It Takes Heart
It Takes Heart is an unmissable podcast where healthcare workers share their honest and unique experiences from Australia’s frontline.
Discover real-life stories of passion and purpose, insight and inspiration from people on the inside and tales that are equal parts heart-warming, heart-wrenching and hilarious. It Takes Heart is co-hosted by cmr | Cornerstone Medical Recruitment CEO Samantha Miklos and Head of Talent and Employer Branding Kate Coomber.
It Takes Heart
Shaylee Mills: Busting Myths as The Rural Pharmacist
What do you get when a fourth-generation farm girl swaps her ballet slippers for blister packs? You get Shaylee Mills—better known as The Rural Pharmacist—who shares why she chose to take her pharmacy career off the beaten track and into the heart of rural Australia.
Based in Karratha, Western Australia, Shaylee sheds light on what rural pharmacy really looks like—dispelling the myths of outdated clinics and highlighting the modern facilities, advanced technologies, and close-knit teams that make rural practice so rewarding. From working in Aboriginal Health Services to community pharmacies, she highlights how connection and continuity of care shape better health outcomes for patients and professionals alike.
Her award-winning work and social media advocacy are opening doors for countless young healthcare professionals to consider the path less travelled. With infectious energy, Shaylee champions the value of rural practice and encourages early-career pharmacists to think beyond the city. “You can do anything in pharmacy—but it’s easier to do everything in rural pharmacy,” she says, and after this chat, you just might agree.
It Takes Heart is hosted by cmr CEO Sam Miklos, alongside Head of Talent and Employer Branding, Kate Coomber.
We Care; Music by Waveney Yasso
More about Shaylee's Organisation of Choice, the Pharmacists' Support Service
The Pharmacists' Support Service is a free service run by pharmacists for pharmacists. The service provides a listening ear over the telephone to pharmacists, pharmacy interns, and students, offering support related to the many demands of the profession.
Follow Shaylee, The Rural Pharmacist on TikTok and Instagram.
Get to know cmr better!
Follow @ittakesheartpodcast on Instagram, @cmr | Cornerstone Medical Recruitment on Linked In, @cornerstonemedrec on TikTok and @CornerstoneMedicalRecruitment on Facebook.
Welcome to it Takes Heart. I'm Kate and I'm Sam, and we can't wait to share more incredible stories of healthcare professionals making an impact across Australia.
Shaylee Mills:We talk about, you know, going into rural healthcare, but again, if you don't see what it actually looks like, you know saying something at a university lecture on a piece of paper is very different to actually seeing what it looks like. There's never really been a better time to be a pharmacist, because there's so much changing. That's the best time to get in there and, you know, build a career for yourself and do whatever you want to do. And yeah, I am excited about the future of pharmacies.
Kate Coomber:We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of which we meet who, for centuries, have shared ancient methods of healing and cared for their communities. We pay our respects to elders, past and present.
Sam Miklos:Today we are chatting with Shaylee Mills, better known on social media as the Rural Pharmacist. Shay is a passionate advocate for rural life and the incredible role that pharmacists play in these communities is a passionate advocate for rural life and the incredible role that pharmacists play in these communities. On her Instagram and TikTok accounts you will find so many great stories, insights and tips about life and work as a rural pharmacist. I can't wait to hear more about that. Even just the quality of what you put together is incredible. Thank you. Shea is the ultimate advocate for rural pharmacists and has no doubt inspired thousands to consider these unique opportunities. Today she has travelled across the country, from Karratha in the Pilbara region to Brisbane in Queensland, to be with us today. Thank you so much, Shay, for joining us. No, thank you so much for having me here.
Shaylee Mills:I am super excited, and it is nice to get out of Karratha every now and again, so this is awesome.
Sam Miklos:Every now and then at the big swing, we've got you in this tiny room. Out of Karratha, big white spaces is awesome. Every now and then at the big swing, we've got you in this tiny room out of carava big white space.
Shaylee Mills:As long as it's not the red dirt, I'm fine.
Kate Coomber:Oh, fair, fair yeah, would you know what? We connected a little while ago and I came across your profile account what do you call it?
Sam Miklos:is it an?
Shaylee Mills:account. Is it an account? The rural pharmacist um like my instagram page or account?
Sam Miklos:Yeah, we had this conversation. It's like a profile account.
Kate Coomber:So we connected and I was just really taken by what you were doing. Thank you, I thought it really. I really loved the content. You were really showing variety of work and real joy in what you do. Like there's a real sense of positivity and a real passion for the industry, but also that rural community work, so really inspired today, and beauty of the rural areas too.
Sam Miklos:Definitely, definitely.
Kate Coomber:And I haven't seen Hy-Vee's. You know, people might think of. Karratha and. Mining Town and things like that, but it was really beautiful. So, true, Really beautiful your posts. I guess what inspired you to start on socials and sharing this pharmacy related content. Yeah, great question.
Shaylee Mills:It sort of happened in a very roundabout way, took me a little while really to get there, like I think it was an idea that sort of been building up over time and I just didn't really realise that it was an idea in itself. But, like you said, I'm particularly passionate about being a pharmacist. I really enjoy my job and I love working in rural pharmacy, and I think that's quite special because there's plenty of people in the pharmacy industry that don't particularly like working or they're not as excited about it anymore, or there's a bit of negativity in our industry, which is understandable, and I think that goes across the board for the healthcare sector. But I think it's really special that at least that right now I've got a lot of energy about it. And so, yeah, I honestly remember my first day working in my first rural job. I was an intern pharmacist, so I wasn't fully qualified.
Kate Coomber:And where was that?
Shaylee Mills:I just moved to Broome.
Shaylee Mills:So, it was a rotation across the Kimberley but the main was in Broome and, yeah, I'd moved away from home. I have moved away from home a couple of times, um doing boarding school and stuff. But once I'd got there I was a little bit homesick and I was like, oh, is this the right decision? Like, what have I done? I'm feeling a bit nervous, like I'm a little bit unsure. Went to my first day. Um took me an hour and I was like this, is it like I've made the right decision? I'm totally fine. This is exactly what I needed to do and it just took off from there.
Kate Coomber:What was it that really made you realize that?
Shaylee Mills:I think it was just the people that you work with, like they're so welcoming, they're very calm, it's all casual, like we're just there to help people and the people coming in.
Shaylee Mills:It's the same thing, like they want to have a chat with you, they want to get to know you, they want to know who the new person is. Um, yeah, I think it's that welcoming part of the community that, uh, really makes you feel like I basically, like this is your new home, um, and I absolutely love that. Like I love talking to patients, I could, honestly are you?
Sam Miklos:in. Were you in the Broome Hospital at that point?
Shaylee Mills:No, it was actually in a community pharmacy.
Sam Miklos:Yes right.
Shaylee Mills:So it's a community-based job. It was very aligned with working together with the Aboriginal Health Services there. So, as I said, the main base was Broome, but I also got a chance to go out to Fitzroy Crossing. There was a site out in Derby which I didn't get to go to, but, yeah, it was very rotational and very exciting, very different, something that never really was mentioned at university. So when I got there it was very eye-opening. I was like this is actually great, like I get to travel around.
Kate Coomber:And how did you get to that point? Because you're leaving university, and was it a lot of hospital-based discussions or what?
Sam Miklos:was the placement.
Kate Coomber:Yeah, what was the mainstream that you expected?
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, so when you start pharmacy, pretty much you always start in community pharmacy. That's the easiest sort of entry gateway to get into. And community pharmacy I guess, like there's so many of them around, we always need access to medicines, so there's always there, there's always work, and then, as you sort of go through the different years, it'll be hospital sort of like a next step up. Like once you get a good basis of what you do in community pharmacy, then you go into hospital, because that can just be a little bit more complex in terms of maybe the patients that you see or the medicines or the wards that they specialise in. So so you do get a variety throughout university.
Shaylee Mills:But basically, yeah, most people would do placements in community. You'd work in community pharmacy and then, like myself, I then got a job in hospital pharmacy afterwards, based off the fact that I had experience in community pharmacy and did hospital placements as well. I also took rural placements too, because I was like you, like you know the university that I went to funds rural placements. So I took that opportunity to go somewhere and that's actually where I found Karratha and my love for Karratha there.
Sam Miklos:Can I just ask so, when you're talking about community pharmacy, is that working in the Priceline pharmacy or is that working for a community service? Or pharmacy yeah, or is that working for a community service?
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, good question actually. So for the most part it's sort of the pharmacies that you would walk into.
Sam Miklos:In retail.
Kate Coomber:Wherever you go, yeah, so also known as retail pharmacy.
Shaylee Mills:Right, I do try to like keep it towards community pharmacy because all the pharmacies that I've worked in it's definitely been and I pharmacies that I've worked in has definitely been and I think there's a big shift in pharmacy where it's more about the service that you can provide and the information that you can give, rather than just selling the medicines with a label on the box.
Sam Miklos:Is that too, because ultimately you're in a retail space. So if I can choose to go to this pharmacy or that pharmacy. I'm going to want to go to one with a customer service lens.
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, yeah, it's very wishy-washy, and is there that?
Kate Coomber:retail component.
Shaylee Mills:There can be.
Sam Miklos:yeah, I call it getting those glasses at the counter as well, which I feel like looking for.
Kate Coomber:They've got the little things, of different things, the KPIs and service levels.
Shaylee Mills:Depends on the pharmacy that you work for, and I guess there's different franchises as well. They all have different ways that they like to go about it. Each pharmacy is still then individually owned by a pharmacist, who then might go into a particular franchise.
Shaylee Mills:So again that is also up to them like how that sort of goes. But yeah, it's sort of you've got one end where, yeah, maybe it's like particularly retail, and then you've got the other end, which is quite service-based. So the main thing that they're sort of providing is maybe like more health checks or medicine reviews or something like that. That's their like primary focus. But yeah, it's all interlinked and intertwined.
Sam Miklos:And what about? You mentioned earlier about the negativity in your industry. Just want you to talk about that. What is the negativity?
Shaylee Mills:Yes, again, another very good question. Thank you, I've clearly done quite a bit of research. You've done excellent research.
Kate Coomber:Today, I'd actually know, not even written down, none of these, none of these.
Sam Miklos:I was just like what's the negativity, what's happening out there?
Shaylee Mills:But you know these are really good questions because, like it's so natural for me when I say it and I think about it and it's like I've got that pharmacist brain Like. I know what every other pharmacist is thinking of, but for you guys, yeah, it's a context that you probably don't understand, and I think, if you just talk to the general public, if you think pharmacy, you think I go in there.
Kate Coomber:The doctor sent me there. Yeah, I just go to wherever's closest or to wherever I know, but there's a lot of complexities. Yeah, to the role, so I'd love to you know, when we ask obvious questions, it's sort of thinking with people with very yeah, yeah, no that's excellent.
Shaylee Mills:that's great. Um yeah, in terms of the negativity, um, it's particularly in community pharmacy. It is a job that there is high demand, it's very high pressure, there can be big working hours.
Sam Miklos:That's because you're working shifts as well. Yeah, working big shifts.
Shaylee Mills:Yep, weekends, and then workforce shortages again perpetuate that, perpetuate that. So, depending on, I guess, where it is, where the location or the workplace culture and things like that, that can definitely weigh you down. It happens across the board. As I said, in healthcare sectors, like just the burnout rates are quite significant with what we're sort of having to deal with day to day, I guess, in terms of, yeah, what the pressure that's placed on us, in terms of, yeah, what the pressure that's placed on us, what's expected of us versus what we can actually do.
Shaylee Mills:Like we can do so much, but then sometimes the expectation of what we can do is what we actually can't do, and this is what we can offer and it doesn't always align between different health services, and that can be really tricky to navigate when you've got people with a certain expectation of what they want and it can't go that way for different reasons, like legal reasons or ethical reasons or whatever. What, if what's even available? How?
Sam Miklos:many staff you've got on, I was going to say, because it's a retail store too. So if there's not enough staff but someone needs to work, that's where that burnout would come in, particularly in remote communities where you'd feel that need to have to keep turning up and yeah, and the service levels are.
Kate Coomber:You know, that's something that's really important to you yeah, yes, for sure, how do you look after you?
Shaylee Mills:how do we look after you? Yes, um, I've, in my case, I definitely just try to find areas throughout the day or areas throughout the week where I'm like that's going to be just my time to switch off, or you know. Yeah, I guess have my own little bubble. Pharmacy is a very social job, especially in community pharmacy.
Sam Miklos:You're talking to people all day. That can be quite draining and you'd get repeat clients too as well, which would be nice but then it could be draining as well. Yeah, repeat clients. Or?
Shaylee Mills:just new clients or you know sometimes where maybe the situation is quite hefty, high pressure situation um, you're making some pretty big decisions that can impact people's health very significantly, um, and very quickly if it goes wrong.
Kate Coomber:So that's hard to handle as well, can you maybe give some examples of that?
Sam Miklos:so yeah, you know, talk us through scenarios where scenarios where it could go wrong you're saying, and the challenges.
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, well, it can be anything from as little as like something that's been prescribed, or even a better situation is like something that a patient might want because they've seen it or they've looked up their symptoms, or they're thinking that that's what they need Dr Google, dr Google.
Sam Miklos:We love a good Dr Google. You thought that I thought a Zen pic. What do you mean?
Shaylee Mills:a Zen pic, yeah, and then again, like that's sort of what they're wanting or hoping or expecting and yeah, you can't, Like you're sort of sussing it out, but you have to ask a lot of questions to get there and get that information. Like how is it that they've got to this conclusion? Is this what we actually need to be? Treating Like you're constantly sort of creeping in information?
Sam Miklos:And this is just for that over-the-counter.
Shaylee Mills:Over-the-counter. It can also be like, if they've come in asking if there's a particular medicine that they can have, that if they need to see the doctor for they'll go see it Right yeah, but you know you're trying to suss out that information and then you're sort of assessing that.
Shaylee Mills:Well, with everything else that's going on for them, is this actually appropriate? Is this safe? Um, things like uh, what if they don't have a script, um, because it's run out, it's expired? Whatever situation that they find themselves in, if I like, legally I'm not supposed to give anything out without a prescription um, there's obviously a few ways around it. But if you're in a real Is there?
Shaylee Mills:There is, I'll see for a friend. Yeah, there is. It depends on the medicine. It depends on what it's for and the situation. There are a few medicines that can go under what we call continued supply Right. So if you're on it long term, it's for a chronic condition Right, and it needs to be taken continually, then you can get a supply without a script, as long as you have a history with that pharmacy and they can see that that's exactly what's been.
Sam Miklos:So me just being the mum that loses the scripts is not good enough. Yeah, you wouldn't just be able to rock up to any random. Just clarifying, just clarifying, yeah, yeah.
Shaylee Mills:But yeah, like if you have to decide if a patient goes with or without that medicine, that's a really tricky situation to be in.
Kate Coomber:That's interesting, because people might think that the onus lies with the doctor or the prescribing practitioner yeah, as opposed to the and maybe just assume that you can't do any of those things. But it's actually a large you know hugely weighted position that you're in.
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, yeah, and that's where it gets really tricky. So, yeah, it's thinking about the consequences of what will happen if you do or if you don't. What are the reasons why I can and I can't, I can and I can't? Maybe you're just looking at something where you don't have a full medication history and they've been prescribed something that's like has known to have really big, large side effects and you're sort of looking at it as always the red flags and you're trying to suss out like something's not quite right here. I even had an instance the other day where it was insulin for a dog and we don't know much about veterinary medicine.
Sam Miklos:Um, fair enough. It was just yeah, yeah, it's definitely out of. My first question was about to go, do you?
Shaylee Mills:guys do that. Yeah, yeah, yes, yeah.
Sam Miklos:So even like you know, just because you're in a smaller location, or is that like no matter? It's not just a just a Caratha thing that's across the board in pharmacy.
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, we can receive scripts like veterinary scripts, so scripts for animals. We can supply it. We don't get any information really about what it does or how it works or whether it's safe or not and what the doses are for animals. So that's pretty much all on the vet. But yeah, it was a situation where they're getting an insulin. They'd received one previously and sort of talking with them I was figuring out like the one, the insulin that they've been using is not the same strength but they've been told to administer the same. I think they might be administering the same volume, which means that they're now getting three times the dose.
Shaylee Mills:Oh wow, giving it to this dog. You know stuff like that, where you're like something's not quite right here, but I don't know if I am right, I don't know if I'm overthinking it and it's again like poking and prodding. It's just those situations where you go whew.
Kate Coomber:So there must be times when a patient brings in a script and it's been prescribed by the health practitioner. But yeah, you question whether it's correct. Yeah, and everybody makes errors. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do you do?
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, yeah, look, I am so very fortunate that and I think this is the case in rural healthcare in general you have really good relationships with all of the other health practitioners around, because you're constantly leaning on each other, you know you're asking for favours, you're getting to know them, you're having to call them all the time so you get to know their voice, and then again you see them around town as well, so you see them in a social setting. So for the most part, I can pretty much call anybody that I need to call and say like, hey, what do you think of this?
Kate Coomber:or like just confirming this, you know it's never because it's never like accusatory or anything like that.
Shaylee Mills:No, you know, I never think of it as, like you know, they've messed up or whatever, like there's so much that could be happening in a consult at once and you're thinking of so many things in as a health professional in general. Um, so one tiny thing that has been missed, or maybe the patient didn't even tell, and then they've come in and told me changes the situation entirely. Um, so, yeah, very lucky that you can pretty much just call up being changes the situation entirely. Um, so, yeah, very lucky that you can pretty much just call it being like, do like. This is what I found out. Um, these are the options that we have. What would you like to do, or what do you recommend, or what's your opinion on this?
Sam Miklos:um, worst case you can always just say I couldn't read your handwriting. Yeah, you know, I just couldn't read it. What do you, um, what do you love then about being a rural pharmacist, like, like, what does a typical day look?
Kate Coomber:like, yeah, I'd love to know a typical day, because I imagine you're not in the clinic all day long. Yep, and what else is involved?
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, so I guess that's what I love about rural pharmacy is that my typical day looks different every day. You get to have multiple job roles because there's less people, so instead of having one person for each individual role, you kind of have to fill all of them. So for the most part, my basis is in the community pharmacy, so where any patient can walk in with their prescription, and I just love the fact that. Yeah, it's a local town, there's lots of local people.
Shaylee Mills:Karratha is quite large, it's like 21,000 people so I get to see my patients over and over and over and over again. So now that I've been there for two and a half years, like most of the patients that come in, I'll have seen before or I know them by name and I know exactly what's happening, and that's really nice to have that. You don't get that a lot in pharmacy in metro, particularly just because it is so transient and people can go anywhere they want, whereas in the country they can't. There's only one place. I was going to say how many places could they go?
Kate Coomber:Are there quite a few pharmacists in Karratha, or are you the one?
Shaylee Mills:There's a few, there's three, but it's actually all the same team across the three. So it's under the 777 group, which is like a pharmacy franchise based out of WA, and so across those three stores, we're actually all one, so it's one big happy pharmacy family, which is really nice.
Kate Coomber:A lot better pharmacy family. Yeah, yeah, a bit more coverage. A bit more coverage, a bit more coverage.
Shaylee Mills:And then it's so funny because you'll go to work like you go to work one day in one pharmacy. You might have to quickly cover somebody's shift or lunch break or something in another pharmacy, so you hop over there and then the next minute the patient that you talked to 15 minutes ago is coming over here and they're like what?
Shaylee Mills:there's my pharmacist again, and they love it because they're like I've just seen you what's happening. So yeah, there's that component. And then I work in an Aboriginal health service as well. So there is a health service located 30 minutes out of Karratha in a local community called Roburn.
Sam Miklos:Is that role a separate role, a separate role To the role that you've got with?
Shaylee Mills:But it's through that same pharmacy team again, right, okay, so we sort of have a partnership with them.
Kate Coomber:So they have a partnership yeah correct.
Shaylee Mills:So we go out there. We provide pharmacy services from there because essentially, if you think about it, patients they can go see any health professional that they want in that multidisciplinary clinic. But if there's no pharmacist or pharmacy there then they would have to travel 30 minutes to Karratha just to get meds. Or they might go. There are a few neighbouring towns about 15 minutes, but still that's quite a big drive. So when I say 15 minutes, we're talking 15 minutes at 110 kilometres an hour. So it's not From Karratha.
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, yeah or from Roburn. So it's.
Kate Coomber:And not everybody would be driving. No, correct. Not everybody has access. Not everybody has access to that.
Sam Miklos:How often do you go?
Shaylee Mills:out there. At this stage I've just reduced down to once a week, but before that I was twice a week. So, yeah, and I've been doing that role for, yeah, about three, nearly four years now, because I also did that in my internship and it's a very different type of pharmacy. So you're working on the ground as a pharmacist and you're helping with the provision of medicines for patients, but they've literally just come out of a GP consult and they'll walk straight to your window. You can see everything that's happening. So that's another thing is, in community pharmacy, the only information that you have is either what the patient tells you, what's on the script, what they've had previously and maybe their my Health record, if that is connected.
Shaylee Mills:But in this clinic, because it is all one, we have access to every other health professional's notes. We have access to all the blood results, absolutely everything that happens with that patient in that clinic. We can also see and that makes your job so much easier when it comes to like we might actually this might be a better medication that we could put them on, or like what do you think about maybe continuing this course or reducing the length of this course? Or, you know, should we look at a Webster pack, now that we've got so many different medicines, all those sorts of things. Or if they come up asking being like when was the last time this patient had this medicine? Can I start them on this dose now, or do we need to start?
Kate Coomber:low and go back up again. Um, yeah, it makes it so your job just so much easier.
Shaylee Mills:Um, because you have that visibility and the collaboration with the health professionals right there and there yeah, yeah, that it can be a little bit more instant, I imagine.
Kate Coomber:Yeah, correct, problem solving rather than having to. I'll get back to you.
Shaylee Mills:Yes, yeah, and then means that patients can get their medicine straight away because you don't have to wait for, you know, a phone call to be brought back. Um, so, yeah, absolutely, that's what definitely one of my favorite parts about my job, um, and again, very unique role. Um, you've got lots of other health professionals there. It's not just nurses and gps, it's physios, chronic disease team, pediatrics, and then you'll have visiting specialists. So you, you know, it's really typically pharmacists work with specialists in a hospital ward if you get to go up onto the wards. But here, you know, you're a community pharmacist but, yeah, I get to work with them, which is pretty cool.
Sam Miklos:That's an incredible experience, hey, and what a nice like combination as well to do with the community work as well. Yes, did you always want to be a pharmacist? No, where did you grow up? I?
Kate Coomber:was going to say. You mentioned boarding school. Are you a rural?
Sam Miklos:girl at heart. I am a rural girl yes.
Shaylee Mills:Where was home? So home for me is in a little country town called Queriting, so it's in the Wheatbelt region. So for anybody that's not sure if they've heard of Narrogin or York, keller, bear and Brookden, we're sort of centred around in there. How big is that town? And that has don't quote me on it because it could have changed, but when I was living there it was about 1,000 people, so very small. So you know, going to school there was 100 kids in the school. I graduated year seven with 14 kids in my class. But yeah, I grew up there, did you love that, I did love that yeah, I wouldn't change it for the world.
Shaylee Mills:I would do it again exactly as it happened. I think that I don't know that's probably also the sense of community and also your ability to socialise, because that's what everybody does, you know you're out in the middle of nowhere. So what do you do? Well, you all catch up with your friends and you know all the parents get together, so then all the kids get together. So yeah, it was really cool.
Sam Miklos:It's a genuine community.
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, yeah yeah and um. So yeah, it was really cool, it's a genuine community.
Kate Coomber:Yeah, yeah, yeah, um, and I loved growing up on a farm as well.
Shaylee Mills:I was gonna say what did your family do? Yeah, to have that lifestyle. Yeah, so my dad's a fourth generation farmer, so it's been running in the family for a long time. Um, but pharmacy is the closest to farming that I will get.
Sam Miklos:I didn't want to make the connection just because everybody does, so I gotta do it for you. Oh, I know You're not the only one.
Kate Coomber:Totally worth it. Yeah, yeah, no pressure to continue the farming.
Shaylee Mills:No, not at all. Like my family were supportive in whatever I decided to do. I think, like my dad, absolutely loves being a farmer.
Sam Miklos:I think he was partly relieved that I chose not to be a farmer because it was also very hard work. It's pretty tough.
Shaylee Mills:What farming is it? Traditional wheat and sheep, right? So yeah, basically, if it doesn't rain that year, that can be pretty scary. If it doesn't rain for multiple years, it's very scary. So I think maybe underlyingly he was relieved that I chose not to do that. But I know he would have absolutely loved it as well if I chose farming. But it's all right, because I have a younger sister and she, like her and her partner, are probably going to take over the farm.
Sam Miklos:So it was pharmacy always. Because you're so passionate about it, did you do other things first?
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, so I actually spent 10 years of pretty much my entire childhood wanting to be a ballet dancer, so I trained pretty intensely to do ballet dancing like classical ballet with a company at some point In.
Kate Coomber:Perth.
Shaylee Mills:Yes, well, I actually started out in the country. So there was like a dance class in a neighbouring town and it was like I think it was. My mum and a couple of her friends were like, oh, this is starting, like should we just go there and we'll drop our kids there and see if they like it? And we went and, yeah, I remember watching the dance teacher being like that's what I'm gonna do, like that's what I want to be. I don't know why. I just like loved. I was mesmerized by what she could do. So I was like that's what I'm gonna do. And so, yeah, spent quite a few years all the way through primary school, dancing around. It was different country towns, so I danced, not just quereting, but I also went to classes in Cunderdon, beverley and 2J, so there was a lot of driving at one point.
Kate Coomber:Thank you, mum yeah, thank you, mum yeah and Angel and yeah.
Shaylee Mills:Then I had to. Like yeah, decided to go to boarding school. That was what most kids did once you graduated primary school. The high school in my town only goes to year 10, so pretty much everybody goes. And I went to John Curtin, which is an art school based in Fremantle, so I went there for the ballet program as well. So pretty much yeah, kept going right through high school.
Shaylee Mills:And then didn't study, though professionally no so I did a lot with it, like I got to travel Australia with it. Um, at one point I went over to Austria and I got a chance to dance with a company when I was 15, which is amazing, um. But yeah, as I got older, uh, it got to the point where it's like you either choose to stay in school or you leave school and you pursue this. It's just one of those things where you can't do both You're in or you're out. Yeah, in or out.
Sam Miklos:And then straight into pharmacy. Do you think that was it straight in then?
Shaylee Mills:Well, yeah Well, once I decided to stay in school, I had no idea what I wanted to do, Just like no clue. I was like we're just going to roll with it, but I really liked science and I liked chemistry in particular. So yeah, I was. I was that kid flicking through those university books like a week before the you had to enter what you wanted to go into university being like I just need to find something and put something down, and I'm good at chemistry and I'm good at chemistry pharmacy has chemistry.
Shaylee Mills:I'm gonna do that, and here I am today.
Sam Miklos:It makes you feel better. I was flicking through that book for years.
Kate Coomber:So you didn't have any inspiration or anyone that you knew to look to, to be like I've seen the role of a pharmacist that looks great. It was more just the science-based subjects. Yeah, Thought you'd have a look and see what it is, and then just grew into it and realised you loved it Pretty much.
Shaylee Mills:pretty much, yeah. So once I started studying because also it again might have changed the degrees changed quite a bit since I went, which was only four years ago, but it's still making me feel very.
Sam Miklos:I was just thinking that I'm like I can't wait to get you to go.
Shaylee Mills:But the first year is like a more general health science year, so you don't really get a good taste of what pharmacy is. So I did do first year and I was like I might actually quit. I don't know if I'm enjoying this, because it's not.
Sam Miklos:That's so good, though for a first year to hear, because there'd be a lot that would probably feel like that.
Shaylee Mills:Well, that's the thing we had, like there was a lot of people that left in that year, Like our class pretty much halved in that first semester, which some people probably definitely figured out like no, this is not for me, but also I think it's just you're not really seeing what pharmacy is, but that's your impression of what it is and it's a little bit vague. It's a little bit boring, to be honest.
Kate Coomber:Do you think something could be done there to really inspire those first-year students? Well, yeah.
Shaylee Mills:I think they Like think what do you?
Kate Coomber:think would have really gone. Oh yeah, this is it.
Shaylee Mills:They need to bring in some more pharmacy specific content into that first year so that they actually understand. Because the other thing that I think made a huge difference was I got a job in a pharmacy as soon as I started studying university, um, and it's not compulsory for us to work in pharmacy while you're studying.
Sam Miklos:But yeah, that definitely helps so much, Just to connect you back to why you're doing it.
Shaylee Mills:Correct. You also learn much easier and you probably learn a lot quicker because you're exposed to so much and so you've seen a lot by the time you're actually learning it. You're like, yep, I understand that process Because it's also a very process-based profession, because you've got laws to abide to. You've also got clinical thinking and that sort of ethical-legal balance as well between keeping patients safe. But then also, what am I actually allowed to do? It's a very regulated environment. What?
Sam Miklos:do you think about? Do you see the role of the pharmacist evolving, particularly with the introduction of tech? Like I think about our local pharmacy where there's a vending machine basically, yes, it's like a competition to name it. Yeah, like what I know, right I have seen these yeah, like they're awesome, it's and it's like what is the impact that things like tech, like that is going to have on the actual role of a pharmacist? Will it shift? Have you seen a shift in the four years you're out?
Shaylee Mills:In terms of how it impacts the role of the pharmacist. I think at the end of the day, it's always there to supplement or help us do our job better. Supplement or help us do our job better. It will never replace us, because there are so many individual factors into why you make a decision for one specific patient that a robot is never going to come to the critical thing.
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, because you can't it can't have that like personal conversation, um, and it can't connect with people, and that it's that barrier that you need to break. Um, quite often that impacts what you actually decide to do, but it definitely makes your job easier. So I've seen these vending machines. I actually it's interesting again like a highly regulated environment, so you guys have got them, but I actually don't think they're allowed in WA based off WA laws on certain supply. Don't quote me on that, but I'm pretty sure I have heard somebody say that, because I was, yeah, interested in like why can't we like why does nobody have one here?
Shaylee Mills:yeah, um, but even in the pharmacy I'm working in, we've got these massive robots and we'll do like all our dispensing. We've got um dispense techs that are brilliant and do that work for us, and it literally just shoots out all the medicines that you need. So you put the information in and it will give you the exact right drug that you need so that you don't have to spend time getting it, so there's still a place for it.
Sam Miklos:Yeah, 100%. So, it's similar to the automation pieces and it's finding those efficiencies and filling some of those roles. Yeah, it's just making the job efficient and also reducing risk.
Shaylee Mills:So robots are proven to basically be more accurate in picking medicines than a human because, yeah, obviously it doesn't get. Yeah, human error doesn't get tired.
Kate Coomber:Tired was actually something I wanted to ask you because it sounds like the role of a pharmacist is really you've got to be on all the time. You do about even a healthcare professional who is having breaks between consults or not even breaks. But you know, it kind of comes up and down whereas, yeah, you know, we've gone to the pharmacy, everyone's waiting, no one's got time.
Sam Miklos:It's like how long is that gonna be? How long should?
Kate Coomber:I come back tomorrow. What's going on? Yeah, and it's just go, go, go, script, script, script, script. And if you've got all of that critical thinking behind every decision that you have to make, with every script that you're dispensing, I haven't really thought about it in that way of just the being on is it quite tiring.
Kate Coomber:It is tiring um for a full shift, yeah do you have to take breaks and is there certain periods where you, you know, can be hyper focused for that period and then you need to step away and come back, or it's something that's not like.
Shaylee Mills:That's probably what should happen.
Shaylee Mills:That's yeah but um, it's health care and it doesn't stop so there's always people, yeah, and you know you do just get days where it's one thing after the other, where it's just tricky, and you know we do try like at least where I'm working. You know we do try to have the regular breaks. I think a lot of places are pretty good at making sure that pharmacists do have rest times, but there's also plenty of situations where that pharmacist will be the only pharmacist on so they actually can't have right there that it's not allowed to be open unless they're there as a health care professional.
Shaylee Mills:You want to help, right, yeah, exactly yeah, and there's times where it's like, if it is, you know, a dire situation like I'm just gonna go all hands in like focus all in on that um, and then sometimes you know you deal with that situation. Then you just have to turn around and be like okay.
Sam Miklos:Next we've got to go to the next one. Is there a um, a story or a moment um, particularly in the rural settings where you've been able to like?
Shaylee Mills:it just sums up that impact that you can have I feel like that in relation to that go, go, go go. But then getting the reward afterwards was definitely um, in my intern year when I was working up in the kimberley, we uh, the wa opened their borders for the first time in two years, so it was very much a big awareness of COVID-19 might be coming back. Everybody needs to be vaccinated. There was mandatory vaccinations in WA to enter certain places and, yeah, people couldn't go to work if they weren't vaccinated. In those rural areas, rural WA. They were affected, but they definitely didn't get the impact of COVID-19. They went into a lockdown, not even a proper lockdown, it was like they were cut out from the city for six weeks and then that was it.
Shaylee Mills:And then, two years later, it was like you must be vaccinated.
Shaylee Mills:You have to wear masks because we're opening up, because they never had cases. They didn't well, not that they never had cases, they didn't well, not that never had cases, but they didn't have many cases out there. It was always in Perth city, um, so it was very high pressure. There were a lot of people who were understandably, quite upset. That's a pretty big lifestyle adjustment or something to be told that you have to do when you don't know much about it. Um, and obviously you know, with everything that goes on in the media and stuff, it can be pretty scary. So yeah, it was definitely like one thing after the other, in the sense that you've got a lot of. It was pretty much just upset people coming through like I have to get my vaccine, but this is what I'm feeling, like I need my vaccine. I'm actually really stressed that it's coming back, but this is what I'm feeling like I need my vaccine, I'm actually really stressed that it's coming back.
Shaylee Mills:It was a lot of conversations about wellbeing and mental health which I was so happy to have those conversations with, and I think a lot of patients found them really beneficial. But obviously you do that one after the other and then you know that you've got a million things going on in the background, in the actual pharmacy, like obviously vaccinating is just one part of the job, but you know, it was really rewarding in the sense that a lot of them turned around or came back if they needed, and especially if they need another vaccine.
Shaylee Mills:Being like I've just felt so much better after being able to talk to you Like thank you so much.
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, yeah, you just got to let people say their piece. You know, like sometimes we know what we know as health professionals, but what we know is not always information that's helpful for them in that situation. So really just letting them say what they feel and being like, yeah, okay, fair enough that you feel like that, like I can't argue with that um and then being like these are your options today, like what would you like to do? Um but yeah, it was pretty intense.
Kate Coomber:I can imagine. Do you feel that? Um, like hearing some of the stories you've spoken about today and going into those communities as an early career pharmacist? It sounds like you're in a really nice collaborative team. I imagine some of the rural placements might not have the level of support that you do. Yeah, do you feel that as an you know quite early in your career, you've been able to upskill more than you would if you'd taken a more metro 100?
Kate Coomber:percent role yeah, and I guess do people need to be a bit mindful of where they go to make sure that they have that support.
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, I definitely always recommend doing as much research as you can, and that can be a little bit hard, because I do find that rural pharmacy jobs, even though there's a lot of them, they're not necessarily advertised like they would be in the city, because they just again don't have this capacity or they might not have the time to actually make an advert. Um. So, to be honest, all of the jobs that I've gotten rurally, I've actually just called up the pharmacy owner, being like are you looking for anybody? Because I'm interested.
Kate Coomber:Um you have to know where the locations are, because some people don't know were you were you heading to Karratha Like was that a plan?
Shaylee Mills:Oh yeah, no, that wasn't a plan. That was actually my last placement. So I'd already taken the job in Broome for the following year and then I decided to do my very last placement in Karratha because I knew that I wanted to do a rural placement because I'd done all the other like I'd done hospital, I'd done community. There were rural placement because I'd done all the other like I'd done hospital, I'd done community um. There were a few other opportunities like you could go into um, like mental health facilities, um, or pharmacists that worked with aged care facilities and stuff. But I was more interested in like honestly, I was like I'm happy to go anywhere and also like Karratha's got Karragini, you know, which is a beautiful gorge where you can go out there.
Shaylee Mills:Karratha's also close to Ex mouth and coral bay yeah, it's excellent snorkeling, snorkeling like why wouldn't I do that if you know my university is going to send me there? Yeah, um, and then, yeah, obviously got there and I was like this is amazing. Um, I'm so sorry, I've lost track you loved it?
Sam Miklos:no, I was. Yeah. You were saying you got the best opportunities by going out to these remote areas and more rural. You should get more experience.
Shaylee Mills:Yes, I think that's what you're saying, like the support, um, of being in different areas, um an ability to upskill, ability, upskill. So yeah, in terms of support, the easiest way to do that is obviously going out sooner rather than later. Your student, like being a student, is the perfect time. Um, there is a big conversation around um poverty placement, the placement poverty, sorry, which I totally understand, and that's very difficult.
Sam Miklos:What does that mean for someone listening? They're like what so students have?
Shaylee Mills:Yeah. So a lot of healthcare students when they go on prac they'll go on prac for quite extended periods of time. So the longest prac that I went on was five weeks. That's actually considered quite short in the healthcare sector. There's lots of other health professions They'll go for 10 weeks.
Sam Miklos:Yeah, I was an official therapist. We went for that long.
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, like four weeks, yeah, we'll go for months. And then there's some like medicine. They'll go for a whole year and that's totally unpaid. Obviously, with the rising cost of living, that's extremely difficult. How are people doing it? That's a good question because it wasn't you know, the inflation that we have now wasn't as extreme I used to work on weekends, I remember.
Sam Miklos:but I was thinking like if you went out remote, like I'd work so many other shifts around it, but then if you were in a remote, Well, that's the thing.
Shaylee Mills:If you're in a remote area, you can't just go and get a job, because you don't live there, just go and get a job, because you don't live there and yeah.
Shaylee Mills:So I think there's a lot of hopefully a lot of change and there's a lot of advocacy around that space because it also depends, like, when the university I went to, they fund you to go to rural areas. Not all universities do that. It has to be self-funded, which is a real shame, because it's like, why would we not utilise everything that we can to try and get young people into rural areas? Because we know that if you go there as a student, they're more likely to return and as healthcare?
Sam Miklos:And most people at least, with placements. You get there on a placement and they fall in love with the area, the locals. They'll go back there.
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, and it's like you know, the universities are essentially the leaders in shaping our profession and the health sector. We have that responsibility of making sure that people in rural areas get the same level of care, so that's a real shame that that happens as well. So, yeah, it can be really tricky for people to go on rural pracs. So even though I say you should go sooner rather than later at this stage, it's also if you have the capability to do so.
Kate Coomber:Yeah, I find it a shocker for us the capability to do so yeah, yeah, which is a real shame talk to me about um.
Sam Miklos:Like your your social media work, like your tiktok account, your instagram account, like it's so beautiful the content you're creating. Thanks, what impact has that had? You know what?
Shaylee Mills:I mean, it's been pretty incredible really. Um, it gives me a lot of fulfilment, which is why I continue doing it.
Sam Miklos:What is it that's fulfilling for you?
Shaylee Mills:It's the people that get in contact with me and everybody that's like it's just had a lot of positive. It's been received really positively From pharmacists, from pharmacists, just from people in the general public, people in other health professions, public people in other health professions. Yeah, and I think it's because it's really highlighting, you know we talk about, you know, going into rural healthcare, but again, if you don't see what it actually looks, like you know saying something at a university lecture on a piece of paper is very different to actually seeing what it looks like.
Shaylee Mills:The other aspect is you can go be a rural health care professional, but the other side of that is you need to know what it's like living there like you have to be able to live there you can't google these, you can't google those things no, no, especially in rural australia, like obviously it's, the tourism is not as huge as somewhere like europe um so it can be tricky for them to find out that information and a lot of it's on google is outdated.
Shaylee Mills:So you look at it and you go. That just looks like yeah, red dirt, when there's actually now big buildings and houses there.
Kate Coomber:Yeah, I think a lot of the rural community roles or clinics um are as beautiful as the one that you're working with. Like it, like it is stunning it beautiful, I think you posted. Something about, you know, the most beautiful pharmacy out there.
Shaylee Mills:Oh, yes, yeah, yeah, like is that rare. I mean the one that I'm in at the moment. That definitely has to be one of like the best that I've seen. It looks brand new.
Kate Coomber:Yes, but you know we have had guests haven't we from hospitals in our back towns, and people assume that it might be outdated and dusty and all these things, and they've got brand-new facilities. Yes, and it's actually incredible.
Shaylee Mills:Well, that's the same actually in Karratha They've got a pretty brand-new hospital and same in South Headland. Their hospital is a little bit older, but I think it's only 10 years old or 15 years old, so the facility is actually really, really good. It's definitely your small towns, so like where I grew up 1,000 people it's the same hospital that's been there for a long time.
Shaylee Mills:So they are, and they're tiny, nothing's changed. But then you do get the opposite, where you've got these big major centres in these very remote places and they have really good facilities. And we do get a lot of comments from people who travel through Karratha. We get a lot of tourists coming through because they pass through up to Broome or they want to check out Carnarvon, exmouth, all of that, and they come in saying that the pharmacy that they've just come into in Karratha is the prettiest that they've ever seen, yeah, yeah, so, yeah, which is pretty incredible.
Shaylee Mills:But that also goes to show like it's not just you know, it's not that stereotype of it is like a little tin shed that you're working out of. Um, yeah, did I say they're up for an award? Yes, yes. So, um, the team that I work with so it's pharmacy help, karatha, which is under the triple seven group they are up for pharmacy of the year, which is pretty much, yeah, like the biggest awards that pharmacy team.
Sam Miklos:I'm very proud because you're here for the pharmacy conference.
Shaylee Mills:Yes, so is the awards part of this conference correct, so we find out tomorrow how we go but, to be honest, like, we're just so excited that we've made it this far, um, I think it's great to get that rural representation out there that, yeah, like they're assessing you know, the caliber that you work to, what you provide to the community, um, and also, like you know the team itself. Well, you can get those award winning teams in rural places. Actually, I will plug this because, again, very proud of it, I'm very proud of all the people that I work with.
Shaylee Mills:So, justin caratha alone, we're up for pharmacy of the, but we also have so one of our bosses. She's just won a federal award for, like, as a Medicare champion. So, celebrating 40 years of Medicare, we have 2023 Intern Pharmacist of the Year, 2022 Intern Pharmacist of the Year. We've got WA Pharmacy Assistant of the Year a finalist for Pharmacy Assistant of the year. We've got um wa pharmacy assistant of the year a finalist for pharmacy assistant of the year we've got a lot of years and there's more, there's more honestly early career.
Shaylee Mills:Uh, yes. So yeah, I've got um intern pharmacist of the year 2022 which is I was going to say.
Kate Coomber:I'm sure that you did that.
Sam Miklos:You mentioned yourself, you mentioned we won. I was like that's not you.
Shaylee Mills:But also, very excitingly, on Saturday I'm a finalist in the Young Health Professional of the Year for WA.
Sam Miklos:So on Saturday I'll find out how we go in that, but again, just very happy to be there. Just being a finalist, it's just fabulous.
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, yeah and again, just there for the pharmacists.
Kate Coomber:You know like we've got a pharmacist in there, so that's the main thing, that's amazing and do you think that your social media is really helping build the profile of pharmacy, and is that the intention? Like, what do you hope to achieve and what's the impact you'd like to leave?
Shaylee Mills:The main thing that I'm trying to get out of it is to just get more young pharmacists interested and have the knowledge about rural pharmacy and having it in the back of their mind. Once we get their interest they might be a little bit more inclined to give it a go. Once we give it a go, we often find that a lot of them will end up staying. But even just if you're only there for a week, a couple of weeks a month, whatever, anything that you can, any time that you can spend, is a contribution to that community and to the people that you work with. So it's about building workforce, getting people out there, because they won't go out there if they don't know what to expect.
Sam Miklos:How would you sum up? You know, if you could give one bit of advice to a graduate about why they need to go out to these rural roles, like what would you say to them?
Shaylee Mills:you can do anything in pharmacy, but it's much easier to do absolutely anything in rural pharmacy. You can go anywhere yeah, love that.
Kate Coomber:Yeah, love that. So, with this episode, cmr are going to be donating to a charity of your choice. Yes, who.
Shaylee Mills:Who can we talk about today? I think it would be wonderful if the donation went to the pharmacist support service. So that is a non-for-profit volunteer service run by pharmacists and it's essentially a phone call line that pharmacists can call if they are needing support or just needing somebody to talk to. Whatever that may be particularly after high pressure situations is probably a very good example. Somebody that's removed from the immediate situation but they're a pharmacist themselves so they can understand exactly what's happening, and they do that service 365 days a year, so that pharmacists have somebody to talk to if they need to talk to somebody. Um, I have called that line myself and I think what they do is wonderful, so I would love for that to go to them what a great, fantastic, great to raise awareness.
Sam Miklos:Yeah, I'm just going to say that, like how could you want to raise awareness for organizations like that? And obviously a need, and particularly for your remote pharmacist as well rural pharmacists. You want to have that number.
Shaylee Mills:Yeah, exactly Because they might not have anybody there immediately, particularly in a small town, to turn to.
Sam Miklos:Yeah, oh my goodness, shay, thank you, no, thank you. This has been wonderful, it's been lovely. Like I think there is so much to learn about pharmacy, like it is so interesting. There's a lot to it, there's so much intricacy, but I think just the way that you speak about working rurally and just your passion for what you're doing and for anyone listening, please follow Shay, the rural pharmacist, on her social media, on Instagram and TikTok. The stories, the tidbits, the little info, it's just beautiful. It's a walking advertisement for the profession and you just bring so much light to that and I think the future ahead of you is incredible. I can't wait to see where you go. I'm looking forward to the future.
Shaylee Mills:And I think that's the exciting thing is like the future. There's never really been a better time to be a pharmacist, because there's so much changing. That's the best time to get in there, and you know build a career for yourself and do whatever you want to do. And yeah, I am excited about the future of pharmacy, so yeah, watch this space when the episode drops. Hopefully you've won an award as well. Hopefully we'll see thanks, shay.
Sam Miklos:Thank you so much. Thanks for tuning into it Takes Heart.
Kate Coomber:If you love this episode, subscribe leave a review or share it with a friend, and if you know someone with a great story in healthcare, get in touch. Follow us on socials for all the behind the scenes fun, and we'll see you next time.
