On the right page

For Dr Amy Page FPS, it’s the challenge of building something new that has made her career to date so rewarding.

As a Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Australia (UWA), inaugural Director of the Centre for Optimisation of Medicines, President of the PSA’s Victorian branch, MMR-credentialed pharmacist, and mum of four kids aged 15, 19, 21 and 23, Dr Page has a lot to juggle. But she maintains she is not actually that busy.

‘I’m a firm believer that you can have it all, but you can’t have it all at once,’ says PSA’s 2024 Pharmacist of the Year.

‘If I’m going to do something, I’m going to give it my all, but I make sure I only commit to things I’ve got time to do.’

Optimising medicines

Dr Page, who competed at a national level in skating and volleyball as a teenager, began studying pharmacy after completing a naturopathy degree.

She has worked in metro, regional and remote community pharmacies and was one of the first pharmacists to work in a GP clinic. And her career has gone in a very different direction to what she originally imagined.

‘I think I would have been looking for an intersection between naturopathy and pharmacy. But one of the advantages of pharmacy is that you never have to go down just one path. There are so many doors open to you.’

One of the paths Dr Page has taken is into academia, with research focusing on medicines safety and the quality use of medicines. She is particularly proud of having established UWA’s Centre for Optimisation of Medicines, where researchers are working on projects ranging from making medicines more palatable for children, through to pharmacoepidemiological studies.

And she’s getting ready to welcome the first students in a new postgraduate course for allied health professionals, which will begin next year.

‘Having established a new centre is something I’m excited about, and the new course. You don’t often get a chance to start something new, so it has been pretty incredible. When you’re developing and building something you don’t necessarily have a roadmap. That’s when it’s really rewarding.’

Dr Page has also been influential in progressing pharmacist prescribing in Australia. She co-led the Australian Pharmacy Board of Australia’s forum on the subject. This resulted in the
Board’s first statement that there are no regulatory barriers to pharmacist prescribing.

She also continues work in community pharmacy and conducts Home Medicines Reviews, getting a lot out of these patient-facing roles. ‘I find it really rewarding to work with people who are using medicines. It also complements your work as a researcher and educator; it helps to know what’s going on.’

Supporting the profession

In her nomination for Pharmacist of the Year, Dr Page’s peers praised her leadership abilities and willingness to support other pharmacists. These are traits she has brought with her into her role as PSA Victorian Branch President, in which she has been instrumental in helping establish the state’s community pharmacy prescribing pilot. But it’s the diverse range of backgrounds on the branch committee, which is split evenly between metro and rural areas, that Dr Page finds really inspiring.

‘You get to learn from each other and see what’s happening across the pharmacy landscape.

‘I think it’s really important for all of us to lift those around us. We’re only as good as the people we’re working with, and by lifting everybody, we can all grow together and achieve more.’

Q&A

1. What is the one scope of practice change you would most like to see?

I’d really like to see pharmacist prescribing expanded, so that it’s routine that pharmacists are prescribing within their scope of practice, and that we’re able to do so subsidised on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

2. What advice would you give to your younger self?

I wouldn’t. I think the things that work and don’t work and the challenges we have along the way are part of what makes us who we are. There are lots of things that I would have liked to have changed or done differently, but ultimately they’ve made me who I am.

3. What pharmacist role do you see yourself performing in 2030?

I actually love what I’m doing now. I just want to keep getting better and better at what I do.