Postgraduate student wins Churchill Fellowship for drug research

After establishing Australia's first full-time medication hotline, the Queensland Medication Helpline, Geraldine Moses will use a Churchill Fellowship to visit similar services overseas to investigate how to further develop and improve the service.

Ms Moses, who is currently studying for her postgraduate diploma in clinical pharmacy at the University of Queensland, opened the Mater Hospital-based Helpline in 1995 as part of a research project.

"There was an obvious gap in drug information which was available to consumers so we created an information service," Ms Moses said.

Ms Moses said issues raised by consumers included concerns about the side effects and long-term effects of drugs, interaction between drugs, and drugs of abuse.

She said people chose to call the service rather than asking their doctor or pharmacist for advice for a number of reasons including wanting to remain anonymous.

"In a lot of cases people just need reassurance and with the Helpline they can ask whatever they like - no matter how silly it sounds," she said.

"Drugs are also a rapidly evolving area of medicine and sometimes doctors don't have the time or resources to answer their patients' drug questions.

"At QMH we not only have the hospital's vast network or resources but all of the clinical pharmacists on the Helpline are specifically trained to access and provide the most up-to-date drug information to consumers in non-technical language.

"In fact, doctors are using the service as well as dentists, nurses, dieticians and even alternative health practitioners to keep abreast with the latest on drug information. But the service is intended to be dedicated to consumers."

Ms Moses, who graduated bachelor of pharmacy from the University of Queensland in 1985, said she would travel to Colorado - where the world's first helpline service was set up in 1972 - Canada, New York, Florida and London.

Within Australia, pharmacists in Victoria and New South Wales were hoping to establish services soon, she said.

"We are funded here by the Mater Hospital and Queensland Health but there is a push towards Federal funding so we can network on a national basis," she said.

"Drug information is a specialty field and part of my research will be to find out why there was there was no dedicated drug service for consumers in Australia until three years ago."

For further information contact Geraldine Moses (telephone 3840 8591).