Grace Quach MPS[/caption]
‘Inspiring Excellence, Advancing Practice.’ Have you ever paused to think about the slogan on the cover and spine of your Australian Pharmacist?
It’s an expression of PSA’s vision to improve our nation’s health through excellence in the practice of pharmacy. I am proud to lead an organisation with a strong history of delivering for members. But as the national peak body for pharmacists, we know our work is never finished, and we should never settle with what we’ve achieved in the past. We want to make a greater difference to the health of Australians, and that starts with each of you, our pharmacist members.
This ‘never settle’ philosophy saw the PSA Board challenge your PSA team to review and evolve your PSA membership. The goal, to make sure your membership continues to deliver to you what you need for your practice and your career.
The team got to work, reviewing your feedback, engaging with you directly via phone, email and in person. They did a deep dive into the data which tells the individual stories each of you has in accessing the benefits of membership.
The results were clear, but to you, probably unsurprising. You told us you wanted to pay for the benefits you need, but not the ones you don’t. You told us you wanted membership options that changed as your needs and circumstances change. And you told us that different people value different things.
When asked what the most valuable membership benefits were to you, Australian Pharmacist, PSA’s CPD education offer, practice support, discounts on professional resources, conferences/events and being your voice to government ranked as the top responses.
Based on this work, PSA’s Board endorsed membership options based on the following principles:
- Putting you in control through flexible, tiered membership options to suit your needs.
- Education: providing leading education and support for all pharmacists, new and established.
- Innovation: Putting you at the forefront of opportunities for advancing practice and delivery of innovative models of care.
- Advocacy: never settling until you feel empowered to do more than the current system enables pharmacists to do.
- Community: connecting Australia’s largest community of passionate, like-minded pharmacists.
So when you receive your next membership renewal, things will look a little different. Soon, membership will be offered in tiers: Essential, Advantage and Professional Plus membership. Each option has different inclusions as benefits you can access. Plus we will, of course, continue to offer Student Membership and Graduate Membership.
And among the benefits included in all levels of membership, your award-winning Australian Pharmacist journal, which will continue to arrive in your mailbox with the best features, CPD and practice advice in the industry.
These new membership options build on several other membership benefits that PSA has introduced for you in the past 18 months, including:
- Pharmacist to pharmacist telephone advice service: Providing up-to-date practice advice on legal, medicinal and ethical issues in any jurisdiction from a senior pharmacist
- COVID-19 microsite: providing up-to-date (daily) essential information to help you and your colleagues navigate the pandemic
- PSA Member Insurance: offering competitive professional indemnity that covers pharmacists to their full scope of practice
- Communities of Special Interest: helping you interact with passionate, like-minded pharmacists.
