Beyond the Counter: Expanding the Role of Pharmacists Through Education, Coaching, and Social Media

Emily Griffin, BPharm(Hons), GradCertPharmPracInt, MClinPharm, FANZCAP, principal pharmacist and director of Encapsuled, lecturer at Monash University, and clinical hospital pharmacist in Melbourne, Australia, shares how her multiple roles—as educator, clinical pharmacist, business owner, and advocate—center on patient-focused care, evidence-based practice, and soft skills such as communication and adaptability. Through her Instagram page, The Encapsuled Pharmacist, she fosters community, combats misinformation, and provides authentic support to pharmacists facing professional challenges. Her consultancy, Encapsuled, offers services ranging from home medicine reviews to pharmacist coaching and digital health education, addressing gaps in accessibility and professional development. Griffin emphasizes maintaining professional integrity on social media, aligning projects with her values, and encouraging pharmacists to diversify their careers while finding balance.

Pharmacy Times: You wear many “pharmacist hats,” from being a business owner to working at a university to serving as a rural pharmacy liaison officer and clinical pharmacist. What specific skills do you emphasize in your teaching role at Monash University, and how do you believe these prepare students for the evolving landscape of pharmacy practice?

Griffin: Yes, I do a lot of teaching across my many pharmacist hats. In the university, I teach in undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy programs, and I do some teaching of medical students in my rural pharmacy liaison officer role. I also teach through my business with evidence-based health education and as a pharmacist coach. Patient-centered care and evidence-based medicine are at the core of any education I provide, because, in whatever practice setting we work as pharmacists, our patients are at the end of the decisions we make. In addition to knowledge and the individualized application of clinical skills for optimal patient outcomes, being a pharmacist with great soft skills can set us apart in the competitive and evolving profession, and I believe these skills allow us to deliver better health care, so some of the specific skills I focus on with my students or clients are as follows:

Communication skills: With the health care team and our patients, for example, this involves optimally presenting a medication-related problem we identify to a doctor and providing meaningful context to patients in counseling.

Adaptability: I believe that being an adaptable pharmacist who can transfer skills across domains helps prepare students and clients for the ever-changing landscape of pharmacy, including evolving models of care and expanded scope of practice.

Pharmacy Times: Your Instagram page, The Encapsuled Pharmacist, aims to advocate for the profession and promote evidence-based health. Beyond providing information, how do you intentionally foster a sense of community and support among your pharmacist followers, especially those experiencing professional challenges?

Griffin: A large proportion of my followers are pharmacists; there are also other health care professionals and people who are not health professionals but are interested in health or medication in general. I am so grateful for all those who take the time to follow and engage with my content or send me messages. I take the time to individually message people who are new to The Encapsuled Pharmacist community on Instagram—that’s how I know most of my followers are pharmacists.

I also encourage engagement and direct messages. I have many ongoing chats with pharmacists about their careers or their experiences with workplace bullying, for example, and I genuinely try to help and support people where I can.

I think people see my authenticity in my content, including in the advocacy work I do and the vulnerability in some of the content I share. I think being authentic helps foster a community and makes people more open to sharing their stories with me.

I am grateful for each interaction, and I contemplate deeply the content I create and share through social media. I believe I represent not only myself but also my business and the pharmacy profession on social media, so I believe it’s important to display the same professional integrity and ethics that I do in my daily work as a pharmacist.

I didn’t create my social media to become an influencer or for personal gain; I created my social media as a passion project to help combat the health misinformation on social media and to showcase some of the amazing work pharmacists do in our communities. Inadvertently, I have been called an influencer and an influential pharmacist, and I have gained a lot from social media. Probably most significantly, it has played a huge part in my healing from workplace bullying, and most of my pharmacist clients find me through social media. So I’d like to take a moment to say thank you to those who engage with my content and those who see value in the work I put forward in the social media space.

You can find me on Instagram @theencapsuledpharmacist.

Pharmacy Times: You run your own pharmacy consultancy business, offering services like pharmacist coaching and home medicine reviews. What specific trends or unmet needs have you observed in pharmacy patient care that your consultancy business is uniquely positioned to address?

Griffin: I initially created my business after I completed my accreditation [now called credentialing] in medication management reviews [to conduct home medicines reviews (HMRs)]. It has transformed significantly since then.

In addition to HMRs, Encapsuled is now an online pharmacy consultancy reimagining how pharmacist expertise supports patients, health professionals, and pharmacists—through digital services, evidence-based health content creation, and personalized pharmacist coaching. Most of the services I offer are based on unmet needs I have noticed in our profession, for example:

• I offer online pharmacist services for patients and health professionals to overcome some pharmacist accessibility issues related to time or location.
• As a pharmacist coach, I help and support pharmacists hone their clinical and soft skills, explore new career directions, or in their journey to becoming an intern pharmacist in Australia.
• I create evidence-based health education and content because of misinformation online, including on social media.

Pharmacy Times: Given your experience across academia, clinical practice, and digital content creation, what ethical considerations are most crucial when discussing health topics or professional experiences on a public social media platform?

Griffin: It’s a bit different in Australia compared with the US when it comes to content related to health or therapeutic goods. We have very strict laws and regulations about advertising of therapeutic goods and testimonials related to therapeutic goods, especially for health professionals, which extends to social media. As a simple example, in the US, prescription medications can be advertised on television; they cannot in Australia.

I abide by the Australian legislation and regulations, which impact the type of content I can create on social media. Additionally, I maintain the same professional integrity and ethics in my social media that I do in my daily practice as a pharmacist. I practice evidence-based medicine, so my educational health content is based on the evidence and our clinical guidelines.

The public places a lot of trust in health professionals, especially pharmacists, who are often considered one of the most trusted professions, and I am very cautious and thoughtful about any collaborations or clients I work with. Upholding our professional standards and the legislation created to protect the public are at the forefront of decisions related to my content.

Pharmacy Times: You encourage other pharmacists to pursue side projects they’re passionate about. Considering your busy schedule, how do you determine when to take on a new project, and what criteria do you use to ensure it contributes to your overall fulfillment rather than just adding more demands?

Griffin: I have lived by “say yes to opportunities,” but there certainly is a ceiling to this, so I have had to learn to say no.

I am a very values-driven person, and my ultimate goal is to help people—whether this be through delivering health care, research, educating the next generation of pharmacists, or helping pharmacists become the best they can be. This goal has led me to do a lot of volunteer or honorarium work, particularly mentoring and work for other small business owners, but there is a point where this is also unsustainable.

I’d love to say I have it all worked out, but it’s a bit of a case-by-case basis. If the project aligns with my values and core principles of being a pharmacist, then it will probably be a project I say yes to in whatever capacity I can at the time. I’m always working on that optimal “life balance,” which is easier with my flexible schedule, but sometimes the scales do dip to the work side a little too heavily.

Pharmacy Times: Is there anything you would like to add?

Griffin: Pharmacy is a career with incredible breadth and transferable skills. With so many changes happening in our profession, we have the opportunity to redefine our roles, diversify our careers, and create more balanced, fulfilling pathways.