession since he was a student. He was President of WAPSA in 1981 and Communications Officer for NAPSA in 1982. His great skill at communicating was also on display from 1998 to 2011 when he co-edited Rescript magazine for PSWA. Apart from his founding work when PSWA was redesigned, Richard also helped guide the establishment of AHPRA in this State.
Richard currently serves the profession as the Clinical Advisory Pharmacy at AHPRA in Perth as well as participating in the Australian Pharmacy Council’s Site Evaluation Team, to audit and re-accredit pharmacy university courses around Australia.
Quotes attributable to Dr Fei Sim:
“Richard has given so much to the profession since 1981 and has never asked for recognition or recompense. The enormous volume of work he has produced and his wide scope of practice deserves acknowledgement.”
“He has devoted so much of his time and energy to improving the processes around registration of pharmacists, examining intern pharmacists and framing the governance around the WAPSA’s restructure. We owe him a debt of gratitude.”
Professor Rhonda Clifford, Lifetime Achievement Award
Expertise in education and research
Professor Rhonda Clifford, was presented with this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award for her ongoing contribution to the pharmacy profession and the community.
Prof Clifford, who has over 35 years’ experience in education and research both nationally and internationally, currently serves as Head of School (Allied Health) at University of Western Australia in Perth. She has encouraged and mentored pharmacists at all stages of their careers. She is dedicated to ensuring that vulnerable populations are key in her education and research pursuits – particularly aged care and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Prof Clifford has been pivotal in ensuring the APC National Education Standards provide certainty that intern pharmacists can deliver excellence in all aspects of medicine management. An example of this is the state-wide implementation of the My Medicines and Me Questionnaire (M3Q) to empower mental health consumers.
She has been Chief Investigator and project lead on many projects, such as Lactamap, a resource which provides support to doctors to provide lactation care to breastfeeding women around the world. She was awarded the Erik Kirk Memorial Award in 2016 and a Senior Fellowship in the internationally recognised Higher Education Academy in 2019.
Quotes attributable to Dr Fei Sim:
“As an internationally recognised educator, Professor Clifford has been pivotal in ensuring the APC National Education Standards provide certainty that graduate pharmacists can deliver excellence in all aspects of medication management”, said Dr Sim.
“She has worked tirelessly throughout her career to encourage and mentor pharmacy students and pharmacists to achieve their goals.”
Media contact: PSA media 0424 777 463
