BRETT Nagel is delighted he and wife Margaret, and their then three young kids, made the move from Melbourne to Leongatha in 1992, having another child there, reflecting on the rewarding experience of country life as he approaches retirement from his pharmacy business.
His last shift in charge of Nagel’s Amcal pharmacy was on Thursday, September 25, although he may do some relieving work for current business partner Kerryn Reidy, who will buy out his share of the business.
“I always thought I would work until I was 65,” Brett said, that plan well organised, Kerryn joining as a business partner with an arrangement to buy the business in five years, that being now.
Meeting people and dealing with customers have been highlights, as has working alongside fantastic colleagues, Brett making lifelong friends along the way.
He’s enjoyed getting to know customers much better than was possible in his time as a pharmacist in Melbourne.
After obtaining honours in science (genetics), he found his way into the industry that would become his career because mates from Ivanhoe Grammar were studying pharmacy.
He had a placement to go to America to undertake a PhD in genetics, but chose to remain in Australia, leading to his new career direction.
Brett’s prior scientific knowledge when he started at the Pharmacy College in Parkville came in handy.
“You understand research development and the genetic side of it,’ he said.
His pharmacy course was four years, including a year of placement, with the first chemist he worked at being in Springvale.
He went on to other pharmacies in West Heidelberg, Box Hill and Waverley before going into partnership with Brian Smith of Smiths
Pharmacy in Leongatha, Brian retiring about 10 years later.
Running a business and ensuring everything is going smoothly, while keeping up to date with medical and health developments, are among the challenges, with plenty of technological changes over
Brett’s time in charge.
Having to keep up with change and continue learning has no doubt maintained interest, education nights with other pharmacists in the area being fun as well as informative.
Rather than reminiscing about the ‘good old days’, Brett says changes during his time as a pharmacist have all been for the better, highlighting the PBS as “a great system” offering lifesaving or life-changing drugs at a subsidised price.
The ongoing release of new medicines is another positive.
A further improvement is the fact that there are now more pharmacists, Brett recalling that after breaking ribs in a collision with a wallaby when riding his bike, he had to check himself out of hospital the next day to work, with no chance of getting a locum in those days.
“You had to be at work every day,” he recalled.
While Brett has had extensive involvement in various community organisations over the years, having belonged to Rotary, served on the Board of Gippsland Southern Health Service and on the committees of Leongatha Football Club at junior and senior levels, he’s not looking to resume such responsibilities immediately.
In retirement, bike rides along the Great Southern Rail Trail beckon, albeit keeping an eye out for wallabies.
Brett wishes Kerryn all the best as she continues the tradition of running a pharmacy at the same Bair Street location where Brian’s father, Lindsay Smith, established his business in the 1930s.