Belizean pharmacist honoured by peers
The plenary sessions of the twenty-fourth annual convention of the Caribbean Association of Pharmacists ended this evening at the Princess Hotel in Belize City. Over the last five days, delegates representing countries in the Caribbean, as well as the United States, Canada and United Kingdom have been discussing issues relating to the twenty-eight year old organization. Belize as a nation is not a member of the Association, although individual local practitioners have joined the regional group. Organisers hope that by hosting the convention in Belize, enough interest will be generated to attract more Belizean pharmacists to become members and Belize will gain the necessary numbers to become a full member of CAP. The convention culminates on Saturday night with an awards banquet and dinner during which Belizean Lydia Harris-Thurton will be honoured by her colleagues for her years of service and commitment to the field of pharmacy in Belize. Thurton, who is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Nursing and Allied Health at the University of Belize, says the nomination is the high point of her work in the profession, which started in 1991.
Lydia Harris-Thurton, Award Nominee
“Well I feel very honoured. I guess it shows that your colleagues respect what you do, appreciates the work that you have done and I feel honoured and I will accept it graciously. I?m sure there are many others in the country who have done a lot for pharmacy practice and I just feel very fortunate to be the one nominated for this award.”
“I worked in hospital pharmacy mainly in the beginning, with the Ministry of Health. I’ve worked in Belize City of course, Punta Gorda, Belmopan, Dangriga, Cayo and later I joined the then University College of Belize as an adjunct lecturer and then finally as full time lecturer. I lectured in the pharmacy programme and now the dean for the faculty of nursing and allied health, which includes pharmacy.”
Patrick Jones
“What does it do for you individually and for the country being a member of this regional body?”
Lydia Harris-Thurton
“One of the big advantages being a member of CAP is that you are privileged to receiving continuing education which is a big thing for us in Belize. We are kind of removed from the other countries, but on a monthly basis you get your professional journals, you can complete the continuing education courses that are in there and submit them. You also attend conference like this, you not only expand on that, but you get to network with colleagues from the other countries, and build some sort of relationship. I believe that if Belize is a member, we in Belize have been working diligently at getting the legislation governing pharmacy practice revised and one of the things included in there is that you need a certain number of continuing education numbers to be registered as a pharmacist. And being a member of CAP it would make it more accessible to us to get those credits and courses.”
Organisers say over three hundred of the region’s top pharmacists attended this year’s convention. Saturday night’s awards gala will be held at the Biltmore.
