Iraq Doali - On taking chances, going viral by accident, and building Clutchest Pharmacist

Sit down with Iraq Doali - Sydney community and locum pharmacist, and creator of pharmacy education platform Clutchest Pharmacist - to explore the unexpected decisions, opportunities and curiosity that have shaped his pharmacy career.

Iraq’s journey hasn’t followed a carefully mapped-out plan. After missing out on medicine, he discovered pharmacy on the final day of UAC applications. Later, determined to break into hospital pharmacy, he took a COVID screening role just to get his foot in the door. And one spontaneous video about eye drops eventually grew into an education platform reaching thousands.

💡 In this episode:

• Why you don’t need to have your entire career mapped out
• How an “unglamorous” opportunity can open unexpected doors
• What Iraq learned from working across community and hospital pharmacy
• How curiosity led to the creation of Clutchest Pharmacist
• Why he decided to trial locum pharmacy rather than wonder “what if?”
• The value of giving new opportunities a genuine go before deciding they’re not for you

“I hate looking back at something and thinking I didn't actually try it, so I don't know how it actually was.”

For pharmacists weighing up their next move, Iraq’s story is a reminder that sometimes clarity comes from taking action, not waiting until you have everything figured out.

You can find Iraq Doali on LinkedIn.

About Your Pharmacy Career Podcast

Welcome to Your Pharmacy Career Podcast, proudly produced by Raven’s Recruitment - the experts in pharmacy career and locum services for over 30 years!

Hosted by Pharmacist, Krysti-Lee Patterson, every episode is your gateway to new opportunities in the pharmacy profession. From expert advice to inspiring success stories, we’re here to spark ideas, guide your career, and help you achieve your goals. Whether you're a student, an early-career pharmacist, or a seasoned professional, this podcast is designed to keep you informed and inspired.

Proudly brought to you by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. The PSA is committed to empowering pharmacists through advocacy, innovation, and industry-leading professional development. To become a member or learn more about how the PSA can support your career, visit www.psa.org.au.

Pharmacy Daily is a proud supporter of Your Pharmacy Career Podcast. If you're in the pharmacy world, it's a great resource to stay up to date with the latest industry news. To subscribe, just head to pharmacydaily.com.au to get the newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

Narrator
Welcome to Your Pharmacy Career Podcast, proudly produced by Raven’s Recruitment, the experts in pharmacy career and locum services for over 30 years.

Every episode is your gateway to new opportunities in the pharmacy profession.
From expert advice to inspiring success stories, we’re here to spark ideas, guide your career and help you achieve your goals.

Stay tuned.

The next step in your pharmacy journey starts here.

Krysti-Lee (00:19.068)
Welcome back to Your Pharmacy Career Podcast. I am your host, Krysti-Lee Patterson, and today my guest is Iraq, a locum pharmacist based in Sydney and the man behind Clutchest Pharmacist, where he's been educating and entertaining pharmacists like me online. So thank you, Iraq, for joining us today on the podcast.

Iraq (00:44.256)
It's a pleasure. Thanks for the invite. Yeah, happy to be here and can't wait to unravel a lot of things on this podcast.

Krysti-Lee (00:51.206)
Perfect. So Iraq, when I get people on the show, I usually ask them what drew them to pharmacy and whether pharmacy was always the plan. So tell us a little bit about how you got into becoming a pharmacist.

Iraq (01:05.086)
Yeah, this one's actually very interesting. So in Year 12, I actually didn't know what I wanted to do. I just knew that I had a passion towards medicine or the health field. I just wanted to educate people, I guess, as a whole. I found it really enjoyable to teach people about science, you know, bacteria, etcetera. So I knew it had to do with the medical field.

Look, I'm not going to lie, I did try to get into medicine. I just didn't make the cut. And then, out of nowhere, it was like midnight, 12 a.m. A random colleague from high school messaged me on Snapchat. Long story short, I asked, "What are you doing for university?" And she told me she's doing pharmacy.

So I'm like, "How come I never actually considered that?" And then I'm like, "Well, what's the cut-off for pharmacy?" And then she told me the cut-off, etcetera. And this was actually the last day for the UAC entries for pharmacy.

Krysti-Lee (01:54.445)
Wow.

Iraq (02:03.213)
Yeah, I know, literally. So I'm like, "Oh my God." I was actually going to do medical science and I didn't really know what I wanted to do. But then when she told me that, I straightaway applied and thankfully I got an entry for the University of Sydney, and then the rest is history, literally.

Krysti-Lee (02:11.482)
Yeah, wow. Well, whether you call it divine intervention or something like that, that obviously was meant to be.

Iraq (02:19.529)
One thousand per cent. I don't even know how the cards all aligned together. But looking back at it now, I'm just like, thank God for that friend randomly messaging me at midnight.

Krysti-Lee (02:29.614)
Yeah, wow, that's crazy. But yeah, I was also similar. I wanted to do medicine, didn't quite make the cut too, so I did biomedical science before going into pharmacy. So I can definitely relate to that sort of journey.

And so, once you finished your degree, you went straight into a hospital internship, is that right?

Iraq (02:41.313)
Yeah.

Iraq (02:52.267)
That's right, yeah, I did. So I applied for it and then luckily I got in, but the actual interview process and the whole process itself was extremely competitive. But yeah, I did go into hospital.

Krysti-Lee (03:04.264)
So why did you want to go into hospital for your internship? Did it seem more prestigious, or did you just want to apply and see if you could get it?

Iraq (03:15.255)
To be honest, there was just a lot of hype around it, right? Throughout pharmacy, I didn't really know much about hospital. I only knew community pharmacy. I didn't think there were many options apart from just being a pharmacist out there in community, just in those random little community pharmacies where you give your prescriptions and then they dispense, etcetera. That's what I literally thought pharmacy was.

And then later, during like third year, I found out that, hey, by the way, there's another option in pharmacy. You can actually do hospital pharmacy.

Krysti-Lee (03:19.814)
Mm.

Iraq (03:45.090)
I'm like, "Okay, what's that about?" And then that's when I started to hear all the hype around that. Everyone was just hyping it up. It's the prestigious thing. It's the best thing to actually get into. And of course, once I heard it's the best thing to get into, I'm like, "Oh my God, surely I have to try it."

And then from there onwards, I started seeking to get into hospital. That's when I applied and then I got a role as a COVID screener. You know, back when COVID was a massive thing.

Krysti-Lee (03:53.874)
Mm-hmm.

Krysti-Lee (04:10.494)
Yes.

Iraq (04:14.805)
So I was literally a security guard doing COVID screening in the acute adolescent ward at Westmead Hospital. I know it's not pharmacy-related at all, but I heard from people that once you get your foot in the door, that's when it makes it a bit easier to actually get into hospital.

So I sort of used that to my advantage. And then later there was an opportunity at RPA as a pharmacy student. And because of my experience, etcetera, I actually got the job. So then, when I became a student, I saw what hospital pharmacists actually do.

Krysti-Lee (04:21.224)
Mm.

Krysti-Lee (04:26.950)
Mm.

Iraq (04:43.061)
And it sort of intrigued me because it's much more clinical in terms of utilising the skill sets I used at uni at the hospital rather than in community.

Krysti-Lee (04:51.728)
Mm.

Yeah, no, that makes sense. And that's a good idea, getting that job during COVID doing the security guard-style screening. A bit random, but hey, you know what? Foot in the door. You're exactly 100 per cent right.

Iraq (05:08.469)
I had to, I had to, because it was just so competitive. A lot of people were telling me from previous years that 200-plus people would apply and only around 15 people would get an interview, and they would only choose two to three people. It just seemed really competitive. I'm like, if I don't become a student, my chances are going to be very, very low.

Krysti-Lee (05:29.820)
Yeah. Well, well done for doing what it took to get noticed.

Iraq (05:33.901)
Yeah, thank you, thank you. So I sort of cheated the system, but look, it worked in my favour.

Krysti-Lee (05:40.763)
They say, "Don't hate the player, hate the game," right? And so after you did your internship, did you stick around in hospital or did you transition back to community? What happened after that?

Iraq (05:42.685)
Yeah, exactly.

Iraq (05:58.028)
So I did a one-year internship at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, but I didn't actually stick around. And the reason was, throughout my hospital internship, it's a great environment, very good clinically. I had so much fun and every single day was sort of a new day.

I didn't really know what was actually going to come to me. I didn't know what kind of patients were going to come to me, what kind of doctors or nurses were going to ask me questions that required me to think on the spot. So every day was a bit different.

But then the issue that I realised with hospital pharmacy is, career-wise, it just didn't match the lifestyle I wanted. So the lifestyle I wanted was flexibility, freedom, and then later on retirement, etcetera. But with hospital pharmacy, you sort of got to a point and then that point was capped. So I think, from my knowledge, it was just Director of Pharmacy. That's the highest position you can get.

Krysti-Lee (06:38.376)
Mm.

Krysti-Lee (06:51.761)
Mm-hmm.

Iraq (06:56.865)
And then even then, it was just capped at a certain salary class. In my opinion, I'm just like, well, if I'm going to be working that hard to climb through the ranks, because climbing through the ranks is actually hard as well, it's not an easy thing, once you get to that point, you're capped there. That's pretty much it.

And I just didn't like how it was capped there. So then I saw that there's more flexibility with community pharmacy, if you can actually become a pharmacy owner, etcetera.

Krysti-Lee (07:00.894)
Mm-hmm.

Krysti-Lee (07:08.734)
Mm.

Iraq (07:24.407)
That can actually help you with retirement later down the track, whereas in hospital you have to actually stay working there.

Krysti-Lee (07:24.594)
Mm-hmm.

Krysti-Lee (07:30.876)
Yeah, that's really interesting, that for someone technically so early in their pharmacy journey, you were starting to think about retirement and setting yourself up. I'm sure a lot of people are probably not worrying about that, but they probably should.

Iraq (07:40.071)
Ha ha ha.

Iraq (07:47.468)
Yeah, yeah. Look, I'm not going to say I was trying to be a millionaire or anything, but I was just like, "Well, what do I need to do to fast-track my career? Is this something I should actually waste five more years just to explore what it is, or should I find out as much as I can?"

And that's what I did during internship, right? I actually found out as much as I could. If you asked me initially before internship, "Would I stay in hospital?" I probably thought yes. I initially thought, you know, I liked the job. It was really clinically rewarding, challenged me every day, and that's what I like. That's what I strive towards anyway, is the challenges.

Krysti-Lee (07:51.102)
Yes.

Krysti-Lee (08:24.198)
Yeah, absolutely. Well, that's right. I think when you're early in your pharmacy career, that's when you have the ability and, as you say, freedom to try new things and get out and seek different adventures.

And so you started going back to community pharmacy working full-time, and then you moved into a management role quite quickly. Is that correct?

Iraq (08:34.741)
Mm.

Iraq (08:50.365)
Yeah, that's right. So after I left hospital, I got a pharmacist role, and then within maybe a week I became pharmacist in charge.

Krysti-Lee (09:00.007)
Wow, that's really fast.

Iraq (09:07.806)
Yeah, yeah. It was insanely fast. I'm not going to say it was just, you know, I was that good. No. But an opportunity came about and the owner had two pharmacies. One of the pharmacies wasn't really managed by anyone.

So I had the opportunity to actually go and become pharmacist in charge straightaway. Then I had a technician with me, or an assistant more so. So I was basically doing things that you don't usually do first week in. I just had a bunch of responsibilities and I had to adapt so quickly to that.

So then, yeah, I actually started to become pharmacist in charge. Technically, I guess there are no quotations, but it should have been pharmacist manager because I was in charge of rostering for that store as well.

Krysti-Lee (09:33.918)
Mm.

Krysti-Lee (09:45.438)
Mm.

Krysti-Lee (09:49.629)
Mm-hmm.

Iraq (09:49.714)
But yeah, no, it was actually crazy. So different to hospital pharmacy. And then within, I think, one year, that's when I transitioned to become a pharmacist manager at another store.

Krysti-Lee (10:02.948)
Yeah. And so, for those who are listening, what is actually the difference between pharmacist in charge and pharmacist manager? You hear both terms thrown around. Sometimes people associate pharmacist in charge with you're just the sole pharmacist, without the management responsibilities, but you've done both. How do you differentiate the two?

Iraq (10:27.905)
Yeah, yeah, right. It depends on how many people are working in that store. So pharmacist in charge could actually mean pharmacist in charge because you're the only pharmacist there. Technically speaking, you are in charge because anything that happens that day, you're the superior.

I guess the role sort of changes when there's a retail manager, because I guess you guys will share the role. So you will look after the dispensary, whereas the retail manager will look after the front of shop.

Krysti-Lee (10:37.822)
Mm.

Iraq (10:57.195)
Whereas pharmacist manager, not only do you oversee the store, but you're actually managing staff as well. I guess both of them have similar attributes. So pharmacist in charge will still tell technicians, assistants that, "Hey, I need this to be done, I need this to be done," communicated from the pharmacy owner, etcetera.

Whereas a pharmacist manager also, the majority of the time, looks after the rostering as well. So they're overseeing rostering, annual leave, accepting shift changes. If something happens throughout the day, they need to communicate that with the next person up.

So I guess there's more responsibility with a pharmacist manager. Apart from rostering itself, honestly, I feel like they're extremely similar, at least from when I was a pharmacist in charge versus pharmacist manager.

It's just, I guess, the rostering and the burden of staff calling in sick, etcetera. You're going to have to deal with it last second, you're going to have to make phone calls. So I guess that just added on a bit more stress in that regard, literally.

Krysti-Lee (11:57.000)
Mm.

Krysti-Lee (12:08.123)
Yeah.

Krysti-Lee (12:13.502)
Yes. Yep. And so during your time as a manager and in a leadership position so early on in your career as well, is there a moment in time that you can remember that really tested you or really taught you something?

Or was there something that you remember from that time and think, "Wow, okay, maybe I didn't handle it that well, but it's a learning experience," that you want to share?

Iraq (12:46.301)
Yeah, yeah. Funny that you say that. My whole personality as a whole is just, I'm sort of friendly, bubbly, and I go with the flow. So anyone I work with, I sort of get along with them, right?

The issue here is, when I became the pharmacist manager, sometimes I had to dull myself down a bit, and it's really hard for me to actually try to get things done. You know, try to say things in a nice way to some people, but then obviously they might not take it in the same way as if someone actually said it in a stricter tone, or more like not actually a question. It's more like a statement: "I need this to be done."

That's not who I am as a person. So I guess that challenged me as a whole because then I had to be a bit meaner in that regard. But I tried to crack jokes every now and then, just show people, look, I'm friendly, blah, blah, blah.

So that was really challenging. And the second challenging thing was requiring me to be on my feet. So if something happens with the staff, someone comes to me and is like, "I've got a headache," you know, "I'm feeling down," or something's happening, what do I actually have to do in this position right now?

Someone doesn't want to work and I need that person to work. How do I actually balance out the wellbeing of that person versus understaffing, etcetera?

It was a bit challenging, especially last-minute call-ins sick, like within the last hour. My shift starts at 9 a.m. I've got someone that's opening with me at 8 telling me, "I'm sick and I can't make it today." I'm just like, "Great."

And it was really challenging because I didn't have every single person's number and, because I was new to it, I didn't really know what the procedure was like.

Krysti-Lee (14:23.993)
Mm.

Krysti-Lee (14:35.112)
Mm.

Iraq (14:36.479)
So it was a bit challenging in that regard. It required me to start having Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, in case any of those plans fail, so I know what to do.

And I guess now it's shaped me a lot, where I have a lot of people who are accessible to me, whether it's pharmacy staff members, assistants, technicians, pharmacists themselves. I can actually message people if I need something. But I wouldn't have imagined I would have been able to actually do that if you'd asked me at the start of my pharmacist manager role.

Krysti-Lee (14:53.406)
Mm.

Krysti-Lee (15:09.138)
Well, you don't know what you don't know, right? And so until you kind of find all those little pieces, how can you plan for that if you don't know what's coming for you, right?

Iraq (15:20.033)
That's the worst part, literally. You're just going with the flow, and anything bad that happens along the way, that's just, I guess, a stepping stone and a learning experience for you. And you're like, "Okay, well, if that happens again, I know what to do."

But it's just like you've got to wait for something to actually happen in order for you to do something. That's the annoying part.

Krysti-Lee (15:37.407)
That's right. I've definitely been there as well. So I think every pharmacist has stories like that. But pharmacy can also be really good as well.

And just from chatting to you and then also seeing you on social media and things like that, I feel you must be pretty passionate about the industry for you to actually want to do something different.

Iraq (15:44.205)
Such a nightmare.

Krysti-Lee (16:05.864)
When did you first decide, I guess, to start creating content? Is it something that you just started doing with no real intention, or did you think, "Okay, I want to become a content creator"? Talk us through that journey of putting that first post up, I guess.

Iraq (16:25.099)
Yeah, yeah, right. Look, initially I first jumped on TikTok, right? Initially, when I jumped on, I wasn't jumping on from a pharmacy point of view. I was just doing it for the lols, just the memes of it.

So randomly I'll see videos that are funny, then I actually just jumped in and did some funny videos, nothing to do with pharmacy, just for my friends, etcetera. You know, we all had each other and we laughed.

Krysti-Lee (16:43.880)
Mm-hmm.

Iraq (16:54.911)
And then what happened is, after I became a pharmacist — when did it come? After becoming a pharmacist by a couple of months — I made a random video about eye drops. I don't know why I did that. It was actually so random.

But I think my intention behind it was, there was a patient who came in. She wasn't regular at our store. She was somewhat elderly. I think she was in her 70s or 80s.

Krysti-Lee (17:08.496)
Mm-hmm.

Iraq (17:23.639)
She came in and she was getting her regular repeat eye drops for glaucoma, and she'd been using them for 10-plus years.

And then I just did my thing as I'm counselling. I hate telling people, "Yeah, it's an eye drop, take one drop three times a day," if it's a regular repeat, because they're probably like, "I already know this information, you're not telling me anything new."

So as I was handing it out, I'm like, "Yep, and you probably already know this, when you're using your eye drops, after you put the drop in, you block the corner of your eye for one minute with pressure."

And it looked like I'm giving it in a rush type of thing. And then that's when she paused me and she's like, "Sorry, what do you mean?"

And then that's when I caught her off guard. So then I could actually explain it for 10 seconds instead of explaining it for two seconds. And then I went through the whole thing and told her about applying pressure at the inner corner of the eye, etcetera.

And that's when she's like, "No one's ever taught me this. I've been on these drops for 10 years and not one single person has ever told me this."

And then that's when I was baffled. I'm like, that's actually crazy. And that was, I guess, my first experience as a pharmacist where I had real-life experience of a repeat prescription, someone using something for so long and still being able to be educated about something like this.

And then that's when I'm like, well, if she didn't know about it and she's been on it for 10 years, what if there are other people that don't know about eye drops and they've been on them for a similar time period?

And then that's when I'm like, well, why not? Let's just do it. And then I just set the camera up and recorded.

And it blew up. My usual views from my funny videos and stuff, I wouldn't get a lot. I'd probably get like 150 just from my friends, literally. This one went up to like 3,000. And to me, 3,000 was crazy. Literally, I'm like, "Bro, 3,000 people just saw this."

And people commented as well, like, "Oh my God, I never knew this." And to me, when I saw that, it gave me guidance that maybe I can actually use this platform in that way.

Krysti-Lee (18:59.229)
Yeah.

Krysti-Lee (19:03.090)
That's a lot.

Iraq (19:19.423)
But it wasn't direct. It was just like, maybe I'd be open to making another video sometime down the track. And that's when it all started. So I guess it was probably in 2023.

Krysti-Lee (19:32.785)
Okay, so it's interesting then that that was when your first post from the pharmacy perspective came about, and you were talking about doing some funny TikTok videos and things like that.

I think everyone was doing that sort of post-COVID, right? There was nothing else to do.

Iraq (19:41.258)
Mm-mm.

Iraq (19:51.085)
Literally. It was so boring. You had to do something and we were trapped in our houses.

Krysti-Lee (19:57.655)
Yep. So I'm pretty sure I had a TikTok account as well, and my stepdaughter at the time made me do these stupid little dances and stuff like that. Don't worry, I deleted that account post-COVID. You can't find them.

But I guess now it's 2026. It's been three years since that original eye-drop video.

Iraq (20:07.228)
Oh no.

Iraq (20:10.925)
Okay, good. I was going to say I was going to stalk her right now.

Krysti-Lee (20:26.158)
And I guess sometimes, when people are looking at other people's accounts and they see that they've got all these followers and they're doing this stuff, it's like, "Wow, I want to be like that," and it's just going to happen overnight.

But this is three years in of doing this. So I guess from that eye-drop video to now, I'm assuming there's been a bit of a shift in the content that you're creating now. How did that journey come about?

Iraq (20:54.272)
Yeah.

So look, that's a great question and something I'm conflicting with myself about at this moment. My problem is I don't have a particular niche. I'm not targeting a specific audience group.

It's so weird. If you see my journey, initially it started with education, like, "I'm a pharmacist, let me educate people." And then from that point it changed, and that was just education in terms of anything.

Krysti-Lee (21:17.714)
Mm-hmm.

Iraq (21:25.761)
And then it changed to ADHD. So I started actually educating—

Krysti-Lee (21:25.918)
We're on. Okay.

Iraq (21:42.600)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, I know. So I guess how I changed these things was more so what's on my feed and what people actually want.

So when I randomly scroll, like everyone does, doomscrolling, right? I'll be randomly scrolling and then let's say I see a video about some random girl or guy online and they're just posting about, "Oh my God, I just got diagnosed with ADHD and I've got this, this, this."

And then when I see this video and I see that people in the comments are actually complaining of certain similar things, I'm just like, well, hold on, why don't I actually do a video on this and educate?

So then I switched my focus from just educating about anything to going into ADHD to actually help increase the information online about it, accessibility, etcetera.

So then I started making posts about ADHD, right? This was all on TikTok, not Instagram. I wasn't on Instagram before.

Then I made a video on ADHD. It blew up. I think one of the first videos I probably made was when there was a shortage on—yeah, there was an actual shortage at the end of 2024 on, I can't remember what it was. I think it was Vyvanse or—

Krysti-Lee (22:36.526)
Yes, that's right. Mm-hmm.

Krysti-Lee (22:45.670)
Yeah, I think Vyvanse was first and then Ritalin after that. I just feel like it's been ongoing.

Narrator
Pharmacy Daily is a proud supporter of Your Pharmacy Career Podcast. If you’re in the pharmacy world, it’s a great resource for staying up to date with the latest industry news. To subscribe, head to pharmacydaily.com.au to have the newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.

Iraq (22:50.347)
Yeah, yeah. It's been ongoing, right? So there was a shortage at that time period and I'm like, well, I'm working in a pharmacy and I know this.

My problem is, when patients come in and I tell them, "I'm so sorry, it's out of stock," they turn around, and I'm just giving people advice on what to do, etcetera.

So I'm like, well, instead of doing this seven times a day in the pharmacy, why don't I actually make a video?

So I actually made a video about what was out of stock and what ways to actually mitigate those outcomes. So, how do you actually work on it? Well, it's out of stock. What do I have to do? So I'm like, I'm just going to educate the people.

I posted it at nighttime, I think. It was afternoon, nighttime-ish. Anyway, I woke up the next morning, went to work, didn't check my phone, which is weird because I usually do check my phone, right?

I didn't check my phone. It was lunchtime, I got my lunch, started to eat. This was at work. So I started to eat and then I went on my phone, and on TikTok it was like 99-plus on the inbox icon.

I'm like, "That's weird. What's going on?"

I click on it and then it's just 99-plus followers, 99-plus comments, 99-plus notifications. I'm like, "What's going on?"

So I go on my video and I see that it actually had 60,000 views in the span of 16 hours. And it was just insane. I'm just like, "What's going on?" And I refresh my page and it's just another 80 people liked my video within the span of maybe 30 seconds.

Krysti-Lee (24:07.740)
Yeah, wow. That's huge.

Iraq (24:19.277)
And I'm like, "Oh my gosh." And then it turns out a lot of people had that similar experience. And they're like, "Oh my God, at least this helps me so I can actually prepare. My appointment with my psychiatrist is next week. My appointment is tomorrow. At least I can actually bring this up so I have an alternative in place."

So then from that point onwards, I started focusing a bit more on ADHD because people saw me talking about the shortages and then they commented, like, "I have this issue. How do I actually fix this?"

And then I'm like, well, you know what, let me just make this a series. I'm just going to pick and choose comments that I can help people answer.

And then I just started doing that.

Then from ADHD, it sort of went on to eczema. So I realised people had eczema issues as well, and they commented them. So I actually went into eczema. Then from eczema, I transitioned to a random pharmacy skit of some sort, so I made it funny.

Krysti-Lee (24:19.530)
Wow.

Krysti-Lee (24:47.649)
Mm.

Krysti-Lee (24:59.582)
Mm-hmm.

Krysti-Lee (25:11.847)
Yes.

Iraq (25:14.603)
And at the same time highlighted one of the issues that we had in pharmacy. And then from that point onwards, it just got a lot of traction.

So then I'm like, well, I'll just come back and forth every now and then. I'll do some education-type videos, then I'll do funny skit videos. Then I jumped on Instagram, and then it just went from there, yeah.

Krysti-Lee (25:37.445)
Yeah, wow, that's so interesting. But it's clever that, whether it was intentional or not, you were kind of picking the trends, just from what you saw people interacting with and needing information about, and going from there.

And clearly, I just find this so interesting hearing this from you because I've followed you on Instagram and I think the videos are hilarious, but they're also educational, right?

And so clearly from everything that you've chatted about so far, you've been wanting to educate the public in something. It's not just for the likes.

Iraq (26:16.841)
No, no. Education was literally my biggest thing. Even till today, I'm just like, well, I just want to educate people, but at the same time make it engaging.

I don't want to do this whole, "This is sertraline. It's an antidepressant medicine." Like, everyone knows that.

So it's just like, if I'm going to educate someone, I just don't want to be like the standard lecture-type video because, A, no one's going to watch that; B, it's boring; and C, I'm like, well, I don't think I'm going to get the excitement on just teaching someone else that sertraline is an antidepressant, in case no one knew this. You know what I mean?

Krysti-Lee (26:56.485)
Yes.

Krysti-Lee (27:00.638)
You're probably going to get depression from watching that video.

Iraq (27:03.665)
Probably, honestly. I wouldn't blame myself, literally. So I don't know, I just had to put a little twist on it. So yeah.

Krysti-Lee (27:12.218)
Yeah. No, I really like that. And it makes it memorable as well.

I remember when I was studying, I found this YouTube video and it was just these med students in America that made, I don't know, something about the top 50 drugs into a rap video. It was horrendous, but it was hilarious. And it actually helped me remember it.

And then when I was in my exam, I was thinking about the rap in my exam. So these sorts of things do help trigger your memory.

With the videos that you've put up, though, I guess putting yourself out there and you've got a good following, it's funny, but when I first started in pharmacy, which makes me feel like an old person, which I'm not, but I've been a pharmacist for 11 years now, I remember the advice given to me was, "Be careful what you post on social media. People are going to be looking you up before you get hired."

Is that something that you've been concerned about, or have you had any negativity from it? Or has it really mainly all just been positive?

Iraq (27:35.439)
Yeah.

Iraq (27:43.405)
Well, that's the thing, yeah.

Iraq (28:09.033)
Yeah.

Iraq (28:19.565)
Yeah.

Iraq (28:36.331)
Yeah, look, there are definitely pros and cons. The negativity behind it and what they said was absolutely right. People do look you up, and some people knew about my social media page beforehand.

There'll be places, because I'm a locum pharmacist right now, where some places will tell me beforehand, "If you don't mind, can you not record in the store?" etcetera. Which, there's no problem at all with that, for whatever reason. They can have any reason, or they just prefer not to be recorded in their store. That's completely fine, right?

Some places found out I recorded, and then obviously I let them know, like, "Yeah, by the way, are you okay with me posting this video?" etcetera. And if they say no, that's fine.

Has it stopped me from getting any job? To be honest, I've been getting more positives than negatives in the pharmacy field. So no one's actually told me, "You're not getting hired because you're posting videos," etcetera.

That's at least from what they've told me. So if someone actually doesn't accept it and they just haven't told me, then it is what it is, right? I'm never going to find out.

But look, it's been very positive. I guess when I go to conferences, it's really positive because people come to me who I don't know, but they are pharmacists, etcetera, and they're like, "I love your video. I love how you talk about this, this and this, because no one actually talks about what we deal with as pharmacists."

People actually share with me secrets. So they tell me things that deep down they've been holding. You know, it's like, "I've been frustrated about this, but I just feel like I can't talk to anyone. But because you talk about this issue, I can actually talk to you about it."

So they confide in me. They see me as like a friend. And to be honest, what am I going to do with this? Expose them online or something? I'm not. I'm pretty chill, I promise.

But yeah, look, there are people that don't like it. I've had some pharmacists actually message me and tell me, "Just be careful what you post. I know you're very excited with some of your videos, but it's just the energy that you bring, etcetera. People are going to relate that to pharmacists. Is that really the correct representation you want to show about pharmacists? Do you think maybe people would actually take your advice more if you started speaking a bit more respectfully?"

Very, very, very great point. It's absolutely a great point, and it's something that I do reflect about.

And do people like all my content? Absolutely not. I don't think it's possible for every single person to like something. There will always be that one person.

Like the other day, I made an education video on—sorry, I forgot to ask, do you practise in New South Wales?

Krysti-Lee (28:59.527)
Yes, yep.

Krysti-Lee (29:07.602)
Yeah.

Krysti-Lee (29:41.650)
Yeah. Yeah.

Krysti-Lee (30:31.212)
Ha ha ha.

Krysti-Lee (31:22.512)
Yes.

Krysti-Lee (31:33.523)
Yes.

Iraq (31:41.629)
Yeah, yeah, cool. So with prescriptions, the paper prescriptions, you know how in hospitals sometimes they put that MRN sticker on the prescription?

For Schedule 8 medicines—I mean, for all medications they don't accept it, but for Schedule 8 medications in particular—we had an incident where, when I didn't know about this anyway, I emailed the Ministry of Health on behalf of the pharmacy to tell them, "Yeah, you know, we still haven't received this prescription."

It was a faxed prescription and I'm like, I'm just legally notifying you, etcetera. And then they responded back to me saying, "You actually shouldn't even have dispensed that prescription in the first place because there's an actual sticker."

And I'm like, "Whoops." I actually didn't know about this. I can't remember if it was me or someone else that dispensed it. I just know that I was doing a favour for the pharmacy and I was actually just notifying them so that way it doesn't pile up and it gets audited somewhere down the track.

So when they informed me about that, I'm like, "Oh my God, I don't know if a lot of pharmacists actually know this. So I'm going to post a video like this."

And then someone in the comment section, a patient I'm presuming, said, "I used to like your videos until this one because you're just such a liar just to actually get views and likes. Because I went to my pharmacy with the same sticker on the prescription for Endone or something and they gave it to me."

And I'm just like, at this point, do I even tell them that unfortunately their pharmacist didn't know the legal requirements, etcetera?

So does everyone agree with my content? No. But do I make it a mission for anyone that disagrees with my content to at least provide them with the evidence and information as to where I found the information or how what I'm saying isn't actually a lie? Of course.

And I have this thing where I try to respond to all negative comments on my posts.

Krysti-Lee (31:54.380)
Mm.

Krysti-Lee (32:13.222)
Mm.

Krysti-Lee (32:58.416)
Yes.

Krysti-Lee (33:23.045)
Wow. Okay. Yeah, that's interesting.

Iraq (33:30.920)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I try to make it a mission, just in case, because some people use their personal experience and they might not like what you say only because they've had a negative experience with someone else.

So at that point I can't really tell them, "Stop being dramatic," etcetera. I'm not saying that. So then I have to obviously show empathy and then I just be like, "Look, what you went through is actually unfortunate, and of course that's something I wouldn't do, and I'm really sorry that you went through this."

And then I'll just start listing things, and then at the end of my list I'd probably be like, "I'm also sorry that you went through this. But yeah, if you ever want to talk to someone about this, please feel free to DM me if you're comfortable, of course."

Krysti-Lee (33:38.296)
Mm, mm.

Krysti-Lee (33:47.262)
Mm.

Krysti-Lee (34:08.166)
Hmm. I actually think that's really powerful. I don't know if I would want to do that myself personally, but it's giving people the opportunity to be heard as well.

I think, as you say, that negativity, whether it's online or even just when people are walking into your pharmacy, right, and they might be a bit cranky, a bit tight, you don't know what their experiences have been, what's been going on with them.

So it's giving them the opportunity to connect in that different way.

Iraq (34:15.222)
Yeah.

Iraq (34:43.095)
That's the problem with us, with pharmacists. Unfortunately, I know it's not the best-case scenario, but patients come to us when they're sick, when they're hurting. They're never actually coming to us when they're extremely happy because, at the end of the day, they're coming in for medication.

So whatever the reason is, we're not always going to be greeted with 100 per cent happiness before they even enter. So we've just got to keep that in mind, I guess, when practising. It's a bit hard, yeah.

Krysti-Lee (35:15.996)
Yeah, exactly. That's right.

One of the things that I like about your videos is that even though some of them are funny, they are also educating the public. So they might be funny for us pharmacists, like, "Oh my gosh, I can relate. That's happened to me like 10 times today already."

But I think the other great thing is that it's also educating patients and customers on maybe those misconceptions. Like there was one that you put up about having to ask their details and their date of birth, and why it takes so long for a script to be done. But that's all really important.

For you, what are probably some of the biggest misconceptions that patients have about what pharmacists can actually do for them?

Iraq (35:54.615)
Mm-hmm.

Iraq (36:09.313)
The biggest misconception is probably the same misconception every single pharmacist has in their head when patients actually walk in and they just think it's a label-the-box type thing.

You know, my doctor's already given me everything. The problem is, they see the prescription as a permission slip. You know, back in school when you went on an excursion and your parents signed the permission slip, they just see it like, "Okay, this is exactly what I want. Just give it to me and that's it."

So automatically, before they actually walk into the pharmacy, some patients actually park in a no-parking zone. It's not that there's an issue with the no-parking zone, but it's just the mentality. It's the mentality that, "I know what I'm getting. It's over here. It shouldn't be a rush because I see the box right over there. So I'm going to park here because I know I'm not going to take more than two minutes in that pharmacy."

They don't factor in so many different things that pharmacists can do.

And the thing is, the more they realise that pharmacists can rehash information your doctor missed or even clarify what your doctor said. Some people are actually sceptical about their medication. Even after the doctor prescribes it to them, they're not 100 per cent confident they want to take it.

Like the amount of people that actually come to the pharmacy and ask me, "Can I take—by the way, I'm just letting you know, I'm actually three months pregnant."

It's like, well, why are you telling me this information? Have you told your doctor about this?

And they're like, "Yes, I have. But I need a second opinion."

And that's what people forget. It's the second opinion that we can actually also provide. And it's for free. People don't pay for this. We've gone through a degree where we know so much.

Some people forget pharmacists can vaccinate. It's like, well, we can actually vaccinate for a lot of things if you're going overseas. So instead of booking an appointment and factoring in your time period next week, or three days before your trip, etcetera, this is something that a lot of pharmacies offer as walk-ins.

If they need to know, for example, a bit about their condition, guess what? A lot of pharmacists can actually educate you about the condition.

It doesn't have to be something we know off the top of our heads. If it's something that we require research for, that's fine. Give me 20 minutes. I'll do the research that I need and I can tell you.

If you want it from the comfort of your home, go home, give me your contact number, I can call you and we can have a consultation on the phone, and it's free.

And it's like a lot of these things aren't really offered from a doctor's point of view. And people actually forget that.

You have a free service. You've got a blood pressure machine in the store. Some stores offer glucose testing, blood glucose testing. If you don't know how to use your medication, side effects about your medications, or you need an alternative medication, people think the only person to talk to is the doctor.

They're actually wrong. You know, pharmacists have that skill set. And a lot of them are very eager to actually communicate with them. Like, how many times has someone actually come to you and told you, "I'm actually lost. I don't know what to do with this"?

Krysti-Lee (37:46.854)
Mm.

Krysti-Lee (38:37.958)
Mm.

Krysti-Lee (39:12.838)
Yeah, so many times. And usually it's just giving them the opportunity to actually be heard, like someone actually taking the time with them. Of course, you get those odd people that just want to get in and out, but yeah, that's fine. But most of the time, they just want someone to listen to them.

Iraq (39:24.557)
Mm.

Iraq (39:33.832)
And then that's literally it.

So my issue, and why I also started factoring this in through my videos, is a lot of the time I want people to know why pharmacists take long, in terms of dispensing, etcetera.

Yeah, look, if it's one script and you're the only patient in the store, okay, I understand that. I'll let you complain. But if it's a bunch of people or a bunch of prescriptions, etcetera, I need to show them that it's not as straightforward as they think, where it's just like, amoxicillin's right here, I'm just going to give it to you.

There's the documentation point of view. There's the legal point of view. If pharmacists deny prescriptions, why are they denying prescriptions? Is it like they're gatekeeping the medication from you or something?

And all this is said, why? To help people know that pharmacists don't have a vendetta against the patient. We actually have the patient's best interest at heart.

But at the same time, the only way we can do that is through laws and regulations. Because if there weren't any and we just gave anything airy-fairy, look at the harm rates throughout Australia—they would be through the roof.

Fraudulent prescriptions, early supply, overdose of something—there's going to be zero accountability because there are no laws in place.

So I guess that's why it's very important to educate the public and why some people think it's just straightforward, like labelling the box. But there's a lot going on, and there's a lot of free advice that you can get, or free education at least, that can help you with simple conditions.

Krysti-Lee (40:17.288)
Mm.

Krysti-Lee (40:44.702)
Mm.

Krysti-Lee (41:09.790)
Mm.

Absolutely. It's so important. And I think this is one of the great things about how accessible this information is on social media and things like that, that the general public can actually get this information now, which is great.

Just before we wrap up, I wanted to touch on the fact that you are predominantly a locum pharmacist now, and I'm curious to hear why that feels right for you in your career at the moment.

Iraq (41:48.106)
Mm-mm. So throughout my career I've always wanted to try something, right? And I hate looking back at something and being like, "Oh my God, I didn't actually try it, so I don't know how it actually was."

So that's why I went into hospital first. I wanted to trial it out. Then I went to community pharmacy. Then I saw what it's like to be a pharmacist manager.

And then I'm like, well, the only thing I'm missing from my career is I don't know what it's like to be a locum pharmacist, because I always thought in the back of my head, what if locum pharmacy has a better outcome in life? What if I have more flexibility? There are shifts available, etcetera, and there's better pay, blah, blah, blah.

So I'm like, look, instead of speculating on all of these things, let me actually get into it. So I'm like, I'll give myself a six-month block. And this is currently me being in the six-month block to do locum pharmacy. So I want to trial that out.

Honestly, A, is it feasible? B, is it something I want to do where every day or every second day I'm at a store I don't know?

So responsibilities are lower, but everything in the store is something I have to think of on the fly. I have to adapt very quickly. Problems, anything that happened from the previous day, it's something I have to just think about.

And then at the same time, it also tests my legal knowledge because I'm practising in so many different stores. I don't know what questions I'm actually going to be faced with.

You know, if it's a nursing home request, if it's a Webster-pak request, if it's an "I missed my dose yesterday" for an opioid replacement therapy patient. I'm exposed to a lot of things, and it requires me to be a bit sharper in terms of the legal requirements.

So then I'm like, look, I'll try it out for six months and see how it actually goes.

If it's something I enjoy, maybe it's something I can prolong a bit. If not, then it's probably something where I'm going to have to settle down in pharmacy and probably go towards the thing I wanted, which is pharmacy ownership.

Krysti-Lee (43:55.261)
Yeah, I think that's a great idea. And whilst you can get that exposure to as many different types of pharmacies, different people, as you say, the different legislation, especially if you want to get into pharmacy ownership, you'll have seen some really great things. You'll probably see some really bad things as well. So you get a really good exposure to everything.

Iraq (44:13.225)
Yeah. Yeah, literally. The good and the bad.

But it's really good. It goes hand in hand with the social media thing because people in my locum shifts recognise me and they're like, "Oh my God, you're the guy from TikTok." I'm like, "Just lower your voice a bit."

But yeah, no, it's ups and downs, but yeah.

Krysti-Lee (44:30.182)
Ha ha.

Krysti-Lee (44:39.036)
No, I love that. Well, thank you so much for the chat today. It's been really insightful. I've really enjoyed getting to know you a bit more and seeing the person behind Michael Clutch, I guess. He needs a lot of educating, that Michael Clutch.

Iraq (44:50.381)
That's my passion.

Iraq (44:59.861)
Yeah, poor guy. Poor guy. Yeah, eventually he's going to grow. He's going to grow. I think I need to give him a good character progression.

Krysti-Lee (45:07.998)
That's good. Well, I can't wait to see.

Well, Iraq, if people don't know where to find you, where can they find you and follow along with what you're doing?

Iraq (45:18.241)
Right, yeah, for sure. On both TikTok or Instagram, my handle is Clutchest Pharmacist. I'll be on there.

If you need anything, whether it's students, assistants, pharmacists, please feel free to shoot me a message. I'll try to get back to you. No promises, but I do generally get back to a lot of—

Krysti-Lee (45:37.978)
Sounds great. Well, thank you.

That's it for this episode of Your Pharmacy Career Podcast. A huge thank you to you, Iraq, for such an honest look at your life as a locum pharmacist and for sharing what's driving you to keep educating the public. Thank you so much.

Iraq (45:53.464)
Thanks for having me, Krysti-Lee. Thank you so much.

Narrator
Thanks for tuning in to Your Pharmacy Career Podcast.

Proudly sponsored by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. The PSA is committed to empowering pharmacists through advocacy, innovation and industry-leading professional development. To become a member or learn more about how the PSA can support your career, visit www.psa.org.au.

Don’t forget to subscribe, share this podcast with your colleagues and join us next time as we continue to explore your pharmacy career journey.