Welcome to this special recap of Your Pharmacy Career podcast, proudly produced by Raven’s Recruitment - Australia’s experts in pharmacy career and locum services for over 30 years.
In this episode of Your Pharmacy Career Podcast host Krysti-Lee Patterson sits down with Kate Gunthorpe, one of Australia’s first pharmacists to practice at full scope and now Pharmacist Implementation & Change Specialist at TerryWhite Chemmart where she heads up the Full Scope and Prescribing initiative.
Episode Summary
When Kate Gunthorpe was a child, she asked a question many future pharmacists might relate to: “How does Nurofen know where to go?” That curiosity, coupled with a deep desire to help people, sparked a lifelong passion for medicines and healthcare. Now, as one of Australia’s first full scope pharmacists, Kate is helping redefine the pharmacist’s role—not just for herself, but for the entire profession.
In this episode of Your Pharmacy Career Podcast, hosted by Krysti-Lee Patterson and produced by Raven’s Recruitment, Kate opens up about her journey from checkout assistant in a community pharmacy to Head of Full Scope and Prescribing at TerryWhite Chemmart. With frankness and humility, she discusses the highs and lows of studying to become a pharmacist prescriber, her work in change management, and the pressing need for cultural and regulatory alignment across states.
This is more than a career profile—it’s a glimpse into the future of community pharmacy in Australia, led by someone who believes in it wholeheartedly.
Key Takeaways from the Episode
Pharmacy was a conscious career choice, not a fallback.
Kate chose pharmacy over medicine early on, driven by her fascination with how medications work and a desire to make a real-world impact.Her career path shows the breadth of pharmacy roles.
From working in community and hospital settings to joining the Pharmacy Guild as a BDM (Business Development Manager), Kate has seen—and helped shape—pharmacy from multiple vantage points.She’s part of the pioneering cohort of full scope pharmacists.
Kate embraced the opportunity to train as a pharmacist prescriber in Queensland, even pausing a Masters in Public Policy to commit fully to the program.Full scope training is rigorous but transformative.
The 12-month program is challenging, likened to a return to medical school, and requires dedication. Kate stresses it’s not for every pharmacist, but it should be available in every pharmacy.Consumer awareness is growing—but uneven.
During the early stages of Queensland’s pilot, public awareness was low. Now that full scope prescribing is “business as usual,” awareness is improving, especially in regional and rural areas.Charging for consultations is a cultural shift.
Kate discusses how pharmacists have traditionally undervalued their time. The full scope model requires a mindset shift—valuing and charging appropriately for professional consultations.She’s passionate about change management.
Kate’s official title is Implementation and Change Specialist. She views her role as not just promoting full scope, but helping pharmacists—and the wider profession—embrace the change.The future is exciting, but standardisation is crucial.
Kate advocates for national consistency across states and territories in prescribing rights. She envisions pharmacy students graduating in 2027 with full scope built into their training.Even leaders feel imposter syndrome.
Kate candidly discusses self-doubt, public speaking nerves, and the importance of mentorship. She credits her success to constant learning, feedback, and finding a role that aligns with her passion.Her advice to students and early-career pharmacists: find your niche.
Whether it’s prescribing, digital health, aged care, or entrepreneurship, Kate encourages pharmacists to explore beyond traditional roles—many of which didn’t exist a decade ago.
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Full Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 (00:01.068)
Welcome to Your Pharmacy Career Podcast, proudly produced by Raven's Recruitment, the experts in pharmacy career and locum services for over 30 years. Every episode is your gateway to new opportunities in the pharmacy profession. From expert advice to inspiring success stories, we're here to spark ideas, guide your career and help you achieve your goals. Stay tuned. The next step in your pharmacy journey starts here.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (00:20.846)
Hello and welcome to another episode of Your Pharmacy Career Podcast. My name is Krysti-Lee Patterson, your host as usual. Now today I have a exciting guest here. Her name is Kate and she is one of the first pharmacists in Australia to practice at full scope, which is very exciting and very topical. Now, Kate, thank you so much for joining us.
Kate Gunthorpe (00:50.265)
Thank you so much for having me.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (00:53.386)
Now Kate, the first question I ask everyone is why did they become a pharmacist? So I'm going to ask you that question straight away and yeah if you could let our listeners know what led you to a path in pharmacy.
Kate Gunthorpe (01:08.365)
Pharmacy wasn't actually my first choice when I was a kid. Growing up, I had always decided that I was gonna be a doctor. There's a few medical things kind of in my family, a few diagnoses and things like that. And I thought, I'll grow up, I'll become a doctor and I'll fix everyone. Had that fixing kind of mindset. And then as I got older, I was probably about 10 years old. And I was one of those kids that was like,
When I take Nurofen, when I've got a headache, how does it know where to go? And I was obsessed with this idea and mum and dad had tried to research it and give me the answer. And I was just so intrigued about it. They thought, well, why do you want to be a doctor?
And I said, because I want to prescribe medications are amazing and they save people's lives. And they were thinking, okay, maybe you don't want to be a doctor and maybe you want to be a pharmacist instead. And had a look into it, went to a few career days, did a few, you know, going into community pharmacies as a teenager, spending a day in the community pharmacy. And I was like, no, this is it. This is absolutely what I want to do.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (02:21.406)
So you're one of the typical pharmacists I guess that people have in their minds where you're a pharmacist it's because you wanted to be a doctor and didn't get in but with you you actually made that decision before.
Kate Gunthorpe (02:33.248)
Yeah, luckily I did make that decision before and realized that I wouldn't have made it as a doctor, but then became a pharmacist and I literally have never looked back. I absolutely love being a pharmacist and I love where our profession is heading as well.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (02:47.636)
absolutely. I completely agree. really think that pharmacists that are just graduating now, I feel they're luckier than what we were when we were first graduating. Like there's so many options now. But what I'd like to know more about you, Elise, I know that you're prescribing pharmacists now. But where did you start your career in pharmacy? Have you always worked in community pharmacy?
Kate Gunthorpe (03:04.93)
going to some water.
Kate Gunthorpe (03:13.802)
I started working in community pharmacy my year 11 of high school. Did just a weekend shift in there as a check out chick, as a junior, and then decided to enroll in university at Griffith Uni down on the Gold Coast to study my bachelor of pharmacy and stayed working in community that I think it was second or third year. I got a job
working at the 24-hour community pharmacy that used to be down at John Flynn Private Hospital underneath the hospital there. Did lots of shifts there and then worked my way up to working in the dispensary at the hospital which was obviously my ambition from working in a 24-hour pharmacy because those shifts were quite rough but quite good because I was studying so much you know four or five days a week and I could go until 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. in the pharmacy.
but then worked my way up into the hospital dispensary and that's where I did my internship. So was very community focused to start with, discovered that I might want to do hospital pharmacy instead, went up and did that, specialized in oncology when I got registered, generally registered. So after my intern year, then decided that that was probably not the right thing to do as a young person.
absolutely loved it. It filled my cup, but it was very difficult being so young and being exposed to so much kind of death and responsibility and things like that. So steered away from hospital for a little bit and joined the Pharmacy Guild as a pharmacist BDM, which really started my kind of industry interest and industry role. I loved being a BDM. had
Krysti-Lee Patterson (04:49.582)
Hmm.
Kate Gunthorpe (05:07.926)
the most amazing jurisdictions that I looked after. I had Elie Beach, I had Sunny Coast and like the Noosa area. Go and see all those amazing pharmacies up there. See what they're doing in the communities. Then I got the opportunity to do full scope when I was still working at the Pharmacy Guild, the Queensland branch and decided to roll with it and have since joined Terry White Kenmart as the head of full scope and prescribing.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (05:37.113)
Wow, that's amazing. And what a transition from studying out in community, going into hospital, working for the guild, that would be quite a difference. So for some of the people listening, they might not know what a BDM is. Could you maybe explain a little bit about what that role involved?
Kate Gunthorpe (05:58.327)
Yeah, so it's called the Pharmacist Business Support Officer or Business Development Manager. So essentially what we did at the Guild, because the Guild manages all of the kind of pharmacy programs or the eight CPA programs for the community pharmacies, our role was essentially to prompt those services and prompt an uptake in those services for our members. We had unique
kind of members. So I had specific members who I looked after and the rest of my team had different members that they would look after. And they could generally come to us for any questions they had from A to Z. It could have been a medication query, it could have been a needle stick injury query. They would just ring us and say, hey, kind of what do I do? So we would support the business in that aspect. We would support them with helping their pharmacy assistants enroll in S2S3 training.
we would go in and say to the pharmacist, know, you've only done your 10 meds checks this month, did you know that you can do 20 and try to uplift their services and show them the value in those kind of services. So a really, really rewarding role that covers such a vast majority of the industry. And it really set the kind of interest for programs and innovation in the pharmacy space and thinking about what we could make this profession, I guess, in the future.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (07:23.886)
Absolutely. think...
as a pharmacist and then moving into that kind of more business development role and being able to support pharmacies in implementing services and supporting them in achieving those CPA programs and things like that. When the full scope announcement was made, was it something that as soon as you heard about it, you're like, yes, absolutely, this is something I want to do. Or was it more around,
Kate Gunthorpe (07:42.23)
Thank you.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (07:57.601)
If I do that, I'm going to have to get a job in a pharmacy again. Like there was a lot of unknowns at that point in time when that announcement first came out. So what was your head space and what led to that decision to actually go back to school?
Kate Gunthorpe (08:16.126)
It came across my desk at the the Guilds. They said, you know, we're doing this thing. It's going we're going to announce it in Northern Queensland. Would you like to do it? And at the time I was like, absolutely. Yes, I want to do it. But I'm not too sure if I want to be in the first cohort. I was studying at that time. I was trying to finish my Masters of Public Policy. I ended up cutting that short, actually, and just finishing with my grad cert of Public Policy.
because of full scope. So I had to kind of weigh that up. But when I really thought about it, I thought, you know what, I do want to do this. And I do want to be in the first cohort to be able to support other learners and other pharmacists as they come through in the future. And we completely supportive of doing that at the time. And they said, we'll support you, you know, to go up and study and go to the residential in Cairns and
and things like that. And I thought, I've got to do it. It's why I became a pharmacist. I was so interested in medications, so interested that I almost became a doctor. So when I heard that pharmacists were being able to prescribe and advance their skills, I absolutely knew that it was something that I wanted to do and something that I wanted to take further than just what I was doing at the time. I kind of thought that maybe it wouldn't eventuate to anything. There was that concern.
because as you mentioned, there was a lot of myths around it, there was a lot of confusion around it, a lot of voices, I guess, in the space. And I was worried that, maybe we'd have cohort one and cohort two in Northern Queensland and it would never expand to the rest of Queensland, let alone the rest of Australia. But I thought if someone's gonna take it and make it happen, it would be the guild and it would be everyone.
in Queensland, in Northern Queensland and the likes of all the banner groups that were around that were going to make it happen. So I thought, no, I'll jump in and do it.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (10:23.126)
Yeah, that's awesome. So what was it actually like doing that study? I guess for you, you were already studying a master's, so you were in that head space of working full-time and studying, which can be tricky for some that even if you haven't done it since uni days, it can be a bit of a challenge. I will be honest, I've spoken to some people that have done.
Kate Gunthorpe (10:30.572)
Thank
Krysti-Lee Patterson (10:46.894)
the full-scope training. Some have found that they didn't struggle as much. Some people have said that they have really struggled with it. What was your experience?
Kate Gunthorpe (10:50.614)
that they do find a solution
Kate Gunthorpe (10:57.954)
I had essentially been studying since I left uni. I'm one of those kind of professional students. I was always interested in doing extra study or finding a niche area to study. So when this opportunity became available to me, it was just another 12 months of study that I was already going to do in something else. So I quickly got on top of it. It is not easy. I don't think anyone that's ever done the full scope training would sit here and say that it's an
course. It's 12 months that you essentially go back to medical school and are trained to diagnose, assess, diagnose and treat and that treatment might involve prescribing, it might not involve prescribing.
I would say the range in hours or experience that people spend learning really comes down to their experience, I guess, in what they've done in either pharmacy, the industry or even their personal niche. So for me, with a background in hospital, I did know a little bit more about that kind of pathophysiology of disease and treatment options and pathology and things like that.
that other people might not know coming out of community. But on the downside is I didn't know as much of the current available options because I hadn't been in community for a few years. So other people were far more experienced than me in those kind of areas. So there is such a variance in how long it takes people to do the study or to do the course, how many hours people set aside every week, and it purely just comes down to their own experience.
But if you're passionate about it, I would absolutely do it. I very frequently say that it is not for every pharmacist, but it has to be for every pharmacy. I'm not a diabetes educator, credentialed diabetes educator. I'm not a home medicines review pharmacist or any of those things. This is my kind of niche. So it's not for everyone, but it's got to be available for every patient or community in Australia.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (13:08.076)
The way that you just described that I've never, haven't yet heard anyone kind of mention that it's not for every pharmacist, but it's for every pharmacy. I really like that. And I think, yeah, there's so many other specialty areas for pharmacists, whether it's aged care on site or HMRs or sleep apnea or so many other services they can do either in a community pharmacy or even in hospital. I think.
the prescribing pharmacist is just one of those specialties. So yeah, I've kind of reflected on it as it's been in the industry and I thought, how is this going to go? Like it's not everyone is going to want to be able to do this. And it's not going to be for everyone. But I guess one of the other, guess maybe it's a myth and you can bust it here on the podcast is from a
patient perspective or customer perspective, is it going to confuse the public? And so I'm in New South Wales, so we don't have full scope. Yes, like people are able to do the course now. And so hopefully we'll have some soon. We are able to do some of the expanded scope things like the UTIs and the skin conditions and things like that.
Kate Gunthorpe (14:29.474)
and something like...
Krysti-Lee Patterson (14:32.482)
And yeah, I'd love to hear what the experience has been where you are up in Queensland in terms of patience, like awareness, and then yeah, any challenges you've had to overcome with that as well.
Kate Gunthorpe (14:48.61)
Patient awareness has been low at the start of the pilot, which has now finished and we're now business as usual, which is fantastic. But patient awareness at the time was low purely because we weren't able to go out and advertise this amazing new service that pharmacies could offer if we didn't have a substantial amount of pharmacies on board. There's no point, know, Terry White-Kennmark going out and saying all the pharmacies in Townsville can do this when it's
only two, you know, it just makes frustration for the patients, frustration for the pharmacies constantly getting questions about, we heard that you can do this when they actually can't. So there was a lot, there's a lot that still needs to be done in the consumer awareness piece. With that, these services have been driven a lot by the pharmacy teams on the ground and the pharmacist prescribers themselves. We have done additional education for our kind of
teams on triaging patients and conversation starters and letting them know that we can now offer these amazing new services. But it really is on that pharmacy staff to be finding those patients who are usually just requesting something over the counter or asking for a two minute chat with the pharmacist and being able to convert those into a closed door console that has a fee to it that might take 15, 20, 25 minutes. So that's been a real conversation
cultural kind of change piece as well. For pharmacists charging for their time as well, that was a huge cultural change. We have never done it and we're not good at it. We're so used to giving our time away for free. But with this new service, we really had to explain to pharmacists and even myself included that our time is valuable and our expertise is valuable. We do a four year degree plus an intern year plus now an extra year to prescribe
six years, that time is valuable. You're offering a service, even if it doesn't have an outcome that might be a prescription, you are still offering an above standard pharmacist care service there. So once patients saw that, usually after the first consult was either explained to them or they actually experienced it, patients were blown away. They were like, that's the best value ever. You know, 25 minutes for the pharmacist and it's, you know, 60 or $70.
Kate Gunthorpe (17:18.18)
under 20 minutes is $36 or $35. They were like, that's fantastic and I've got my script now and we do walk-in services, you can book, we're usually more available at the moment than the current GPs and especially in regional and rural areas. So patients have really been able to get timely and accessible care that they would have had to wait a few days for or go up to the emergency department for.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (17:45.935)
Yeah, I definitely see it as an opportunity for regional and rural pharmacies because yeah, sometimes like I've done some work previous years in regional areas and have done some local shifts in very rural areas, almost remote. And sometimes there's only one doctor there that booked out for months in advance. And then that same doctor is the hospital doctor as well. And so I can really see
Kate Gunthorpe (18:11.062)
Yeah.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (18:16.008)
in those settings or this would be amazing if we were able to have prescribing pharmacists in those settings. Now that you've been doing it for a little while now, where do you see the future of this for yourself and your career? Is this something that you are just going hands in this is exactly what I want to do?
Kate Gunthorpe (18:25.697)
Absolutely.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (18:43.178)
Or is it now, it's not really what I thought. What's next for Kate?
Kate Gunthorpe (18:48.798)
I am absolutely running with it. I have the phenomenal opportunity to lead Terry White in our charge to be the leaders in full scope.
because it really adds to our position as the leaders of health and the experts of care in the area. I'm incredibly privileged position to be able to do this for a brand and do something that I'm so passionate about. There's not many times that you can say I absolutely love my job. You probably do love your job. So that's understandable, but I absolutely love what I do. My title, official title is Implementation and Change Specialist.
And I'm really passionate about change management. I always have been. So that's why this kind of interests me as well. So I'm going to basically ride this tidal wave until the end, until it becomes the norm across the nation. We need state and territory alignment for pharmacist prescribers. shouldn't have, you know, I'm only approved to prescribe in Queensland. So if New South Wales did announce it, I would have to jump through hoops to get approval.
down there, it shouldn't be the case. should be everyone gets to treat the same thing and you can move between jurisdictions if you would like, if you do so. there's still a lot of work that needs to be done in this kind of full scope space. have...
very, very keen early adopters in Queensland and the rest of the nations that now need to be backed, especially in Queensland by the rest of the profession. And not everyone, as I said, it's not for every pharmacist, but a decent amount of the profession so that patients can benefit from this in every community. So I believe that really this is the future. Come 2027, pharmacy students will be graduating with this already built into their degrees.
Kate Gunthorpe (20:47.364)
So we'll have the undergraduates that are ready to go with this, which will add to our already expanding number of pharmacists prescribers across the nation. But this really is the future for community pharmacy becoming health care hubs and primary health, primary care destinations where patients can get advice, treatment, diagnosis and assessment of whatever's happening with them.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (21:17.994)
exciting. It's really exciting to see where it's going to go and seeing how other states are making commitments to jump on board, which is really great. So in New South Wales, we've got two universities that are opening enrollments for full scope next year, which is exciting.
Kate Gunthorpe (21:35.138)
Bye.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (21:37.973)
Earlier in the podcast, you said that you're one of those pharmacists that have a professional study. I also call myself that and I finished my MBA this year and I said to my husband, yeah, after I do my MBA, I'm not going to do study. is it. Then full scope announcement happens. He's like, don't tell me you're to do that. I'm like, maybe I will now actually. Got a bit of FOMO.
Kate Gunthorpe (21:50.688)
today.
Kate Gunthorpe (21:56.22)
Thank you.
you and me both as soon as the doctor at a pharmacy was announced I was like that's me I will be doing that next so we'll be professional students together forever.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (22:09.326)
Yeah, forever. I think that's just the way of pharmacy though. It's just you're always continually learning and it's always changing, which I love change. And your role is now in change management. So not everyone loves change. But I think pharmacy, our industry, I think we're lucky that there is always so much change that there's always something new and exciting coming. even if you
are in a period of time where maybe you aren't loving your job. So everyone has those moments, I certainly have. But the thing that kind of keeps me going is going, there'll be something else coming up soon. There'll be something exciting on the card. So which is really good, especially for those, early in the career or even later in their career and maybe feel like they want to make a change. It's not too late to do that.
Kate Gunthorpe (22:51.062)
Thank you.
Kate Gunthorpe (23:04.098)
And that's the thing people need to find like their niche. They do really love, you know, I never thought that full scope was going to be my thing that woke me up in the morning, you know, fills my cup, but I found my niche, I was passionate about it. And so now it doesn't feel like work. It feels like I'm following something that's so true to who I am and so passionate, so important to what I want the profession to do. It just feels like I get to have fun all the time.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (23:33.743)
I love that. But I think one thing I think sometimes when you are I guess starting to get a bit of a name for yourself in the industry so people
may think, wow, like it's doing all this amazing stuff, I wanna be like her. But sometimes, yeah, people don't see all the behind the scenes of what happens and goes on in your life to get you to where you are. So I hope you don't mind me asking, but during your career, there been any challenges or things that you've had to overcome to?
to either get to where you are today or even it hasn't actually led to where you are today, but just things that you've had to overcome in your career so far.
Kate Gunthorpe (24:18.646)
really love the frame up of that question because absolutely you can see, and I used to do it as well, you can see these amazing role models in our profession up on stage and think, wow, that person's perfect or that person's phenomenal at what they do and they're so confident and they speak in front of people. And I was like, I'll never be able to do anything like that kind of thing. So absolutely you don't know what's going on behind closed doors or what that person.
doubts in themselves or critiques themselves on. Imposter syndrome is probably the first thing that I would think for. Even though I was in cohort one of the full scope training every now and again, I do absolutely catch myself, you know, with imposter syndrome thinking, am I really the person that is providing this guidance to these people? Am I the best person to be showcasing what best practice looks like or the future of our profession?
Krysti-Lee Patterson (24:55.406)
You
Kate Gunthorpe (25:15.81)
But you just got to back yourself. I have this amazing responsibility to provide guidance to the profession and provide guidance to especially my pharmacists within the brand who are doing Fullscope and they listen because I am listening to them. I listen to their hardships. I go through things with them. I always make time.
to ensure that any troubles that they're facing or any exciting stories on the other end that they want to share with me, I always have time for that. And I use that when I'm speaking or when I'm in front of the crowd to show that I'm just like everyone else. I go to the pharmacy every second Friday and do my clinical days so that I can talk about prescribing and I can show them that I'm realistic and that I, you know, I put in the work to make sure that I'm.
ensuring that anything that I'm pushing for is also a problem or also something in advocacy that they actually want me to do. So imposter syndrome and self-doubt would absolutely be things that I have had to overcome and possibly still overcoming. Every time you get up on stage and those stage lights are in your face, you're like, not again. You know, what if I do something silly on stage or forget my scripts or whatever, but...
It is really all about backing yourself and also having the opportunity to have feedback. I have a phenomenal, phenomenal mentors all around me, but especially my boss, who's the chief pharmacist, Brenton, Brenton Hart. He provides me feedback after I do any kind of presentations. And it really is invaluable to have someone who's in your corner, but is providing you feedback on your
how you conducted, how you could improve it, even sometimes how good you did. It's just nice to hear that every now and again, a little bit of validation so you don't go home and self doubt. there's also things that you can do. I've done speaking courses and really worked on myself. I love listening to podcasts and reading self-help books and reading LetThem at the moment.
Kate Gunthorpe (27:35.138)
So all those kind of things really change how you portray yourself on stage and build that confidence that you need.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (27:45.295)
100 % when you mentioned the Let Them Book. Yes, that's on my next purchase. I am a big fan of Mel Robbins. And yeah, I quite often listen to her podcast, even sometimes I don't even listen to the whole thing, but just snippets of it. And yeah, I'm definitely learning a lot about myself. And so anyone that is experiencing I think any sort of self-doubt in imposter syndrome, yeah, check out that book or yeah, any of her videos and podcasts.
Kate Gunthorpe (28:08.52)
and the unaccessible value.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (28:15.248)
I think to in ways when I reflect on my own journey as well I certainly I don't like using the word imposter syndrome because then that makes me think that it's something that I'm going to have forever and then maybe that's just like in my like the pharmacist's city me but it's definitely something yet does that self doubt
Kate Gunthorpe (28:28.13)
in the next.
Kate Gunthorpe (28:32.29)
That's fair enough, yes.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (28:42.286)
And yeah, it can be very scary when, yeah, you, I remember seeing you at the Terry White Master Class and I was speaking there as well and I saw how many people there and I've done so many speaking presentations before. But this particular one, because I'd heard so much about the Terry White Master Classes and how good they were and the calibre of speakers and I just thought, my gosh, what am I doing here? This is insane.
Kate Gunthorpe (29:10.434)
you did a phenomenal job, but it's absolutely a new way up to different events. know, like I go to the PSA conference and I'm like, I love this. This is my people. Like I feel so much more comfortable. And then for some reason I go to like Terry White Masterclass and I'm like, these are all the people in the brand that are following my leadership. Like I'm terrified. So we weigh it up as well. And you've had more pressure to yourself than you, than you really do need to.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (29:37.455)
That's exactly right. And one, I can't remember who gave me this advice a long time ago when doing presentations. And it's also the same whether you're speaking in front of just one person or thousands of people is that you've been asked to do that because you are an expert in it, even if you don't believe it in yourself yet. And just speaking with authenticity and honesty. And then at the end of the day, people don't know what
your script was. So, so long as you say it with confidence, then they won't know. That's always what I think.
Kate Gunthorpe (30:12.606)
Absolutely. And I always try to add in, you know, that humility piece into anything that I speak. And I actually did a prompt with Chat TV TV the other day and I said, what's your reflections on some gaps that I kind of have. And it actually gave me a response back saying you are always trying to add humility into your speeches, even when the conversation sometimes does need to be like direct or
or scientific or data driven and they said you're always trying to lessen it and add humility and I was like I don't think that's a weakness I like having that bit of humility in there.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (30:47.262)
I absolutely agree with you. think that's a very good point to have in any sort of presentations or speaking because people connect with people, right? And if they can, yeah, connect and hear your story, that's also how people, I personally think that people learn as well when they can think, okay, well, if that person's done this, then maybe I can give that a go or something like that.
Kate Gunthorpe (31:11.554)
Absolutely.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (31:14.174)
Okay, it's been an absolute pleasure speaking to you about your career and it's almost as if this is also the start of a new career almost for you or a new season for you which is really exciting and yeah being the change manager of such a large national brand that sounds really exciting. What are you most looking forward to in this new role?
Kate Gunthorpe (31:43.555)
I've been in this role for 18 months now, but every single day is new and exciting, whether it's a new state announcement that I've got to be on top of for full scope, exactly like you were talking about New South Wales before. And it's just the possibility of supporting hundreds to maybe even thousands of pharmacists through this course and through this journey across the nation over the next 24 months.
to me is just so, so exciting. Our cohort was 200 people and I thought maybe we'd get a couple hundred more and that would be it. So to see that there's, you know, hundreds of people currently studying and hundreds more who are in the pipeline who want to study is just phenomenal and really, really exciting. I've got a few speaking engagements coming up that I'm really keen for the PSA, ATU.
in a few weeks time, which I'm sure I'll see you at, is phenomenal. Booked in a slot for ABP next year to yet again talk about full scope and all the really, really exciting things that we're particularly doing at Terry White Can Mart with our pathway to prescribing. But just being the leaders in full scope is exciting enough for me and gets me out of bed every morning.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (33:02.39)
Absolutely. You definitely need some of that, that passion or drive to get you out of bed some days if you're anything like me. But I think, yeah, it's really exciting to see what the Terry White brand is doing. And as someone that's, I guess, sitting on the sidelines and seeing what you and the others on the team are doing with the brand is really exciting and really.
Kate Gunthorpe (33:15.106)
This is coming live from the Institute of...
Krysti-Lee Patterson (33:27.96)
focusing on this is your niche, this is what you're known for. And I think that's a really important thing for whether you're in a brand or you own your own pharmacy or running a pharmacy is, okay, what are we going to do in our community? What are we going to focus on? And what are we going to do that, that one thing really well? And yeah, I really want to commend you and the team at Terry White for, yeah, so from an outsider's point of view, it's looking like you're doing a really good job.
Kate Gunthorpe (33:55.117)
Thank you so much. It's really lovely to hear that and to see that all the hard work is being seen as future in the profession. That's really what we stand for, a better future for community pharmacy across Australia, not just in our brand. So thank you for that.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (34:13.095)
That's okay. Now Kate, is there anything else you'd like to share with our listeners before we wrap up?
Kate Gunthorpe (34:19.434)
If there's any, you know, early career pharmacists or intern pharmacists, even pharmacy students listening, my advice would really be to find your niche and follow your passion. I thought that I was either going to be a hospital pharmacist or a community pharmacy pharmacist for the rest of my life. Those are not the only two options. There are thousands of options as a pharmacist that you can go into.
And there's niche roles that I'm sure don't even exist and might exist in the next few years. Just like my role, my role was created 18 months ago. So there might be a niche role that comes up that is just perfect for you. So don't just think it's hospital or community. There are lots of options out there for you. You've just got to scope around, build your network. That's really, really important. Build a network of people who are your role models. Maybe it's Krysti-Lee.
Maybe it's Lisa Nissen, maybe it's Chris Campbell, all of those phenomenal role models and pharmacists in our profession. Find those role models for you and find your niche as well.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (35:31.214)
100%. I love that advice. And especially the fact that you said that the role that you might end up having might not even exist yet. And I think that about my own career as well. I mean, the things that I'm doing now didn't really exist. did think a pharmacist could do it. Who would have thought I'd be running a podcast of all things. Like that's just crazy. Especially considering I hated the sound of my voice on recordings.
Kate Gunthorpe (35:50.356)
Exactly.
Kate Gunthorpe (35:58.87)
Don't we all? Don't we all? When I listen to this back, I'll be like, no.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (36:03.945)
But I think, yeah, even if you're in a situation or all that, maybe you're not 100 % loving it. But if you find out what drives you and for you, clearly it was like that prescribing even way back when you were 10 years old. And now like that has led you down this path. And I think everyone's kind of got there. There's something inside them. And I...
Kate Gunthorpe (36:17.794)
Mm.
Krysti-Lee Patterson (36:26.772)
truly believe that pharmacy can enable everyone to find what their niche is. Even if it's like digital health or technology and things like that now as well, entrepreneurship, there's so many things. Well, thank you so much, Kate, for taking the time out today to meet with me and have a chat. I've really loved it. Love getting to know you a little bit more. And thank you so much.
Kate Gunthorpe (36:39.298)
Absolutely.
Kate Gunthorpe (36:52.994)
Thank you so much for having me. This has been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (38:00.000)
Thanks for tuning in to Your Pharmacy Career Podcast, proudly sponsored by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. The PSA is committed to empowering pharmacists through advocacy, innovation and industry-leading professional development. To become a member or learn more about how the PSA can support your career, visit www.psa.org.au. Don't forget to subscribe, share this podcast with your colleagues and join us next time as we continue to explore your pharmacy career journey.
Final Thoughts
Kate Gunthorpe’s story is one of curiosity, courage, and career evolution. As the full scope model continues to unfold across Australia, pharmacists like Kate are showing what’s possible when professionals lead with purpose and adaptability.
Her message is clear: pharmacy is no longer a static career with just two paths (hospital or community). It’s a dynamic, evolving profession filled with niche roles, leadership opportunities, and the potential to redefine primary care—especially in underserved regions.
At Raven’s Recruitment, we help Australian community pharmacists explore career paths that align with their values, skills, and lifestyle goals. Whether you're seeking full scope opportunities, industry roles, or something completely new, there’s never been a better time to carve out your niche.
How will you help lead pharmacy into the future?
