Courtesy of Mark Borthwick
A consultant pharmacist has scooped the top prize in a writing competition for pharmacists run by The Pharmaceutical Journal.
Mark Borthwick, consultant pharmacist in critical care at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, won the Editor’s Prize for his 500-word take on the topic ‘Future Pharmacist’.
His entry entitled ‘2039: Pharmacy after the fall’ looks at how the profession may cope with a dystopian future following Brexit, trade wars and environmental disasters. It was praised during judging for being highly original, well-written and a creative way to address the chosen topic.
A special prize was also awarded to the best entry from a preregistration pharmacist or pharmacy student. Margret Naluyima, a final year pharmacy student at Kingston University London, wrote a thought-provoking piece about how pharmacy should develop over the next decade.
The Pharmaceutical Journal received more than 30 entries to the competition, which asked readers to write 500 words about the ‘Future Pharmacist’, with seven shortlisted for the top prize. Please click here to read a selection of the best entries.
‘Future Pharmacist’ writing competition finalists
Shortlisted entries:
- 2039:
Pharmacy after the fall— Mark Borthwick (overall winner) - Pouring a stiff drink for the last pharmacist— Stuart Anderson
- Medicines at a touch of a button— Parastou Donyai and James Hall
- Why we must say goodbye to ‘clinical’ pharmacists— Nahim Khan
- Lost in medicine: Mrs Brown’s story— Michele Rowland Jones
- Scorched Earth: after the medicines disappeared— Kartik Dravid
- Give pharmacists the freedom to build the future, now— Margret Naluyima (winner of prereg/student prize)
Best of the rest:
- A pharmacist calls— Gavin Birchall
- The most valued health professional in 2048— Steve Williams
- Ex Pharmacia: dispensing goes human-free— Ewan Maule
- No more white coats: pharmacists emerge from behind the counter— Samuel Taylor
- Pharmacy’s future is unknown, but I’m still optimistic— Trevor Lowe
