Varsha Mistry was born in Edgware, North West London, however she grew up in Lusaka, Zambia. She came back to the UK aged 15 and attended boarding school in Derbyshire. She then went on to study pharmacy at Aston University in Birmingham.
In 2016 she qualified as a pharmacist and has since worked in a number of community pharmacies of varying size. Currently she is working at a pharmacy that has nearly 10,000 registered patients and provides services such as the Drug User Service, Travel Health, Winter Flu Jab, Malaria Prevention, Emergency Hormonal Contraception, Medicines Use Reviews and New Medicines Service. During her time here she was also attending the University of Reading which enabled her to become an Independent prescriber in July. She aims to use this qualification to help improve patient's access to the healthcare they need.
1. Which place, or city or country do you most feel at home in?
London, as this is where the majority of my family and friends are - also you can never run out of places to eat, which is honestly my favourite thing to do!
2. What are your proudest achievements?
Any time that I have made a real difference for a patient; be it just explaining the importance of a medication and how to take it, to helping them when they feel like they have tried everything and everyone else.
3. What inspires you?
I genuinely get an immense amount of joy from helping people.
4. What has been biggest obstacle in your career?
Sometimes people do not take me seriously, as I look quite young some patients are initially hesitant to talk to me about their difficult situations. However, I feel like once they start talking to me, they are able to get over their initial concerns.
5. Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date?
My parents: they have always taught me to 'have a good heart’, so I definitely feel that my love of helping people stems from the values they instilled in me.
6. What is the best aspect about your current role?
In a community pharmacy you do build such a great relationship with your patients, it helps that we are so easy to access, this means they can come to us with a variety of different concerns. Each day is unique, and I love the community vibe we have.
7. And the worst?
Occasionally I do feel like patients do not understand the work that goes into getting their medication ready for collection on time. Feel like it is assumed to be an automatic process, but it really is not! This on top of the other services we offer can be challenging.
8. What are your long-term goals?
I would like to see pharmacy and pharmacists have more of a role in helping manage long-term conditions, this is already happening as more pharmacists are moving into working within GP surgeries, but I do feel like more can be done within community pharmacies.
9. If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change?
I would say health promotion is such an important topic and one that I feel is not taught enough to children and adults alike. So, I would implement a greater focus on this both in schools and in the community as prevention is better than cure.
10. If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why?
Albert Einstein. He seemed like such a unique character and would love to know what a conversation with a genius would be like. Plus, I feel like he'd be clever enough to figure out a way for us to make it off that island!
