Benalla Pharmacist named Victorian Pharmacist of the Year

26 November 2012

Benalla pharmacist Marsha Watson has been named the 2012 Victorian Pharmacist of the Year at the annual Victorian Pharmacists Dinner at the Cossar Hall.   

Ms Watson was awarded the prestigious Victorian Pharmacist Medal for being a quiet achiever who has passionately served her local community for many years, making excellent contributions to the health and wellbeing of many people in Benalla.    

Victorian President of the PSA, Michelle Lynch, said Ms Watson had always been among the very first group of pharmacy pioneers applying new practice concepts in pharmacy.  

“She was among the first to put into practice DMAS and the health destination pharmacy concept,” Ms Lynch said.  

“She also utilises a fully automated dispensary to facilitate patient counselling and her nomination was strongly supported by her customers and her peers.”   

During the dinner, other quiet achievers were also remembered including Jim Burns for  his 40-plus years of service at Croydon and his opioid replacement service; and Andrew Clayton who regularly travels up to seven hours to deliver medication reviews to Colac residents and who opened a new pharmacy to support the Marysville community after the 2009 bushfires.   

Victorian pharmacists also expressed their gratitude to retired pharmacy statesmen Brain Grogan and John Coppock for their leadership and services; and celebrated Alistair Holley, Gordon Cornell, Les Dickinson and Peter Lumley’s 50 years’ association with the PSA.  

The great work of the younger generations were also recognised through awards to Stacey Groves as PSA Intern of the Year, James Lonergan for his Best Public Health Education Project, Yi-Jun Pan and Caitlin Mulgueen as Victorian Gold Medallists at Monash and La Trobe Universities respectively, and Kahlinda Mahoney as the Victorian Pharmacy Student of the Year.  

Ms Lynch said that the annual dinner event recognised many of the unsung heroes among Victorian pharmacists.  

“It has the full support of the profession and stakeholders, and the stories told were an excellent demonstration of the passion and hard work of pharmacists in Victoria,” she said.  

“I also want to thank the support of the many rural pharmacists serving as regional co-ordinators, enabling an extensive regional CPD program to be delivered in Victoria.  

“And finally I want to thank PDL, MIMS, Westpac Banks, Monash University, Minuteman Press and Le Zodiaque for their sponsorship of the annual Victorian Pharmacists Dinner.”

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