The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) announced New England's Anna Barwick as the 2021 NSW Pharmacist of the Year on Saturday evening.
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A registered pharmacist with over 15 years of experience in the industry, Mrs Barwick has been working as a pharmacy practice academic and researcher at the University of New England (UNE) for the last 8 years.
She lives on a property near Walcha with her husband and two young children and describes herself as 'a health professional, an academic, a mum and a daughter of farmers'.
A keen (and frequently successful) Fashion on the Field race day entrant, Mrs Barwick is known as the Phashionable-Pharmacist on social media.
Last year she launched an innovative online pharmacy advice service.
Mrs Barwick said PharmOnline is an advisory service that aims to provide Australians with 24/7 remote access to registered, experienced pharmacists via telehealth consultations.
People can go online and get a telehealth consultation at the cost of $25 for a 15-minute session.
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"PharmOnline is particularly valuable to people that are isolated and are unable to access their local community pharmacy or other health services easily," Mrs Barwick said.
"We solve medication and health enquiries, and empower people to understand and value their medication, safely and securely online."
NSW PSA President Ms Felkai said Mrs Barwick has led work in the area of telehealth and improving communications between pharmacists and the general community.
"Anna's pioneering work in this field has led to the formation of PharmOnline, a 24/7 telehealth advisory service which provides opportunities for the community to access health and medicines advice," Ms Felkai said.
"Anna has also served as a member of PSA's NSW Branch committee.
"Her work and advocacy in this field have certainly improved opportunities for rural communities to access advice and treatment opportunities where they have traditionally proved very difficult."
Anna grew up on a biodynamic and organic sheep, cattle and cropping farm at Peak Hill and says that it was instilled into her that community is critical from a very young age.
"You get a lot from giving back," she said.
"Obviously, being a farmer's daughter, I needed to innovate, and my parents showed me how to pivot and adjust when times were tough and make the best with what is available, so innovation is something I value very highly."
While she considered being a doctor or a nurse when she was at school, Mrs Barwick said she wasn't good with blood, so pharmacy appealed to her more.
"I always knew that I loved science and health, so pharmacy seemed like a really good fit as I could help people with their health without being quite so hands-on," she said.
Mrs Barwick graduated from Charles Sturt University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons) and, as an inaugural pharmacy cohort student at the Orange Campus, had to do a lot of her training via teleconference.
"I think that gave me a great grounding and insight into some of the challenges that can be faced when utilising technology for education and health," she said.
"But it also made me very adaptable as well.
"I love the process of learning, and I love health, and pharmacy is like that as there are always different medications coming out, and new applications for them."
Before moving to Walcha with her husband ( who is also a pharmacist ), Mrs Barwick worked in hospital pharmacy in clinical trials, ICU, and on medical and surgical wards in both Armidale and Tamworth.
"My husband purchased the local pharmacy in Walcha, and I got over my former idea of owning a pharmacy because I realised I love learning and passing knowledge on," she said.
Mrs Barwick is currently a lecturer in Clinical Placements, Pharmacy - School of Science and Technology at UNE.
She says she created PharmOnline because she knew that rural people often don't get access to medication advice at a time that they need.
"Their GP might be closed, or their community pharmacy might not be available," she said.
"So you can access medicine and health advice when and where you need it."
Socially, Mrs Barwick participates in Fashion in the Field events at race meetings across the state - winning more often than not.
She won Lady of the Day at the Tamworth Cup twice and has won numerous other times at Armidale Cup, Guyra Cup, Walcha Cup, Tomingley and Mungery race meetings. In 2008, Mrs Barwick was also The Land Sydney Royal Easter Showgirl winner.
But the thrill of being a finalist in a fashionable frock can't compare to achieving success in her chosen field, and Mrs Barwick said it was an 'absolute honour' to be nominated for the Pharmacist of the Year award by her peers.
"I have always held previous winners of this award in high esteem and many have also been mentors during my career," she said.
"I have had so many people in our profession reach out and offer their support around innovative practice.
"I hope this award means I can shine a light on the amazing work pharmacists do, particularly in rural and remote NSW, and help people connect with the medication experts when they need to."
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