Pantea Mehdizadeh - Pharmacist

Pantea Mehdizadeh - Pharmacist Pantea Mehdizadeh PharmacistPosted October 18, 2017, by Jenny Sakr Pantea says the highlight of being a pharmacist is helping others, with over 12 years experience working in a pharmacy, she says its still the best part of the job and she never tires of it. Shes now turning her focus to integrative pharmacy,combining mainstream medicine with complementary and alternative medicine.How long have you been in pharmacy?I have been working in a pharmacy for over 12 years. I started as a pharmacy assistant, doing work experience when I first moved to Australia in 2004. I have been practising as apharmacist since 2010.What did you study and what are the steps you took to become a pharmacist?I got accepted to study a Bachelor of Pharmacy at Curtin University in 2005 during which I worked as a pharmacy assistant to finish my 500 hours (back then it was compulsory to do 500 hours while studying). In my fourth year if study I also did a 24-week placement in WA. I then moved to NSW to do my internship which included 2,000 hours of supervised work, a few assignments, and a written and an oral exam - all in the lead up to become a registered pharmacist.What was your first job?Musician, I was working with different groups, singing in choirs and playing the guitar.What did you want to be when you were younger?I wanted to become a surgeon when I was really young. Then I became fascinated with genes and genetic engineering.When did you first know you wanted to be a pharmacist?When I was 17 and started thinking about career path mora seriously, I didnt think life in a lab as a genetic engineer would satisfy me. I always wanted to be involved in health and to help people, was not really keen on the responsibility of diagnosis that lies on the shoulder of doctors, so the next best option was to liaise with other healthcare professionals and the idea of becoming a pharmacist stood out.Explain a typical day at workA typical day for me at this role is to set up the pharmacy, doing daily reports needed, going through my daily tasks and any unfinished tasks from