Championing Rural Pharmacy: The Shaylee Mills Story

6 months ago

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In this episode of Pharmacy View Podcast’s Full Scope Pharmacy Leadership stream, host, Chantelle Turner, a Pharmacist Leadership and Business Coach at TURN Pharmacy Leadership, welcomes Shaylee Mills. A Rural Pharmacist, Pharmacy Help Karratha, who is also the National PSA Intern Pharmacist of the Year 2022. Shaylee shares their unique journey into Pharmacy, their dedication to rural healthcare, and insights on mentoring future Pharmacists. Tune in to discover the challenges and rewards of a fulfilling career in Rural Pharmacy.

Shaylee shares their unexpected journey into Pharmacy, inspired by a love for organic chemistry found in university course books. They recount their diverse experiences across metropolitan, rural, and hospital Pharmacies, as well as their involvement in student advocacy and research. Shaylee’s passion for Rural Pharmacy was solidified during a placement in Karratha, leading them to return and continue their impactful work in the community.

Pharmacy View Podcast · EP 99 – Pharmacy View Podcast – Championing Rural Pharmacy: The Shaylee Mills Story

Shaylee discusses their deep commitment to Rural Pharmacy, shaped by their upbringing in a rural area and professional experiences in rural healthcare. They emphasize critical challenges such as workforce shortages and limited access to doctors, highlighting Pharmacists’ vital role in these communities. Shaylee advocates for increasing the rural healthcare workforce and shifting the Pharmacy model towards primary care to better support patients.

Shaylee shares insights on the distinct advantages of pursuing a career in Rural Community Pharmacy, highlighting the immense professional satisfaction and rapid career progression it offers. They address the misconception that Community Pharmacy lacks clinical opportunities, illustrating how rural settings provide a rich, clinical work environment. Additionally, Shaylee emphasizes the work-life balance and rewarding community connections that come with living and working in rural areas.

Chantelle and Shaylee discuss the importance of self-care and preventing burnout in early career Pharmacists. Shaylee emphasizes three key leadership skills: self-awareness, adaptability, and determination. They explain that self-awareness involves understanding one’s emotions and reflecting on personal capacity and stress levels. Adaptability is crucial, especially in rural settings where circumstances can change rapidly. Determination helps push through challenging times until conditions improve, maintaining a sustainable and fulfilling career in Pharmacy.

Shaylee also discusses their role in nurturing early career Pharmacists within the Karratha community, emphasizing the importance of mentoring Pharmacy students. This mentorship leads to successful recruitment and retention of future Pharmacists. Shaylee shares their passion for providing students with positive experiences, inspired by their own journey and impactful mentors. They highlight the gratifying nature of this work, noting that about 50% of their current staff were once students who interned with them, underscoring the effectiveness of their mentorship and community-building efforts.

Additionally, Shaylee addresses the misconceptions and pain points that deter Pharmacists from pursuing rural positions, such as isolation, workload, and relocation challenges. They counter these concerns with their own positive experiences and the support systems available, including financial aid and unique professional opportunities. Shaylee emphasizes the importance of early conversations about rural healthcare careers at the university level to inspire and inform future Pharmacists, advocating for greater awareness and discussion about the benefits and unique experiences of Rural Pharmacy practice.

Topics Covered

Shaylee’s unexpected journey into Pharmacy
Varied Pharmacy experiences
Commitment to Rural Pharmacy
Advocacy for the rural healthcare workforce
Advantages of Rural Community Pharmacy
Importance of self-care
Nurturing early career Pharmacists
Addressing misconceptions in Rural Pharmacy
Importance of self-awareness

Key Quotes (Time Stamps)

“But once I got into Community Pharmacy—got through the first year and started in the second year, I sort of pushed through all of those random little units that they throw at you in your first year, I think I started to really become more confident and more sure of my decisions being in Pharmacy.” (4:11 – 5:48)

“All the way through my degree, I tried to take as many opportunities as possible. So, I worked in Metropolitan Community Pharmacy, I worked in Rural Community Pharmacy, I worked in Hospital Pharmacy. I took on a little research scholarship through Uni to test that out to see what that process is like and see if that’s something that I would like. And I also got on board with student advocacy role. So, I was like a student representative on the SHPA and WA committee and things like that.” (4:40 – 5:13)

“I grew up in a rural area and I’ve grown up seeing all of the difficulties when it comes to the healthcare system. But it wasn’t until I actually immersed myself as a healthcare professional in rural areas for the past three years that I really been eye-opened to how significant these healthcare issues are and how significant the disease burden is.” (7:46 – 8:12)

“We have the potential to do so much for people and offer a lot of help and a lot of advice. And we really try to demonstrate that through our model up here in Karratha. We’re always trying to be at the front, seeing as many patients as possible and trying to flip that dispensary model into a forward Pharmacy model because it really is about the primary care.” (11:12 – 11:40)

“So, the message that I want to get across to students is that Community Pharmacy has the potential, and specifically Rural Community Pharmacy, from my experience, has the potential to give you immense career satisfaction because you are impacting people’s health situation so significantly.” (14:33 – 14:53)

“I also want to let people know that Rural Community Pharmacy has the potential to be clinical. Unfortunately, I think this notion that Community Pharmacy is not clinical or not clinical enough still exists and exists in my time, whereas I’m working in a community-based situation, it’s a unique situation where I’m working on a site at an Aboriginal medical service, but I have access to the doctors, to the nurses, to the specialists. I have access to the exact same online health records that every other health professional has. So, I get to see all of the patient’s health information exactly what you would see on a ward, on an electronic health system. So, it still has the potential to be clinical in that way.” (15:26 – 16:15)

“I think there are three key skills that we could look at here. So, the first one I strongly believe in is self-awareness. The second one would be adaptability, and the third one would be determination.” (19:30 – 19:45)

“We have a huge job and are inclined to give out absolutely everything we can. We’re on the front line helping so many people, and it feels like you’re sometimes almost pouring out your soul to help these people in need. And sometimes, you’ve got to think back and reflect on how much you are giving and how much you need to give back to yourself. And that’s through self-awareness. And that’s one way to really prevent burnout by that constant self-reflection.” (20:42 – 21:13)

“I love working with people and I love being able to watch people be really excited about their future. And I just try to invest a lot of time with them along with the rest of our team, investing a lot of time with students to help fill their cup because they have done that for me. (26:59 – 27:15)

“So, that would be the main thing—is that we need to have conversations about rural health care and rural practice and rural careers earlier. We need to make it so that we’ve got things like Community Pharmacy, Hospital Pharmacy, Industry Pharmacy; I know that we’re looking a lot at aged care Pharmacy and GP practice; there is no reason why Rural Pharmacy does not need to be in its own little realm and we should be talking about it. (32:19 – 32:46)

Social Media Clips (Time Stamps)

From Chemistry to Community: Shaylee Mills’ Unexpected Pharmacy Journey (2:30 – 7:14)
Championing Primary Care: Shaylee Mills on the Role of Rural Pharmacists (7:16 – 12:12)
Shaylee Mills on The Clinical and Personal Rewards of Rural Pharmacy (12:32 – 18:12)
Shaylee Mills on Essential Leadership Skills for Early Career Pharmacists (18:19 – 22:53)
Shaylee Mills: Mentoring the Next Generation of Rural Pharmacists (23:49 – 27:15)
Overcoming Challenges: Why Rural Pharmacy is Worth Considering (27:23 – 33:38)
Self-Awareness: The Key to Thriving in Rural Pharmacy (34:16 – 38:04)