Check yourself before you wreck yourself

I have challenged myself to be bolder recently and have followed through by being more open with sharing my thoughts and ideas through my writing. And I'm happy that I've done this. Already, it's opened up some new opportunities and connections that didn't exist a week ago. That's a successful outcome in my book.

One of the challenges when you take a position on something is making sure you stay true to your values. To make a best effort that your being interpreted in the way you intend.

I think when you're at the polar ends of a topic this is pretty easy to communicate to others. But when you are more in the centre it is more challenging.

I have expressed strong opinions on the role of organisations, but I am not anti-establishment. The professional associations play an important role and I think that role should continue. But I think it's unreasonable to expect them to fix everything for the profession. I think that's up to individuals. I believe that outcomes can only be improved on broad scale through self-actualisation, by individuals realising their capability and challenging the status quo. Doing so isn't to threaten those associations, it's to strengthen them.

Yes, I think our profession is currently built on baseline competence. But it's within the reach of all pharmacists to choose quality over competence. The only limit on how many realise their capability are the limits the individual places on themselves. It's not limited by others. It's not limited by the associations. This is not about conspiracy theories and power differentials. This is about individuals owning up to their professional responsibility.