Luke van der Rijt and Michael O’Reilly, Southcity Pharmacy, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia #501971

This Profile in Personalized Medicine highlights Luke Van der Rijt, BPharm, and Michael O’Reilly, BPharm. They are the owners of Southcity Pharmacy in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, and have been PCCA members since 2015. 

How did you start compounding? What led you to PCCA?

We believed in helping our community and that PCCA was a company that provides high quality chemicals and education, and that made them the best choice help us help our community. There were over ten pharmacies in our city, only one of which was a compounder. We decided to jump in knowing PCCA would allow us to have access to the highest standard of product, which in turn, gave us the ability to provide the highest quality to our patients.

What was your toughest patient problem? How did you solve it?

We’ve had quite a few over the years. Recently, we had a young patient who has extremely sensitive skin and fair skin. She needed a sunscreen and had pretty much tried everything. After heaps of trial and error, we used VersaBase cream and found a combination that finally worked. She had no reaction and loved the product!*

 What has been your most satisfying patient experience?

We had a patient who came into the pharmacy early on and had been having so much trouble with her hormone replacement therapy and getting her hormone levels to stabilize. She had been getting troches from another compounder, but didn’t like the product, and her levels weren’t getting where her physician wanted them. She attempted several trials with multiple compounders, but found no success. After nearly a year’s worth of tests, we figured out the right combination and found that she loved the peppermint flavor because it masked the bitter active ingredients! She’s been coming back ever since.

What is your favorite PCCA base, and why?

VersaBase®. It is such a versatile base — it speaks for itself. We use the cream version because we’ve found it’s fantastic with both compatibility and has the best feel of all the creams we use.

What is your favorite PCCA educational event?

HRT seminar. There is so much new information, and it’s a great opportunity to see and hear what is up and coming.

When was the last time a patient thanked you?

We had a young patient with severe reflux, a desperate and tired mother, and thankfully a prescription for a compound with omeprazole. The mother called back a week later thanking us for making it for her child as soon as possible.

What advice would you give to new compounders?

Keep asking questions, and keep double-checking information. There’s a world of information out there, and the PCCA teams is always happy to help.

What is your favorite thing about your jobs right now?

Since our 2018 Australian Guild Pharmacy of the Year win, we’ve had the opportunity meet some fantastic people in the industry. Sharing ideas and collaborating with these people has definitely been a recent highlight. 

What is your personal motto or words you live by?

Luke: I channel advice from my hero, David Brent [from BBC’s The Office]: “People say to me, ‘Would you rather be thought of as a funny man or a great boss?’ My answer's always the same: ‘To me, they're not mutually exclusive.’"

*Note: Sunscreen requires a prescription in order to be compounded in the United States.