Cates Pharmacy plans to make it easier to drop off and pick up subscriptions, start monthly awareness programs and hand out free smoking-cessation aids without taking time away from the personal service its customers have come to expect and cherish. Some of those changes will be facilitated by the new pharmacist, Simin Mirpourzadeh.
Mirpourzadeh moved to Vancouver three years ago. She was participating in a project through her university in Sweden and worked at Saint Paul's Hospital at the laboratory to study the effects of drugs on cell structure. She said, "I was supposed to be here for six months but I fell in love with Canada. And, two months after I arrived, I met my fiancé."
It was through her fiancé, Arman Mirsaeidi, that Mirpourzadeh made the connection to Bowen Island as his mother, Shahzad Mirsaeidi, works at Cates Pharmacy. "Arman introduced me to his family and Shahzad convinced me to get my Canadian pharmacy license," Mirpourzadeh said. She went back to Sweden to start the year-long-course to get her Canadian license. When she was granted a work visa, she returned to Canada and started working as a technician at Cates Pharmacy. "I wanted to see how it was to work in a pharmacy in Canada." Two months ago, Mirpourzadeh received her permanent resident card and started working full time.
"I am still commuting but my fiancé and I are looking for a house on Bowen," Mirpourzadeh says. She likes many aspects of working in a small community. "When I worked in a pharmacy in Stockholm, people came and went and I never saw them again," she said. "Here, I can get to know the people and develop relationships. And I can follow up with patients. I know what medications they are on and if they had it before. It makes the job more fun because I can see results."
Mirpourzadeh explains that she has a friend who works in Vancouver who only prepares medications and then passes them on to technicians she doesn't get to be face to face with a patient unless there are special concerns. "Here, we can spend time talking to the patients about medication," she said.
Having another pharmacist will open the door to new initiatives at Cates Pharmacy. "We are talking about having different topics every month," Mirpourzadeh said. "For instance, we'd like to have a travel clinic and develop awareness programs. We are going to read up on the different topics and give people answers. We are also going to create posters."
"We've been doing the flu shot clinic and we'll continue with that," Mirpourzadeh said. "It was a great success and we had more patients than we expected." Cates Pharmacy administered over 200 flu shots. It had originally ordered only 50 doses.
"We are also trying to make it easier for people to drop off prescriptions," Mirpourzadeh said. "If people need to go into town, they will be able to drop off the prescriptions in a mail box outside the pharmacy or they can email them to [email protected]. Then they can pick it up on their way back. We want people to know that we are a full service pharmacy right here on Bowen Island."
Mirpourzadeh also mentioned an opportunity for smokers who are trying to quit. "The provincial government is providing a small smoking cessation program where patients can register and get a code. Then they are eligible for free nicotine replacement therapy. They can choose between patches and gum," Mirpourzadeh said. She added that other smoking cessation drugs will be covered by selected insurance providers. Participants have to register with HealthLink B.C. to be eligible for 12 consecutive weeks of nicotine replacement therapy annually. "We had a few people come in but a lot don't know about the program," Mirpourzadeh said. "People should get more motivated to quit smoking."
Mirpourzadeh wanted to extend a thank you to Bud Massender, Shahzad Mirsaeidi and the rest of the staff for welcoming her to Bowen Island. She added, "Thank you to all of our customers. I love Bowen Islanders."
