Jamil Karaki - Pharmacist | University Teacher | TikTok Content Creator

Jamil Karaki, a Locum Pharmacist deeply rooted in the world of retail pharmacy and education. Jamil wears multiple hats, not only as a dedicated educator in the pharmacy program at the University of New South Wales but also as a dynamic content creator on TikTok, where he imparts invaluable health tips and tricks to the public as @megamindpharmacist.

Jamil's pharmacy odyssey began during his student years when he ventured into retail pharmacy, swiftly climbing the ladder to manage large pharmacies and lead teams of up to 47 staff members by the young age of 27. Along this journey, he started sharing his wealth of knowledge through what he termed 'Megamind sessions' - educational forums where he enlightened fellow pharmacy professionals and students about common ailments and their treatments.

These sessions served as the foundation for Jamil's rapidly growing social media presence, amassing nearly 60,000 followers and counting. But Jamil's passion for teaching didn't stop there. Upon joining the pharmacy course at UNSW, he collaborated with Dr. Ramesh Walpola to teach the double-degree pharmacy course. This opportunity allowed Jamil to nurture his newfound passion for guiding the future generation of pharmacists, ensuring they grasp and excel in the intricacies of the profession.

Yet, Jamil's ambitions reach even further. He aspires to become a pharmacy owner, with a vision to revolutionise the pharmacy experience for the public in an unprecedented and innovative manner. Join us as we explore Jamil Karaki's incredible journey, filled with dedication, education, and the relentless pursuit of transforming the world of pharmacy.

You can find Jamil Karaki on LinkedIn, TikTok or Instagram.

Do you have questions about your pharmacy career? Then contact us or meet our team.

Transcript

0:01

Welcome to Your Pharmacy Career podcast

0:03

proudly brought to you by Raven's

0:05

Recruitment Australia's leading

0:07

specialist Pharmacy recruitment agency

0:09

the podcast series is being created to

0:11

shine a light on the diverse and

0:13

inspiring careers of Australia's

0:14

pharmacists each episode will focus on

0:17

the varied career opportunities within

0:18

the pharmacy industry by exploring the

0:21

career paths taken by leaders in the

0:22

fields of Community Pharmacy Hospital

0:25

industry government and professional

0:28

organizations careers never follow a

0:30

defined path everyone's story is

0:32

different and unique in their own way

0:34

the podcast series will help you

0:36

discover the world of opportunities that

0:37

exist and reveal Pathways to achieve

0:40

your dreams and aspirations whether you

0:43

are a pharmacy student early career

0:45

pharmacist or simply looking for a

0:47

change at any stage of your career the

0:49

podcast series is designed to help you

0:51

navigate ways into a career and a life

0:53

that you love your host of the podcast

0:55

series is Allie Xu Allie herself a

0:58

pharmacist is now the founder of of

1:00

global Pharmacy entrepreneurs and a

1:02

passionate advocate for pharmacist to

1:03

grow innovate Excel and make a lasting

1:06

impact in the world it's now over to our

1:09

host Ali

1:10

Sue welcome to another episode of your

1:13

Pharmacy career podcast the ultimate

1:15

resource for aspiring and early career

1:18

pharmacist I'm your host Ali Sue and I'm

1:21

here to guide you through the dynamic

1:23

world of Pharmacy one episode at a time

1:27

before we dive into today's exciting

1:29

discussion Raven's Your Pharmacy Career

1:31

podcast would like to acknowledge and

1:33

pay respect to the traditional

1:35

custodians of Australia their profound

1:38

connections to the land sea and

1:41

Community as well as their Elders both

1:44

past and present we extend this respect

1:48

to all original and test State Islander

1:51

peoples

1:52

today today our guest is Jamal Karaki a

1:56

locan pharmacist deeply rooted in the

1:58

world of retail Y and

2:01

education Jamal wears multiple hats not

2:04

only as a dedicated educator in the

2:07

pharmacy program at the University of

2:09

New South Wales but also as Dynamic

2:12

content creator on Tik Tok where he

2:15

imparts invaluable health tips and

2:18

tricks to the public Jamal's Pharmacy

2:21

Journey began during his student years

2:23

when he ventured into Retail Pharmacy

2:26

climbing the ladder to manage large

2:28

pharmacies and Lead team teams of up to

2:30

47 staff members by the young age of 27

2:34

along this journey he started sharing

2:37

his wealth of knowledge through what he

2:39

termed mega mind sessions educational

2:43

forums where he enlightened fellow farmy

2:46

professionals and students about common

2:49

conditions and their

2:51

treatments these sessions served as the

2:53

foundation for Jamal's rapidly growing

2:56

social media presence a messing nearly

2:59

60,000 followers and counting but Jamal's

3:04

passion for teaching didn't stop there

3:07

upon joining the pharmacy course at

3:09

University of New South Wales he

3:11

collaborated with Dr rames W to teach

3:15

the double degree Pharmacy course this

3:18

opportunity allowed Jamal to nurture his

3:21

Newfound passion for guiding the future

3:24

generation of pharmacist ensuring they

3:27

grasp and Excel in the inter y of the

3:31

profession yet J's ambition reach even

3:34

further he aspires to become a pharmacy

3:37

owner with a vision to revolutionize the

3:41

pharmacy experience for the public in an

3:44

unprecedented and Innovative manner join

3:47

us as we explore Jamal's Incredible

3:50

Journey filled with dedication education

3:53

and the Relentless pursuit of

3:56

transforming the world of Pharmacy

3:59

without further ado let's welcome

4:01

J I'm very excited to have you on the

4:04

show J I've seen all your videos on

4:07

every all social media

4:08

platforms it's amazing so tell us about

4:11

how you got there and why did you start

4:13

this channel um and the way that I

4:15

actually got into it is that when I was

4:18

working with uh student pharmacists a

4:20

lot of them were lacking some clinical

4:22

knowledge although they were still

4:24

learning at University um I feel that

4:26

like University learning and in person

4:29

and practice learning is different uh

4:32

because you have a real case scenario at

4:34

hand and you also have the products that

4:36

you are then entrusted to recommend to

4:38

people and so uh what I started to do

4:41

was every week we'd all collectively my

4:43

students and I uh would collectively

4:45

choose a topic we're interested in

4:46

learning about something in the pharmacy

4:49

such as uh let's say dandruff or eczema

4:53

or Tina I'd prepare a basket of products

4:57

that help treat those conditions and I'd

5:00

first give them a background about the

5:01

condition uh what causes it how do we

5:04

identify it and diagnose it when to

5:07

refer to a doctor and then if we are

5:09

treating in the pharmacy what products

5:11

we can use what counseling we can advise

5:13

and so on because in person you don't

5:16

get to work with every student on

5:17

because that Pharmacy was open so many

5:19

hours I eventually took it and I made it

5:21

a zoom session uh a zoom session once a

5:24

week 8:00 p.m. on a Monday to be exact

5:27

when I'd finish work at 700 I'd get home

5:30

get ready and start the session and then

5:32

eventually uh it outgrew the store I was

5:35

working in at the time and uh students

5:37

from other stores in Chemist Warehouse

5:39

three stores students uh that would log

5:41

on on a Monday and actually listen in

5:44

and learn uh and then eventually I was

5:46

like well why not just take it to the

5:49

next step and start making videos on

5:51

social media so I took to Tik Tok and

5:54

Instagram Instagram less so but Tik Tok

5:57

more so uh and I found that many people

6:00

not only the pharmacy students and

6:02

pharmacists but also the general public

6:05

uh really took to the content and it

6:07

took off from there yeah it's such a

6:09

good idea have you had any thought what

6:11

if I make a mistake or any fear of being

6:14

called out by the people yeah look

6:17

always always when you're giving

6:19

information whether it being in the

6:21

pharmacy to one person or to um some of

6:24

my videos where I've reached five or six

6:27

million people in one video uh it's

6:29

always the same level of confidence that

6:32

I have in giving my recommendations and

6:34

my counseling so whether I'm counseling

6:36

my family member or a random person in

6:39

the pharmacy or the general public uh

6:41

it's always I'm always certain about

6:43

what I speak about so I do my own if I'm

6:46

ever unsure and I ever feel like you

6:48

said self-conscious about a particular

6:50

thing and I can't say that I'm I'm

6:53

certainly confident in recommending a

6:56

particular product or a particular

6:58

activity or a or you know like a

7:00

non-pharmacological treatment then I

7:03

will uh do my own research and make make

7:05

sure I have a list of references and

7:07

backups in case I do um ever get called

7:11

out or followed up on anything in

7:13

particular and if I am ever mistaken I'd

7:17

um I'd happily take it on the chin and

7:19

I'd uh apologize for making a mistake

7:22

and and move on from there have set a

7:25

great example for our Pharmacy students

7:27

and pharmacists really to feel confident

7:30

and to speak up openly not just to one

7:33

person but to everybody social media has

7:35

created that platform for us to amplify

7:38

our voice that's right Ali I think I

7:41

think that social media is definitely um

7:44

a key in getting out there in this day

7:47

and age and I think it's it's important

7:49

to move with the times and part of that

7:51

is to actually inform people what we're

7:54

all about and and the amount of

7:56

knowledge that that we do actually

7:58

possess and that we can share with

7:59

people and help them benefit from so um

8:02

you know we do it in in a pharmacy

8:04

setting and we don't charge anyone to

8:07

have a chat and come in and get some

8:09

advice and you know there's a lot of

8:10

people who call up a pharmacy and speak

8:12

to a pharmacist at any of their opening

8:14

hours and get some advice so likewise I

8:17

wanted to share um some advice to the

8:20

general public you know free of charge

8:22

just happy to help happy for them to

8:24

know that like what we're all about and

8:26

in this day and age we do seem to be

8:28

getting further and further apart from

8:31

each other in like a personto person

8:33

interaction and everything's going uh

8:35

digital and online and so I'd like to

8:38

instead of complain about it I'd like to

8:41

embrace it and do uh the best that we

8:44

can in in helping doing our part in the

8:47

community and our profession in a

8:50

different and more advanced way let's

8:52

say in a time where there's a lot of

8:54

uncertainty about the profession like

8:56

this morning I received an email from

8:57

ajp where there's an article arle saying

9:00

that there's a lot of people considering

9:02

leaving the profession but at the same

9:04

time I don't think it the future's ever

9:05

looked so bright for the profession like

9:08

we're delving in so many interesting

9:10

Fields such as pharmacist prescribing

9:13

given us a lot of responsibility um and

9:16

it shows the level of trust that not

9:18

only the community has in us but also

9:21

the governing bodies um and everyone

9:24

writing the laws so they they see us for

9:27

what talented Health Prof professionals

9:29

we are and therefore have have bestowed

9:32

us with extra responsibility um and

9:35

responsibility that we're very capable

9:37

of taking up so not only are we

9:39

vaccinating against many diseases and

9:42

we're also involved in very special

9:44

things such as Pharmacy Triple 7's um

9:47

Professional Services and then we're

9:49

just we're just being given more and

9:51

more responsibility because we're well

9:54

trained and professional and capable uh

9:57

healthc Care Professionals and so for uh

10:00

students who are unsure about the

10:02

pharmacy profession because there is a

10:04

lot of you know sometimes negative

10:06

negative talk going around uh I can tell

10:09

you that when I was going through

10:10

pharmacy school the pharmacists weren't

10:13

doing as much as we're doing now and the

10:14

beauty of that is that you have so many

10:17

specializations that you can take up and

10:20

if you don't like the idea of just

10:22

dispensing all day because I know some

10:24

friends that love dispensing that's

10:26

their passion they love dispensing they

10:28

love checking all the inter interactions

10:29

making sure everyone's getting the right

10:31

medication and so on um and then that's

10:34

their passion there's other pharmacists

10:36

that love to counsel so they like to

10:37

stand up for example scripts out or

10:40

engage in the counseling private

10:42

counseling area or room and have a chat

10:45

with with customers regularly and then

10:47

now there's more and more options that

10:49

are out there so you can be a

10:51

prescribing pharmacist you could be a

10:53

vaccinating pharmacist you could be a

10:55

hospital pharmacist an industrial the

10:57

options are almost endless

11:00

um and then there's also pharmacists who

11:01

specialize in complimentary medicin so

11:04

you could have a full schedule where you

11:07

just are a naturopath and you've clocked

11:09

off as a pharmacist and now you're a

11:11

naturopath but what a great Advantage

11:13

you have in knowing both the

11:15

pharmaceutical side and the natural and

11:18

complimentary medicines side so I think

11:20

it's looking more fruitful and and more

11:23

opportunistic than ever our career so

11:26

yeah it's it's amazing it's amazing to

11:28

see and I think I'm more excited now

11:30

than I've ever been about Pharmacy and

11:34

and yeah this this is really because I'm

11:36

looking to show everyone what we're all

11:38

about I'm learning more and more every

11:40

day uh what we're about so when you

11:43

teach I find that you learn a lot so um

11:46

that's definitely been amazing well next

11:48

I really want to dive into your Pharmacy

11:51

career and how did you get all these

11:53

time to travel around Australia and

11:55

interview all those people oh that's a

11:57

great question Ali so so I studied at

12:00

the University of Sydney and that was a

12:03

very oncampus experience so I was there

12:05

four to 5 days a week for the four years

12:08

uh and while I was there I was advised

12:11

by my tutors and lecturers to get a job

12:13

in Pharmacy because it helps it helps

12:16

you get that experience um in a clinical

12:19

setting which is um what I went out and

12:21

done and um I eventually uh got a job as

12:24

a pharmacy student in my second year of

12:26

Pharmacy with Chemist Warehouse and and

12:29

that was in Chemist Warehouse in

12:31

Campbell toown and that's where I worked

12:34

as a pharmacy student until I graduated

12:36

and then I did my internship there and

12:39

had the intern program that chemist W

12:41

also conducts I was part of that I

12:44

really enjoyed that a year later I

12:46

became a pharmacist and then a

12:47

pharmacist in charge after that that was

12:50

up until

12:52

2021 mid 2021 and then I was offered a

12:58

management role so as a pharmacy manager

13:00

and that was all the way in Castle Hill

13:03

although it was um far away uh from me

13:06

it was about a 50-minute drive if I'm

13:08

paying for tolls a little bit over an

13:10

hour if I'm not paying tolls I never shy

13:12

away from a challenge so even though I

13:14

had to travel an hour there and back I

13:16

was still I was still up for it and I

13:19

went ahead and took up that role it was

13:21

a great opportunity I learned a lot

13:23

about people management and um you know

13:26

conflict resolution and during the time

13:28

I learned a lot of about the retail side

13:30

of Pharmacy um which I did as I went

13:32

through my student years and intern year

13:35

and so on but more so when you're the

13:38

person in charge of the pharmacy of

13:39

every little aspect of it uh so that was

13:43

that was a very fruitful experience but

13:45

then uh mid 2022 which was just over a

13:49

year ago um I resigned from my position

13:51

as the pharmacy manager and I took up uh

13:54

loc work so I'm essentially a travel

13:57

pharmacist now and have been for the

13:59

last 13 months and it's been amazing to

14:03

be able to see the different aspects of

14:05

pharmacies and um different pharmacies

14:08

all over the country in different

14:10

settings because I've worked in remote

14:12

and rural areas I've worked into State

14:15

I've worked on the borders of states

14:17

which is really interesting because you

14:18

have one law on this side of the bridge

14:20

and then one law on the other side of

14:22

the bridge just when I was working on

14:24

the border of Victoria and New South

14:27

Wales so someone would come to me with a

14:28

script that's expired in New South Wales

14:31

but it's valid for another 6 months in

14:33

Victoria so I'm like look I know you're

14:35

from south south of the bridge so if you

14:38

just travel back over there you'd be

14:39

able to have this prescription dispensed

14:42

uh but uh not on this side of the Border

14:44

unfortunately so um there's there's

14:47

experiences and and um very rewarding

14:50

experiences at that because in

14:52

pharmacies in remote rural areas where

14:54

there's only one pharmacist uh that's

14:56

there six or seven days a week and

14:58

hasn't had a break for for two years uh

15:00

it's quite rewarding to be able to give

15:01

them that relief to take a couple weeks

15:03

off and spend some time with their

15:05

family or travel abroad um and one and

15:08

one other aspect that's amazing in the

15:11

travel in the travel uh world of

15:14

Pharmacy uh is that you actually get to

15:17

discover a lot of our beautiful country

15:19

that we live in so uh that's that's

15:22

definitely been an amazing part and I

15:24

did most of my work so far and I did

15:27

most of my travel uh in my car so I get

15:30

to actually experience the beautiful

15:33

Outback of Australia yeah and I get to

15:35

drive by and see you know all the Farms

15:37

we hear about and we and we actually get

15:40

get produce from uh you get to drive

15:43

past them the there's amazing like you

15:45

know there's famous wineries that you

15:47

drive past and you see and it's nice to

15:49

actually see um you know more of more of

15:52

the country country that we live in and

15:54

so how did I find the time you asked

15:57

some weeks I've worked six or days um

16:00

other times I've worked less days and

16:03

you always seem to find a bit of time

16:05

where you could you know sneak in about

16:07

a minute or so of video and um keep

16:11

people up to date with what you're doing

16:13

uh so I F I found that people are quite

16:16

interested in knowing what's going on or

16:18

where I am at that time and so I feel

16:20

like even though I may have had a big

16:22

day or a big week I do owe it to these

16:24

guys that like the content to uh keep

16:27

them updated with what I do so yeah I

16:30

feel like there's always time you have

16:31

to make time especially you have to edit

16:34

all your videos and that takes a lot of

16:36

time the editing uh sometimes take takes

16:40

longer than the the actual uh recording

16:42

so so yeah I I definitely agree with you

16:46

um and also there's more to it there's

16:49

more to it that meets the that meets the

16:51

eye um and sometimes actually there's

16:56

things that you do without editing that

16:57

actually are a lot better so even though

17:00

even though you spend you spend less

17:02

time less time working on things

17:04

sometime it's just like you know the

17:06

natural aspect of content delivery that

17:10

um gains gains a lot of

17:13

traction well you also do teach at

17:16

University yes tell us about that how

17:18

did you get into that role yeah so um

17:21

actually back when I was in uh

17:23

University of Sydney as a student um I

17:26

was taught by who's now Dr amesh

17:30

wola um so he was one of my tutors that

17:34

I enjoyed learning from and so uh you

17:38

know many years down the track I was

17:41

scrolling through and seeing what's

17:43

going on in the pharmacy world and I

17:44

heard that there's a new Pharmacy course

17:47

at the University of New South Wales and

17:48

I found that quite exciting and when I

17:50

read into it I saw that the that the

17:52

head of the pharmacy school would be

17:55

remes and so I still was in contact with

17:58

him after after University so I reached

18:00

out to him and and congratulated him on

18:02

his on his role as the U the lead of the

18:06

of the course and um you know we we

18:09

caught up over coffee and he offered

18:11

like essentially a job uh to me to help

18:14

in the content development of the course

18:17

and also the delivery of some of the

18:19

content uh in the course and I couldn't

18:23

I couldn't resist and I couldn't refuse

18:24

the offer uh because I do have a passion

18:27

for teaching which is what do um online

18:30

and in person to almost every patient

18:33

that comes into the pharmacy so I think

18:35

it carries over into that side of things

18:38

but um it was definitely something that

18:41

would be new to me and once again a good

18:44

challenge um and so I accepted it and

18:47

welcomed it with open arms and I'm very

18:49

grateful for the opportunity and I've

18:52

loved every step of it since well yes so

18:56

I think all the students are very lucky

18:57

to have you oh thank you I feel very

19:00

lucky to be able to teach them just

19:02

curious when you are talking to the

19:05

screen was that awkward at the start

19:07

yeah yeah look at the beginning at the

19:10

beginning it wasn't as natural as it is

19:12

now and um and you're always so critical

19:16

because even when you first hear your

19:18

voice on recording as everyone knows you

19:20

feel like maybe now for example you're

19:23

much more comfortable in hearing your

19:25

voice uh in recordings than before when

19:28

you first first started this podcast for

19:30

example so I think when you're doing

19:32

videos uh it's not only your voice but

19:35

it's also like you're looking at the way

19:36

you look or is my hair right do I look

19:38

funny here do I look like I've had

19:40

enough sleep am I speaking correctly

19:43

does it seem natur you're asking

19:44

yourself all these things definitely not

19:46

as free flowing as it is now but it's I

19:50

think the main the main key is to is to

19:52

remember that in the pharmacy you are

19:56

liked and you're Revisited for you being

19:59

natural and you know comfortable and you

20:03

you just being you and so it's important

20:07

to remember that that's what brings

20:10

authenticity when you're talking to the

20:12

camera and uh people receive you right

20:15

up front just as if you're in person and

20:17

so uh just to consider that is an

20:20

important factor and once you get to

20:22

know that uh you become a lot more

20:24

comfortable in front of the camera and

20:27

looking at yourself and recording

20:29

yourself and so on even though the first

20:31

step is hard but you know once overcome

20:34

this hurdle this self judgment phase

20:37

then everything will be smooth selling

20:39

you don't even look at yourself the way

20:41

you you know Jud exactly right because

20:44

you're always thinking oh what are

20:45

people going to think whatever I'm going

20:47

to think about what I said there or how

20:50

I spoke it but that's that's natural so

20:53

that's what like if I ever invite one of

20:55

my friends like come come do a come do a

20:58

video with me me I think that you have

21:00

something great to teach you know and

21:02

they're like there's no way I'm getting

21:04

behind the camera and uploading it onto

21:06

Tik Tok and I'm like oh I guess like

21:08

that's how I felt to an extent at the

21:10

beginning but then once again I had to

21:12

overcome like you said I had to overcome

21:15

that hurdle to be able to effectively

21:18

communicate and and reach the dream that

21:21

I dreamed of in having like a large

21:23

platform where I can communicate with so

21:25

many people um on the internet so

21:29

um for it's not for everyone um and i'

21:32

never thought it would be for me but I

21:35

was willing to give it a crack so I

21:37

think that's that's the most important

21:39

thing willing to give it crack and start

21:42

yeah exactly it's like when your ask to

21:44

give your first vaccination it's like oh

21:46

no I can't I can't inject somebody with

21:49

a needle but then all of a sudden you're

21:51

doing 4550 vaccines in a day with

21:54

comfort and ease and it's just about

21:57

that taking that leap of faith and uh

22:00

yeah and getting it done yeah yeah love

22:02

it thank you for listening to this

22:04

episode of the Your Pharmacy Career

22:06

podcast proudly brought to you by Raven's

22:08

Recruitment Australia's leading

22:10

specialist Pharmacy recruitment agency

22:13

if you enjoyed this episode and know

22:15

anyone else who you think would benefit

22:16

from it we would be grateful if you

22:18

could share it with them together we

22:20

help even more pharmacists develop a

22:22

career and life they love if you have

22:24

any questions or suggestions about

22:26

future podcast episodes please reach

22:28

reach out to us via email info@ravensrecruitment.com.au