Prioritising skills development for a more sustainable future
Two of the 906 graduates of the Medi Training Academy Pharmacist’s Assistant course are Florah Mashegoana and Callington Chakoma. Mashegoana started working for Medipost Pharmacy as a packer in 2004, and she has steadily risen through the ranks to her current place as a manager in the Inbound Clinical Pharmacy Cluster for one of the company’s largest medical scheme clients. Chakoma, who joined Medipost Pharmacy as a packer in July 2008, is now a Cluster Pharmacist’s Assistant within the Medipost Order Processing division.
More than 900 students have qualified as Pharmacist’s Assistants and an additional 172 students are currently enrolled on a training initiative that aims to address a shortage of scarce skill sets in South African healthcare.
“As the largest courier pharmacy service registered with the South African Pharmacy Council [SAPC], Medipost Pharmacy identified a critical need for Pharmacist’s Assistants more than a decade ago,” explains Louis Scheepers, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Medipost.
“With the shortage of trained Pharmacist’s Assistants facing South Africa’s healthcare industry, we saw an opportunity to develop our existing staff members and upskill them to fill this niche. With the launch of our Medi Training Academy in 2009, we have been able to instil our candidates with our own particular brand of service excellence, while creating meaningful opportunities for them.”
Pharmacist’s Assistants with advanced basic training work under Pharmacists’ supervision and are equipped to perform duties such as dispensing prescriptions, preparing medicines, advising customers and answering their questions.
The Academy is an independent training and development facility operated by Medipost Holdings, which places an emphasis on curricula that equip students to play an active role in an efficient and equitable healthcare delivery system within the wider South African context.
The steady rise of Florah Mashegoana, who started working for the company as a packer in 2004 and is today a manager in the Inbound Clinical Pharmacy Cluster for one of Medipost’s largest medical scheme clients, is one of several inspirational stories to emanate from the company’s initiative. “My career took off in 2006 when I became one of the first call centre agents to be appointed to service the needs of what was to become one of the company’s largest clients,” remembers Mashegoana. “My dedication and hard work soon took me to the position of Administrator in 2008.”
Within two years, Mashegoana was once again promoted, this time to work in the Customer Care Department. While there, she registered to study as a Pharmacist’s Assistant and she successfully completed her studies in 2012.
The steady rise of Florah Mashegoana, who started working for the company as a packer in 2004 and is today a manager in the Inbound Clinical Pharmacy Cluster for one of Medipost’s largest medical scheme clients, is one of several inspirational stories to emanate from the company’s initiative.
 Florah Mashegoana and Callington Chakoma |
“My career took off in 2006 when I became one of the first call centre agents to be appointed to service the needs of what was to become one of the company’s largest clients,” remembers Mashegoana.
“My dedication and hard work soon took me to the position of Administrator in 2008.” |
Within two years, Mashegoana was once again promoted, this time to work in the Customer Care Department. While there, she registered to study as a Pharmacist’s Assistant and she successfully completed her studies in 2012.
“With the aid of my new qualifications I moved up the corporate ladder yet again, this time to the position of qualified Post-Basic Pharmacist’s Assistant. In 2013, I was promoted to the position of Deputy Manager of the Clinical Department and a year later I became Deputy Manager of the Cluster serving the largest Medipost client,” adds Mashegoana.
Mashegoana’s hard work, dedication and ongoing studies have ensured her remarkable success within Medipost. Now she is once again studying, this time towards a business management qualification.
Another of the 906 graduates of the Medi Training Academy Pharmacist’s Assistant course is Callington Chakoma, who says the opportunity to further his studies has made a significant difference in his life.
“I joined Medipost Pharmacy as a packer in July 2008. Being a picker-packer was my life and I was quite satisfied with this role, however in 2010 my life changed when it was announced that I had been selected to participate in the Learner Basic course, which is the first step to becoming a Pharmacist’s Assistant,” Chakoma recalls.
“Lifelong learning became a part of who I am. Even though the course work was not always a walk in the park, with the support of the Academy I was soon enrolled in the Post-Basic course, which I completed in February 2013.
“I am at present employed within the Medipost Order Processing division as a Cluster Pharmacist’s Assistant, however with this qualification and experience to my name I can now work in any pharmaceutical organisation, anywhere in the world,” he says.
Scheepers explains that such has been the success of the programmes and calibre of the Pharmacist’s Assistants produced by the programme, that Medipost has received considerable interest from external stakeholders about the courses.
“Currently the Academy is geared to service Medipost’s needs only, however in time we hope to make the Academy accessible to the general public and offer training for candidates from other organisations.”
Over the last two years, Medipost has funded external bursaries for four full-time pharmacist students, and 10 internal bursaries to its employees.
Medipost Group currently employs 1 733 people, including 459 qualified Pharmacists and Pharmacist’s Assistants holding Basic, Post-Basic and Learners’ qualifications. The courier pharmacy division, Medipost Pharmacy, dispenses, dispatches and delivers chronic medication to beneficiaries of 82 medical schemes, and other clients such as employer groups and the Department of Health.
Appropriately qualified Pharmacist’s Assistants provide advice in all 11 official languages to Medipost Pharmacy customers, which include some 400 000 medical scheme members on average each month.
“As part of our contribution to boosting employment and strengthening South Africa’s healthcare system, we partnered with National Treasury’s Jobs Fund to train and permanently employ 112 unemployed people as Learner Basic Pharmacist’s Assistants. Medipost then offered these candidates further training at no cost to the students, providing the opportunity to qualify as Post-Basic Pharmacist’s Assistants, which offers even brighter career prospects for the future.
“Once qualified, these Pharmacist’s Assistants were placed in permanent jobs at Medipost Pharmacy. This is part of our commitment to creating sustainable jobs that will not only contribute to socio-economic upliftment, but also assist in enhancing the quality of pharmacy support in South African healthcare, which ultimately benefits the public.
“The role of Pharmacist’s Assistants in healthcare is invaluable, and we at Medipost are gratified to have played a small part in ushering in a new era of professionalism and customer-centric service through our training programme,” Scheepers concluded.
Ends
Issued by: Martina Nicholson Associates (MNA) on behalf of Medipost Pharmacy
Contact: Martina Nicholson, Graeme Swinney, Meggan Saville and Estene Lotriet-Vorster
Telephone: (011) 469 3016
Email: martina@mnapr.co.za, graeme@mnapr.co.za, meggan@mnapr.co.za or estene@mnapr.co.za