A Bendigo undergraduate has won the Victorian Pharmacy Student of the Year award, making it a hattrick of wins for students at the La Trobe Rural Health School.
Emily Schreck, who is in her final year of Pharmacy studies, said the accolade from the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia came as a surprise when it was awarded last month.
“It’s just good to see how far I’ve come, from being an anxious first year, to my fourth year where I have gained more capacity for talking to patients and have expanded on my skills,” she said.
La Trobe Rural Health School Pharmacy discipline lead, Professor Joseph Tucci, said that Emily has consistently demonstrated outstanding skills necessary for the profession, as well as having an excellent academic record.
“She is very bright, very personable and possesses some of the most important traits necessary in Pharmacy such as empathy, the capacity for critical thought, and very good listening and communication skills,” he said.
Emily believes smaller class sizes and the accessibility of her lecturers have also helped with her studies.
“Once you get to know the lecturers and the people in your course, I really felt I knew how to find help,” she said.
“It’s still a lot of work but I know where to get the support, and La Trobe has been very supportive over the years.”
“It’s just really important that you do make those connections and then not be afraid to ask questions, because that’s how you’ll learn.”
As for what comes after graduation, Emily is still weighing up her options. A placement in Broome in Western Australia has whetted her appetite for rural work helping with a wide range of patients, but she is also tempted by work in one of Melbourne’s bigger hospitals, which could allow her to specialise in neurology or cardiology pharmacy.
Emily will now compete at the Australian Pharmacy Student of the Year awards, which will be judged in August.
Professor Tucci said that La Trobe Rural Health School students have won more than half the statewide accolades in the 17 years he has been a Pharmacy academic, despite the La Trobe cohort representing less than 10% of Pharmacy students in Victoria.
