C288/09
Two Curtin University of Technology pharmacy students reached the grand final of this year’s National Student Business Plan Competition.
Joanna Pynt, of Como, and Katherine Reid, of Padbury, were honoured at the National Pharmacy Women’s Congress on the Gold Coast for their Women’s Pharmacy business concept, judged among the top three in the nation.
The prestigious competition, held by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, invited all Australian universities with a school of pharmacy to submit a team.
The competition asked students to create a business plan, simulating the set-up of their own community pharmacy.
Ms Pynt and Ms Reid researched women’s health in Western Australia and discovered a considerable need for more professional advice.
“Two out of three non-prescription pharmacy customers in WA are women; the State’s birth rate reached more than 30,000 last year; and just 51 per cent of WA women viewed their health as excellent. We wanted to improve that figure,” Ms Reid said.
Their Women’s Pharmacy plan outlined how they would purchase and establish a pharmacy specialising in women’s health.
Curtin School of Pharmacy Lecturer, Nikki Di Costa, incorporated the national competition into a final-year pharmacy unit.
“I wanted to give all students the opportunity to create their own business plans, and I selected Curtin’s best business plan to enter into the competition,” she said.
Ms Pynt and Ms Reid’s submission placed third nationally, narrowly trailing first place University of Sydney and second, James Cook University, Queensland.
“To be recognised in the top three is a tremendous achievement, particularly given each university was only allowed to submit one team. We were competing with the very best,” Ms Di Costa said.
“The competition provided a wonderful opportunity for our students to apply the skills they have learned at Curtin in a real-life case study. It is certainly something they can build on once they graduate and consider starting their own small business.”
Ms Pynt and Ms Reid shared a $1500 cash prize and won Curtin a further $1000.
