ANNA Barwick (pictured), a pharmacist in Walcha, NSW, has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the pharmacy profession.
The award is the latest of many Barwick has achieved over the years, which include NSW Premier's Woman of the Year 2022; Regional Woman of the Year, NSW Minerals Council 2022; and Innovative Pharmacist of the Year, University Technology Sydney 2021.
Barwick also won PSA's Pharmacy Shark Tank award in 2021 and was NSW Pharmacist of the Year in 2021.
Barwick told Pharmacy Daily she was "absolutely shocked" when she received notification of the award.
"When I first saw the email, I thought it was spam and didn't want to click through on it!
"It is an absolute honour to be recognised so early in my career," she said, adding, "I feel like I still need to earn this recognition, so I'll keep advocating for pharmacists and rural health."
Her groundbreaking PharmOnline advisory service was created in 2020 in response to COVID.
"My pharmacist husband and I started getting many calls from patients about what to do during lockdowns," Barwick said.
"We have assisted hundreds of people to review their medications, make the best treatment choice, and suggest management for side effects from treatment.
"It is particularly important to people in rural and remote areas, as their health services may have restricted opening hours or they may not have the capacity to travel for medication advice."
Barwick said she has had "amazing support from the most outstanding pharmacists around the country who have been team members PharmOnline".
"I am very grateful for them for taking the chance to become involved in something new."
Barwick is hoping to publish evidence of its impact in order to secure additional investment from large organisations.
PharmOnline currently operates on a fee-for-service model, but Barwick would like to be able to offer the services at low- or no-cost, so they can support more underserviced people.
She is currently completing a PhD focused on telepharmacy.
It involves the pilot of an after hours telephone advice service in Tasmania, funded by the Department of Health.
"We were subcontracted by the PSA to provide the service during 2022-23, focused on helping the general public, aged care staff and palliative carers," she said.
With her team of five pharmacists from Tasmania, the service has helped hundreds of people with their medication and health queries, preventing unnecessary hospitalisations and ED visits.
Barwick now intends to return to clinical work in aged care.
"It is a huge team effort at home to enable me to attend committee meetings, to the point where my children think my job is only attending meetings - I am grateful for technology to allow me to do so from my rural home.
"I am just about to start a part-time ACOP role at Walcha Multipurpose Service, so I'll be back to more clinical work after over a decade in academia." KB
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