Welcome to this special recap of Your Pharmacy Career podcast, proudly produced by Raven’s Recruitment - Australia’s experts in pharmacy career and locum services for over 30 years.
In this episode ofYour Pharmacy Career Podcast, host Krysti Lee Patterson sits down with Susan Nguyen, a passionate community pharmacist, co-owner of Carmen Drive Community Pharmacy, and founder of ADHD Support Pharmacist.
Episode Summary
In this episode of Your Pharmacy Career Podcast, host Krysti Lee Patterson sits down with Susan Nguyen, a passionate community pharmacist, co-owner of Carmen Drive Community Pharmacy, and founder of ADHD Support Pharmacist.
Susan’s journey into pharmacy wasn’t a straight path - she originally considered a career in business and accounting before discovering her true calling in healthcare. Throughout the conversation, Susan shares her experiences in pharmacy ownership, her work in travel health services, and her advocacy for ADHD support in pharmacy practice.
From launching Travel Healthy, a travel health consultation service, to tackling stigma and gaps in ADHD care, Susan is on a mission to make healthcare more accessible and supportive for all patients. She also discusses how pharmacists can create inclusive workplaces, recognising the strengths of neurodivergent team members and adapting roles to help them thrive.
Key Takeaways from the Episode
✅ Finding Passion in Pharmacy
Pharmacy wasn’t Susan’s first career choice, but working as a pharmacy assistant showed her the power of connection with patients.
She encourages students to gain real-world experience early to shape their career paths.
✅ Becoming a Pharmacy Owner
Susan transitioned from employee to owner after nearly 10 years as a pharmacist.
Ownership gave her the freedom to implement ideas and services she was passionate about.
✅ Launching ‘Travel Healthy’
Seeing a demand for travel health advice in her pharmacy, Susan created a dedicated travel health consultation service.
COVID-19 delayed their launch, but it gave them time to refine their service model and build partnerships.
✅ Pharmacists & ADHD Support
Susan saw a gap in ADHD patient support - especially in medication counselling.
ADHD medications are often stigmatised, yet patients need guidance, understanding, and advocacy from pharmacists.
She launched ADHD Support Pharmacist, providing tailored consultations and educational resources for ADHD patients and caregivers.
✅ Creating an Inclusive Pharmacy Workplace
Pharmacists and pharmacy owners should recognise team members’ strengths instead of forcing them into rigid roles.
Neurodivergent staff can excel when given the right environment, playing to their strengths.
✅ Advocating for the Community
Susan led a community petition to improve local parking and upgrade public spaces.
She believes community engagement is key to a successful pharmacy.
✅ Advice for Pharmacists
Identify what you’re passionate about and look for gaps in patient care that you can fill.
Pharmacy isn’t just about dispensing - becoming a problem solver for your patients leads to career fulfilment.
Our Partners & Supporters
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA)
Proudly brought to you by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. The PSA is committed to empowering pharmacists through advocacy, innovation, and industry-leading professional development. To become a member or learn more about how the PSA can support your career, visit www.psa.org.au.
Pharmacy Daily
Pharmacy Daily is a proud supporter of Your Pharmacy Career Podcast. If you're in the pharmacy world, it's a great resource to stay up to date with the latest industry news. To subscribe, just head to pharmacydaily.com.au to get the newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.
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Full Episode Transcript
Speaker 3 (00:00.302)
Welcome to Your Pharmacy Career Podcast, proudly produced by Raven’s Recruitment, the experts in pharmacy career and locum services for over 30 years. Every episode is your gateway to new opportunities in the pharmacy profession, from expert advice to inspiring success stories. We're here to spark ideas, guide your career and help you achieve your goals. Stay tuned. The next step in your pharmacy journey starts here.
Hi everyone and welcome to your pharmacy career podcast. I'm your host Krysti Lee Patterson and joining me on the show today is Susan Nguyen, a community pharmacist and co-owner of Carmen Drive Community Pharmacy and the founder of ADHD Support Pharmacist. Susan is passionate about making healthcare more accessible, particularly in the areas of travel health and ADHD care.
And she's also a very strong advocate for collaboration within the healthcare sector. Susan, welcome to the podcast.
Thank you, Krysti Lee, for having me and talking all about pharmacy, which I'm very passionate about, and yourself as well.
thank you. Well, I can already hear the passion coming through your voice. So I'm very excited to have you on the show today. We'll jump straight into the questions. And the first question I ask everyone is what made you get into pharmacy? But I know that your career pharmacy wasn't actually your first career choice. So what is your story?
Speaker 1 (01:26.274)
So when I was in high school, just, with my parents, said, as long as you do well, you can just pick whatever you like. And at that time I had no idea. just knew I just had to just do something that was quite general. when I got my results and HSC and all that sort of stuff came out, I could only think of business. That's all I could think of commerce.
And pharmacy was my fifth choice. It was just down the line. And the reason why I put pharmacy down was mom and dad had family friends who said it's amazing for, you know, women. allows them to work with flexibility and it's quite rewarding in terms of helping people. So I just put that down, not really thinking too much about it. And then during, I think the third rounds of university choice, I went for an accounting interview for Prentice of some sort.
And then when I sat there in the interview, just, I just felt really, it was so suffocating. thought, my goodness, I'm going to be dealing with paperwork, numbers, four walls. I can't be in here. And so the interview went from really enthusiastic to just, don't, they never called me back. So I don't plan because I went from energetic to just not interested at all. And then I got into pharmacy. So pick that choice and got in first year. Yep. All done. But as I got through it with.
Third and fourth year, I felt really connected with it and also working in second year as an assistant. And I realized that I really enjoy the connection. I enjoyed helping people. I was interested in health as well. Cause one thing was I've always been curious of how, I guess when, you know, had asthma and my sister did too, and then all those sort of things.
I was already in medicine anyway, taking those vent, know, ventilations and that sort of stuff. So it just made me really curious, but it was the connection piece. So I noticed that, you know, when I was working pharmacy as a student, it was like a lasting conversation you would have with people and then you would see different people. I wasn't exposed to that many people, but I realized I felt very comfortable. And then that's also happy that I did choose pharmacy and walk out of that interview, you know, without reading it at all.
Speaker 2 (03:30.67)
That's exactly right. I think that's, you mentioned that you were working as a pharmacy assistant as a student. And that's something that I did as well. I actually was working in a pharmacy before I got into pharmacy school, but I definitely think that that's very helpful. So if there is any students that are listening to this podcast now, and maybe you don't have a casual job in pharmacy, I definitely would recommend it. Because I know for me, it certainly did help.
Just give you a bit of an understanding of what it will be like. Was it the same for you?
Yes, it was. And I think you're absolutely right there, Christy Lee, because sometimes it's not, you don't get the real life experience and what the role plays that you do in pharmacy practice, you know, it's not always textbook perfect. That's how you'd think. But then when you actually meet people, you see them as a whole person. And then you can, you could start to realize what kind of pharmacist do you want to be? What kind of role as a pharmacist do I want to deliver? So being there.
from the very beginning, think it solidifies your choice. So that's definitely must do if you're in pharmacy.
Yeah, absolutely. And it's interesting that you mentioned that your first choice was more like business and accounting and finance. Yeah. So I guess is that kind of where the passion between the community pharmacy, but then moving into pharmacy ownership, that's kind of bringing that business side into things. How did that progress in your career?
Speaker 1 (05:05.006)
Well, I worked in as an employee or worked in pharmacy for almost 10 years as a pharmacist. But then I realized there were like things I'd love to change, ideas I would like to implement and you know, not being your own pharmacy, you know, you can't always implement those changes. I have a vision. And then having that vision, you sort of go, oh, I don't know when this is going to come to life. So that's when I started looking into pharmacy and you know,
Yeah, thanks very much.
Speaker 1 (05:31.884)
buying one and then obviously got in with my business partner, which was great because we have the same vision as well. And that's how it came about. But in terms of the business side, funny, I'm glad I didn't do it, you know, become an accountant because I realized that I'm not that great at numbers.
no! my gosh.
Even though I think well in Batson High School, like numbers just, I like to see the end result of the numbers, the metrics, and honestly the results and how we can interpret that. don't want to be able to generate it myself. So I'd rather someone else to do it. And then I look at it as a whole. So that's quite interesting, but the whole business ownership is just that vision part and wanting to make a difference.
Yeah, that's exactly right. So once you purchase this pharmacy and you went into partnership with your business partner, I guess that's when you were able to start making these changes that you said that you wanted to do when you working in pharmacy. And one of the things that you did was you actually, I guess, created travel healthy. And so I'd love to understand that a little bit more as to what
actually is that, what does that mean from a pharmacy perspective and then what also inspired you to focus on travel health in the first place?
Speaker 1 (06:47.982)
Yeah. So we're located in Carlingford and we have a lot of semi retiree patients and customers. And we noticed that, you know, we just kept on getting postcards and postcards and postcards. then, you know, every time someone would come in, we'd be getting Reg 24, back then Reg 24. And we would, you know, always just, you know, continually be getting, being asked for advice. And when we thought, you know, there's something there about it because we're
We're giving all this advice and travel is a really, you know, happy topic, but it also comes with the health aspect as well. So we thought, why don't we just really structure this? And then we decided to have a section in the pharmacy. We started small, just having, you know, travel health section. started with having, you know, just looking at mini consultations or ad hoc ones, but not structured at all. But we thought people are really gravitating towards this advice. So we thought, well, why don't we just create.
a consultation business out of it, called Travel Healthy. And so that was the making of it. So it sort of just evolved over time.
And how long ago was this that you actually started this?
So the works of it was, the idea was about 2017 and then 2019 was when we thought, okay, we'll hit it hard on the head and then COVID hit.
Speaker 2 (08:07.431)
no! my gosh.
It was like the worst timing because you know, you have this, it's just, was so disappointing at the time because we thought, you know, now we've got to focus on something else. really have something solid here and not just that we actually have as a niche that we want to focus on that is going to benefit our area as well. When COVID hit, just, yeah, was, we were quite gutted, but then we, after, you know, you sort of.
put your head in the sand for a little bit. And we thought, you know what, this is great. We can pivot. This is allowing us space to plan a little bit more and maybe it is a sign so we can really work on our branding. We could really work on what we really, how we want to deliver, work on our SPS a little bit more, those sorts of things. Build a website. So that's where we're at. So we've got a website and the business is called Travel Healthy. So that allows us to deliver consultations for people that are not within.
where our pharmacy is so we could do it via Zoom. Also work with other travel businesses. So we did a travel health, we attended a cruise travel expo as kind of a local one and collaborated with some cruise ship travel agents and it's been pretty good. So that's sort of where we're at the moment and that's the making of Travel Healthy. So that's that. And then we've been able to, I guess, deliver it in the pharmacy as well.
That's really insightful way you noticed that there was already a pattern of behavior in your pharmacy first. And it's growing from something small from, yeah, just making sure you've got a robust travel, I guess, category in your pharmacy and then building a service around that. I think is, is really quite business savvy really. It's like the demand is already there. You don't have to convince people that this is a good thing because they're already coming in for that information.
Speaker 2 (09:55.298)
But I guess you mentioned that you planned all of this and you had everything ready to go and then COVID hit. And you talked about pivoting the business. Was there anything that you then did with your pharmacy to kind of engage the community in that time?
In that space, we sort of left the travel sort of planning in the background, mostly focused on how to deliver services effectively to the community, you know, during COVID. So in terms of travel health, we knew that the moment, I guess, the board is open, people would be talking about travel and people would say, oh, I booked all this and I had to cancel it. We've had to, you know, move it to the next year. And people were talking about, I wish I could travel. So we knew as soon as that would happen.
we would be ready to go. that was that. But in that time and that space, we really focused on what every pharmacy focused on, which was delivering like COVID type services. So the vaccinations and working with other healthcare professionals in the area on raising awareness of COVID testing and COVID in general and the vaccinations. And I guess being there for the community, because I think what we did during COVID was shut our doors.
for I'd say about, it would be at least six months, which was a big risk, but we served in the front and it sounds very, just a bad move, I guess, like a poor business decision, but we actually grew through not allowing people in and we're creating restrictions ourselves, which I think is quite polarizing, but I think a lot of people who were fearing COVID at the time and they couldn't leave that area, they really gained a lot of trust because we still.
continued to connect with them, even though we weren't able to be there for them. We were there on the phone, we were there out in the front. So that was our focus.
Speaker 2 (11:44.27)
Yeah. But I liked the fact that you didn't completely abandon the plan for your travel health business because yeah, as you said, people were so desperate for wanting the borders to open again and start traveling. you were very future focused on that as well. So you okay, you might have to pivot and change some of your day to day kind of priorities, but you were still working on that. Yeah. In, in the background.
were and I think with travel health it's a happy topic as well and I think in pharmacy we and it's great that we are focused at you know solving problems but we can solve problems at another angle where something joyous but we can also deliver you know make it even more joyous for people.
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, you're right. Because when people are coming into the pharmacy, it's generally because there's something wrong with them. They're sick. They're not feeling great. But travel health is really about preventative health. So you really have that opportunity to get them thinking about, yeah, what choices are going to make when they're on holidays. And I don't know if you're like me, but I don't know when I'm on holidays. It's like, I'm a different person.
start eating different things, doing different things, doing things that we wouldn't normally do and in places that you wouldn't normally be. So it's good to be that point of reference for people to be like, don't forget about your health as well when you're on holidays.
It is, it's so true. And then the thing is that they've spent all this money and then the worst thing you want to do is just stay in the hotel. And this is from personal experience, just throwing up and just befriending the bathroom. So that's one thing you don't want to do. And I guess, I think we were able, we were lucky in a way to, guess, just beta test, you know, how this tribal health consultation was going to be like, or whether there was a demand for it. Because I think, you know, it's not a service for everybody. If you're generally healthy and you don't...
Speaker 1 (13:36.014)
really care about medication or being healthy and you're a risk taker and all that sort of stuff. And you know, you don't need that support, but if you have diabetes, you have immunocompromised conditions, those sorts of things, you need to really have pharmacists and a healthcare team to personalise your experience to prevent you from getting sick and having that plan for themselves on what to do if they do get sick. So that's really critical.
Yeah, that's a good point. And a plan for if they do get sick, that's really actually important because it's not just about how you prevent it, but sometimes things happen and yeah, what do you actually do? That's a really good point. Now I wanted to chat to you about your work in the ADHD space. It's pretty popular at the moment, this topic, because there's some, I guess a lot of out of stocks with some medications now in the pharmacy.
which is very frustrating. But I guess from my perspective, I'd love to understand why that was something that you were drawn to because I guess from comparing it to the travel health side, you saw a need in your community and in the pharmacy and built something around that. Was that the same case for your interest in ADHD?
Yeah. Well, I think for me, it was a bit of both. So firstly, did, have close, you know, loved ones and close ones that were diagnosed with ADHD and other neurodivergent, I guess, conditions and those sort of things. And I just didn't know anything about it. I really didn't. And questions about the medications, about stimulants, about non-stimulants, I really just knew what AMH knew. I was just, like, just saying it all just from there. And I thought,
Geez, I really am out of this space. So I thought in order to help, you know, people around me, I really need to know how we can help them and support them because there was nothing there. They weren't getting help from just their GPs. The pediatricians are great, but you only have a time limit. And then in terms of accessing psychologists, OTs, all that sort of stuff, they had to find this all themselves. And then fortunately, you know, we're living in this space where we have Facebook groups and all that stuff, but going back, you know.
Speaker 1 (15:48.12)
quite a few years we didn't have that luxury. So that's where the seed was planted. And then I started to notice how our safe was just, we were just needing more space.
Yes, my gosh, that's so true.
Yes, we'll just go, okay. It's not, you know, your other S8 medications. They were simply ADHD medications. And every time I handed out a medication or an ADHD medication, especially during initiation, I felt that there was some disparity between all the other medical conditions. So if it was someone who had just started, you know, antihypertensives or insulin, all that sort of stuff.
I would spend a considerable amount of time going through just the medical condition itself, expectations and the medications, the lock. But then with someone with ADHD, especially when it's scary starting on stimulants for a child, for a parent to have so many concerns and that I just didn't have anything to offer them. So that's when I thought there is a gap in this space. And if anything, it's a condition that is, has a lot of stigma. There's also not not.
not much known about it. I think we only got a lecture or something about stimulants during uni.
Speaker 2 (17:02.624)
I faintly remember maybe one or two slides. Maybe I was completely wrong and maybe I was not at that lesson or something because of the Singapore story. yeah, remember still having that stigma around that it is still something that is in kids and they probably just grow out of it. again, maybe if they just had some routine, they'll get better. I'm quite comfortable now.
to say that I had that bias, which is really sad from like a pharmacist perspective that I had that kind of unconscious bias at the time. Like I didn't even realize that I had that thought in my head.
Yeah. And I really don't blame it's the way society has built us, you know, to, you know, shape, shape that view for us. And even with stimulants, just thinking, it's in the S8 set, you know, it's, it's an S8, it's controlled. Fair enough. But there's so much stigma around it. You know, we thinking that their habit seeking habit forming medication when we hand it out, it's met with suspicion, those sorts of things. And that's quite, it's very demoralizing because
I mean, now that I know so much more about ADHD, it's, people with ADHD try so hard and the last thing they need is that judgment from a healthcare professional that is meant to be there for them. So, and I think that is still around because sadly, like, you know, I was the same too. had no idea about ADHD medications. And to me, I just thought it was just another regulated medication.
put any weight on it at all. And that's why I think now the education piece is important. The advocacy is important as well as just being able to be comfortable with seeing it as a condition that we can support patients, not something that we sort of steer away from and treat it the same way that we should with diabetes, heart conditions, thyroid, the whole lot.
Speaker 3 (18:57.102)
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Yeah, absolutely. I completely agree. And I'm curious to know if once you started going down this path of understanding it more and being able to provide better advice to your patients and then also the people around you. But I'm also really interested into how businesses, and you're a business owner yourself, so how do you actually support maybe some of your staff that
maybe they are neurodivergent or maybe they don't know that they're neurodivergent. true, that's so true. Not saying that you want to be diagnosing people, just making the environment of the pharmacy a little bit easier for them to be able to be their best at work. And I know for myself, when I'm working in community pharmacy, it's
No.
Speaker 2 (20:07.16)
So distracting, there's so many different sounds, lights, so much going on and it's so easy to make a mistake in that setting. yeah, I'd love to know, yeah, what changes do you think some of the pharmacies need to make to better support, not just their patients, but also their staff as well?
Yeah, no, thanks for asking this. Cause I think this is an important message for not just business owners, but also for pharmacists themselves. And especially if you feel that you, don't have to be like every pharmacist that's praised or whichever it is that they're praised because they can dispense perfectly or they're praised because they can put stock away in great order and that sort of stuff. I feel that to create, whether then you're a divergent or not, think
Tapping into the strengths is most important. And definitely if you're neurodivergent, being a business owner, you need to know what, because they'll need more support. And often people with neurodivergent, who are neurodivergent, if you give them the support and create the right environment for them, they will thrive. They are going to be superstars and world-class at what they are, because that's their hyper-focus and that's what we need to do. So that's something that I'm really going to focus this year with my business partner.
where we're going to look at everyone's strengths and also just areas of, I wouldn't say development. would be more areas to manage because you need to run a business and also, you know, everyone needs to fulfill certain duties and be accountable, responsible for things. But I think we need to focus more on what an individual or our team members can do rather than what they can't do. And provided that they continue to still, you know,
lead every day in whatever, you know, whatever task we give them that they really connect with. long as they lead with the same vision and the same values, that's all it is. So as a pharmacist, for example, you know, someone can, you know, we've used this example before can check Webster packs on the fly and I can't do that. I need a space and I need to do that. But you know,
Speaker 1 (22:15.284)
I can, I can talk with patients and spend quality time with them and just dig, dig, dig and connect with them. Or we can have pharmacists that prefer not to speak to people and stay on the floor because it's quite exhausting. They're better at checking just interns, interactions and how and give them pointers and give them guidance, all those sorts of things. And also just look at compliances, making sure that our orders are right or whether.
You know, um, scripts, Owing scripts have been filled or fixed up those sorts of things or noting interactions, all those things that all pharmacists do, but we could cut, we could really focus on each of everyone's role and individualize them because I think that's the way to bring the best out of people. Because if you're put in a role where it's not suited for you, it doesn't matter what it is. You're not going to thrive. In fact, you're not going to want to be there. You're not going to even want to, even if you wanted to.
succeed, you wouldn't be able to be part of the team in the whole way. So I think it's a really good thing that we recognize everyone's skill sets and capabilities rather than their limitations.
Yeah, absolutely. think, yeah, you're right. It's not just neurodivergent stuff, but yeah, just all stuff in general. And I really like that you're making that a focus this year for your team. And because the thing is you can't focus on everything all the time, but yeah, think making sure you've got an opportunity to be able to, yeah, find out what the strengths of your staff are. sometimes, let's be honest, it's very busy, especially in a community pharmacy and you might not get time to even
Find out what they're good at, because you're not allocating that time or space for that. And maybe that person was just in that role because that's the role they had when you got there or maybe took over the pharmacy. And I always think back to a pharmacy where I worked at and one of the pharmacists, she was very good at checking Webster packs, very detail orientated. Whereas me.
Speaker 2 (24:18.023)
I loved being out on the floor. Like I hate being in the dispensary to be honest.
No, I feel the same way. I love just being able to connect with people and I know that you do too.
And it's funny, like in the beginning, we were trying really hard to get her to be out on the floor and develop those skills. And yes, that's important. And then we would have, I would then be doing the website checking and dispense checking. And we both ended up just making mistakes because I just couldn't focus properly and I get so bored.
How many tablets can I count? Like, my gosh. Whereas this particular pharmacist, like you could ask her a question about any of the nursing home patients, what medications they were on and she would be able to tell you. then like now I reflect back on it. I think, yeah, while we were trying to force someone to do something that they don't want to do, like, yes, okay, you need to be able to do it. not like it's, just going to put my foot down and no, I'm not checking or no, I'm not going out the front.
Because you understand that that's part of your role. But why does it have to be the core focus? yeah. And then once we just were like, do you what, if you love being in the Webster room and doing all that, why don't you just, you do that then and I'll do this. And I ended up working really well. We were both really happy. And then you're not forcing people to do things that maybe they don't want to do, which sometimes you have to. But yeah, playing to those strengths. Yeah, playing to those strengths.
Speaker 1 (25:51.83)
And it's true. Like you just gave a great example there because see how you both have preferences. If you work together, how good of a team would you be? Like, you know, you can't have two Christy Lee's just in the same shift because you both don't want to do the web. You know, if you both.
I should mention nothing you'd get done.
Well, you know, it'd just be, and the customers would love it, but then, you know, all the Webster packing and all the nursing homes, like there's still those part of the day to day workplaces. And, know, if everyone focused on their own roles, that would be fantastic. They had like two seasons on the one day the whole time, you know, we would be able to turn out, you know, connect and do a lot of med checks and all that sort of stuff. We'd still need to get all the other things done, you know, like day to day ordering and checking.
You know, what's left at the end of the day in terms of, do we need to order some more Webster material? Do we need to, you know, check on what I'm trying to think of end of the day stuff that I'm doing. Do we need to check up on QCPP? You know, when is that? And, and all the day to day stuff that we would manage with and calling up doctors that we have to chase up scripts with, you know, if we didn't all have our preferences and we weren't grouped together, I think.
That would not be a workplace that I would personally want to be. And I want to create a workplace where everyone can feel comfortable, safe, and really just deliver services that, you know, they're comfortable with. Because if you can do that, you can really help the rest of the community. You could really help people in health as well, because there's only, if you don't like what you're doing, you're not going to be able to help your patients.
Speaker 2 (27:29.486)
Exactly right. Yeah. And they can sense that. It's very obvious when you walk into a place and someone's unhappy in what they're doing. I'm sure we've all probably experienced it at some point in time in our lives. You mentioned about bringing the community together and we're coming up to towards the end of our podcast episode, unfortunately. But I did want to ask you about
something that you did in your community and completely probably nothing really to do with pharmacy or maybe it is to do with pharmacy but you actually lobbied for a community car park and a playground upgrade and I really wanted to chat to you about this because I think what we could learn from you is like how do you bring the community together for a shared vision or purpose and create that change.
Yeah, I think what we've noticed is just like our travel health business, you start to look at what everyone's, I guess, problem is or what they're trying to solve. And then once you work that out, that's where you go. So for us, we kept on hearing daily people going, there's no parking here or we don't have opal cards and you know, we can't get to the butcher or the pharmacy. We waited so long and we just kept on seeing that double parking the whole lot and
We know that people have been trying to write to the councils and there'd been no response at all or just very little response. And so we thought, okay, if they're all doing it individually, why don't we work as a group? And because everyone has a shared problem, it's so much easier to get everyone together because it's just like a team. you have a shared vision, it's easy to mobilize everyone and motivate everyone. So we found that across the businesses, they had the same problem because they couldn't get
customers in and they had the same complaint and spent hours to, you know, talking about it. So we thought, let's just get together. So we created this petition and we sent it out to all the businesses on the strip and they were happy to participate. And then because it's trying to solve their problem and the community is trying to solve that problem, we just unified and kept on going. And we got the car park three years later, but we didn't just get an upgrade on the car park. They upgraded the park across the road. So it was, there was no public toilets at all.
Speaker 1 (29:48.854)
Now we have that and more parking. doesn't solve everything, but it's a great space and we haven't heard much complaining as we ever did before. So people are pretty happy.
That's so cool. And I also think too, like that just shows that you're invested in the local community as well, right? So really, it's not like you set out to do this to bring in business or something. It's that there's a problem that needs to be solved. And I think that's what pharmacists are, problem solvers. And, but also from, I guess, a business perspective, it's also showing the local community that you actually care about and the problems that they have as well.
Yeah. So I think, and I think building that community is important because you know, that's when people come pharmacy is very unique where we see people without booking appointments and we get to connect with them. know them not just from their health conditions. We know them as a whole person. know their whole, their life and what their concerns are, and we can really help develop.
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I guess my last question for you is what's next for Susan? What's happening? You talked about your planning on, I guess, reviewing your staff and seeing where their strengths are. But do you have any upcoming projects or initiatives that you're excited about? You probably do. You probably have many.
This year I'm going to really try and focus on the ADHD support pharmacist side and really, because it's been sort of a 12 month project where I've just planned a lot of it, but we're starting, well I'm starting to roll out the consultations where I really help patients and parents and anyone who has concerns about the medications and really optimize that. That's where I'm focused on the consultations. So getting that out in the community and I've already seen the need for it and really it's just...
Speaker 1 (31:41.656)
being able to help the ADHD community to know that pharmacist is part of the healthcare solution and then also collaborate with all the other healthcare professionals as well that we are the missing gap as well.
Yes, absolutely. I think that's so important that especially for any medication that sits in the safe, but yeah, we're not just the gatekeepers to your script. I think that's really important. I know like earlier on in my career, I to get quite frustrated, not really understand why. Yeah, people with ADHD or autism or neurodivergent, they...
were always coming in early for their scripts or not knowing when their next repeat was due or losing their scripts. I just thought, what on is going on here? What's on these people manage this? And then now I realize that's why they're on the medication in the first place.
so bad because I get it yeah and you know I feel so bad when people come in like a day or two early and I'm so sorry like you're a day early or two days early and like oh my gosh I have to come back again so yeah it's just giving me a different insight and one little tip I guess I'll share that sometimes I do is when I'm going through the S8C if there's any scripts that are going out of date if
yeah, there's any for any of the stimulants. And I think, I've got a couple of repeats left. And they're to pick up but they haven't picked up yet. And it's going to go out of date. So just give them a quick call to say, Hey, do you realize your scripts about to go out of date? Do you want to pick this one up? And I actually did that the other day in a pharmacy I was working, like me at and the mom said, my gosh, thank you so much. Like I just completely forgot about it. And
Speaker 2 (33:33.26)
Yeah. And I said, yeah, I just noticed it was going out of date because if I didn't do that, she would have come in expecting the next one and there's none scripts out of date. It's none left. And now the kids are going to go without medication. So yeah, I think just being a little bit more understanding of what's going on in that context. So I know I've certainly changed my, way I approach, but I can't do it for everyone. And that's the thing. Sometimes it's busy.
So those little things matter and I think you would have changed the whole trajectory of her whole, I don't know, week or day or goodness knows because getting those appointments with the pediatrician is not easy.
Gosh, pediatrician or psychiatrist, they're not, they're not seeing a pediatrician anymore. It's certainly really difficult to get in.
I think, I don't know.
Thank you so much for joining the show for me. I can't believe we've been chatting for over half an hour now. that means it is time to wrap up. Do you have any final thoughts or comments that you'd like to share or any advice you'd like to share to our listeners?
Speaker 1 (34:40.204)
Yeah, I just think if you're in pharmacy and not just for a business owner, but just really know what you're passionate about and what your strengths are, because you can really drive a great service that way. And when you're passionate about say for us, it's travel health and ADHD health. You can really feel a great need for it in the area, then go for it. And so just look at what, what you're serving, what the problems are and how you can become. You know, the solution to and be part of the solution.
to benefit so your patients can really benefit and improve their health that way.
what a great way to end the podcast. Well, thank you so much, Susan. I really appreciate you joining us on the show today. If anyone's interested in contacting Susan about yet what she's been doing with the Travel Healthy business or the ADHD support business, we'll have the links in the show notes. But yes, Susan, thank you for coming on the show.
Thank you. Thanks for the opportunity. I had a great time. Thanks.
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Final Thoughts
Susan Nguyen’s journey is a testament to the power of innovation and advocacy in pharmacy. From embracing travel health consultations to championing ADHD support, she highlights how pharmacists can go beyond traditional dispensing roles to truly impact patient care.
Her approach to inclusive workplaces also challenges pharmacy owners to recognise and harness the unique strengths of their team members - whether neurodivergent or not. By fostering a supportive environment, pharmacies can improve both staff satisfaction and patient outcomes.
For pharmacists looking to make a real difference, Susan’s advice is simple: find what you’re passionate about, identify community needs, and take action. Whether it’s through specialised services,advocacy work, or business innovation, pharmacists have the power to drive meaningful change in their communities.
What’s one area of pharmacy you’re passionate about that could make a real impact? 🚀
