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Thursday, 1 December 2016

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Running a health clinical at the local marae was all part of the experience for Aaron Lim (left) and his peers participating in the interprofessional rural education training programme. Other students are (from left) Rasela-Joy Faleatua (physiotherapist), Gray Burnett (pharmacist), Sami Cotton (registered nurse) and Thomas Chung (dietian).

While working in a rural area was not something he had contemplated prior to the IPE, the experience changed his mind

Gisborne pharmacist Aaron Lim enjoyed his training experience in the Tairawhiti region so much, he jumped at the chance to return to work in the town fulltime.

Aaron was one of several final-year pharmacy students who participated in the University of Otago's interprofessional rural education training programme in Gisborne in 2013.

The following year he began working at David Moore Pharmacy in Gisborne, where he spent two and a-half weeks' on placement during the interprofessional education (IPE) programme.

The IPE enables pharmacy, nursing, medical, physiotherapy, dietetics, dental and oral health and occupational therapy students to train and work alongside each other in a rural community.
Aaron particularly enjoyed the opportunity to learn about other health professions.

“It was really interesting to get to see what people do, you don't get those sort of chances, I was very lucky to get into the programme.”
He spent half of his five weeks at David Moore Pharmacy and the other half at Gisborne Hospital working alongside medical, nursing, physiotherapy and dietetics students.

Aaron was a city boy. Born in Auckland he spent most of his life growing up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and admits it wasn't easy making the transition from a big city to a rural area to work fulltime.
While working in a rural area was not something he had contemplated prior to the IPE, the experience changed his mind.
“It's cool here, all the staff make it and David's a great boss.”
It is easy to get to know the other health professionals in the community, Aaron says, and he regularly liaises with local GPs about patients' medication.

Pharmacist David Moore has been hosting students since the programme began and believes it is a positive experience for both students and the pharmacy.

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Gisborne pharmacist Aaron Lim carried out health checks on a local marae as part of his interprofessional rural education training experience.

Article written by Liane Topham-Kindley for Pharmacy Today, December 2016

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