Diverse career opportunities for pharmacists
Our pharmacy alumni are pursuing interesting and diverse careers in health. From roles in health economics to working as poisons specialists, they are enjoying rewarding careers after study.
How I became a senior poisons specialist
A long-founded interest in the mechanisms that make medicines work lead Rose Cairns to study at the University of Sydney School of Pharmacy and, after completing her honours year, she continued into a PhD. During her career, Rose has worked as a Senior Poisons Specialist at the NSW Poisons Information Centre and a Research Associate in clinical pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Sydney. She now works as a lecturer at the Sydney Pharmacy School. Her research has been published in the Medical Journal of Australia and sparked Therapeutic Goods Administration reviews, adding to her international reputation as an expert in the poisons field.
Learn more about Rose’s journey as a pharmacy alumni.
Rose with the drug methotrexate.
My career in health economics
Since graduating from a Bachelor of Pharmacy at the University of Sydney, Rita Karamy became intrigued by the challenges of allocating constrained healthcare resources and access equitably.
Wanting to create positive change in healthcare beyond pharmacy, she completed postgraduate studies in health economics and policy. Today, Rita is an Engagement Manager at Health Technology Analysts, a role which encompasses a wide range of health technology assessment. She also works closely with the Department of Health, providing consultation for the listing of medical services onto the Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS).
Learn more about Rita’s journey as a pharmacy alumni.
Leading change in medicines policy
Matthew McCrone's career path has led him around the world and back again. After graduating from the Sydney Pharmacy School, Matthew spent a decade in community pharmacy in Canberra before moving to the United Kingdom to work for the NHS. He returned to Australia to be a part of the Therapeutic Goods Administration and later the National Drugs and Poisons Schedule Committee. Matthew made the move down south in 2008 to become the Chief Officer of drugs and poisons regulation at the Victorian Department of Health, more recently working on set filming a public awareness campaign for SafeScript.
Learn more about Matthew’s journey as a pharmacy alumni.
Director SafeScript, Matthew McCrone.
Life in the Northern Territory
Following the completion of her Bachelor of Pharmacy with Honours, Angela Young attended what would be a life-changing presentation on Indigenous health in the Kimberly region at the National Medicines Symposium in Canberra. The talk sparked an interest in rural health which led her to become the Director of Pharmacy at Alice Springs Hospital in 2011. Angela is now focused on improving the health of central Australians and services a catchment area of 1.6 million square kilometres.
Learn more about Angela’s journey as a pharmacy alumni.
Improving patient safety in hospitals
Ryan Broom's passion for healthcare led him to pursue a career traversing state health policy. After working as a project pharmacist at the Pharmaceuticals Society of Australia, Ryan ended up returning to Sydney to study a Masters of Public Health (Health Economics and Policy).
He joined the NSW Ministry of Health where he worked on national negotiations to develop a pricing and funding approach that reflected the safety and quality of healthcare in public hospitals. Ryan made the jump to working as a Quality, Patient Safety and Risk Manager at Sutherland Hospital, providing advice on strategies and approaches to ensure the hospital adhered to national safety standards. He has since rejoined NSW Health, returning as Principle Policy Officer, Policy Funding Reform.
Learn more about Ryan’s journey as a pharmacy alumni.