Becoming a pharmacist - Sam's story

Sam Flood graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Pharmacy in 2016. The following year Sam applied for 40 internships without success, and began to feel like the job search would never pay off. 

Sam has a physical disability that doesn't impact on his ability to do his role.  Depending on the working environment he may require a few modifications to a workplace to ensure he can undertake all aspects of his role.   After a few interviews, Sam had noticed that prospective employers did not ask him about how he might perform the requirements of a pharmacist, despite perhaps making assumptions about this or being curious. 

This  is where the University Specialist Employment Partnership and the National Disability Coordination Officer program stepped in.  Sam shared his story via video which was then posted on Facebook with the hashtag #letsgetsamaninternship.  In this video, Sam articulated that he wished to serve the public in the same way that he had been looked after as a child – and this note resonated, with Sam’s lived experience lending him a skillset that many competing applicants may not have.  The video reached over 22,000 people. 

Sam received a number of firm job offers from around Australia and settled on an opportunity in Melbourne.  In this video Sam and his employer share their story.