Townsville based pharmacist Shane MacDonald has been elected as Queensland Branch President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA).
Mr MacDonald, an early career pharmacist has been a pharmacist manager for over seven years, supporting the needs of his community and has served on the PSA Queensland Branch Committee since 2017.
Mr MacDonald is a member of the Early Career Pharmacist (ECP) working group where he was the chair for two years, helping give ECP’s a voice throughout the Queensland region.
Throughout his many roles including as a panel member at the Queensland Annual Therapeutic Update speaking on PSA’s Pharmacists in 2023, Mr MacDonald has been a stern advocate for the profession at a local, state and federal level, meeting with community stake holders, local MP’s and the Prime Minister.
Mr MacDonald said it was an honour to be elected as Queensland Branch President.
“I am looking forward to working closely with the committee, key stakeholders and pharmacists in Queensland,” he said.
“I am very passionate about our profession and to be extending on the good work of the committee is a privilege.
“It is a very exciting time to be a pharmacist particularly in Queensland and I look forward to advocating and working on behalf of pharmacists in the region.”
Mr MacDonald also paid tribute to the elected Vice Presidents, Sue Carson and Dr Esther Lau.
“Sue has over 30 years of experience as a pharmacist working in hospitals and community pharmacies and has done a terrific job as acting president over the past few months,” he said.
“Sue was also a lecturer to pharmacy students at James Cook University for 14 years before relocating to Brisbane, and recently became involved with Community Transition Care at Metro North Hospital and Health Service supporting patients leaving the acute care setting to transition to their home.
“Esther has a tremendous amount of experience and is course coordinator in the discipline of Pharmacy, School of Clinical Sciences at QUT and will also bring so much to the role as Vice President.
“She has also been involved in important programs such as the Queensland Pharmacist Immunisation Pilot and now the Urinary Tract Infection Pharmacy Pilot.
“I congratulate both Sue and Esther on their appointments and I am very lucky to be working with two highly skilled and knowledgeable pharmacists.”
