Going for Gauld: Problem-solving pharmacist
Published 4 August 2021 on www.nzdoctor.co.nz
Pharmacist Natalie Gauld’s newfound fondness for a cryptic crossword is unlikely to surprise anyone: she’s got a penchant for problem solving, a knack for seeking out solutions and she’s unafraid of tackling a real challenge.
At the New Zealand Primary Healthcare Awards | He Tohu Mauri Ora 2021: Alana Cavadino, Cameron Grant, associate health minister Aupito William Sio, Natalie Gauld, Anna Howe and Samuel Martin
Her renowned research was celebrated in May at the New Zealand Primary Healthcare Awards | He Tohu Mauri Ora 2021, when the University of Auckland VIP study team won the Research and Education Award for their project “Protecting our pēpi through aiding awareness of and access to maternal vaccinations”.
Led by Dr Gauld, the research team is made up of biostatistician Alana Cavadino, paediatricians Cameron Grant and Owen Sinclair, analyst Anna Howe, pharmacist Samuel Martin, Midland Community Pharmacy Group chief executive Cath Knapton, public health physician Felicity Dumble and vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris.
Dr Gauld emphasises the importance of the project being a team effort, with each team member having made important contributions to the overall success of the project.
Dr Gauld was also joint winner of the Supreme Award in the 2018 Pharmacy Awards and is a Fellow and vice-president of the Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand.
Life beyond Taranaki
But despite her numerous accomplishments, Dr Gauld says that when she left home in Taranaki to study pharmacy at the Central Institute of Technology in Petone, Wellington, she did not stand out at all.
“Certainly, at pharmacy school I would have been voted the least likely to go on and do research – I didn’t excel. As a young person, you’re finding your place in the world…I was from a public school in a small town and I went to the city. You kind of feel like you’re just a little pawn.”
But since graduating, she has been named an honorary senior research Fellow and senior clinical lecturer at the University of Auckland, completed a PhD, and founded Natalie Gauld Limited which works on access to medicines and research.
In her time off, she enjoys taking photos of birds, spending time with family, skiing or turning her mind to a cryptic crossword. She also enjoys cycling with her husband – despite the fact that it cost her some teeth after she fell off her bike earlier this year.
“I have new teeth…I showed them off at the awards! I’m fine, and my teeth look better than last time, so that’s good!” she laughs.
But her true passion, unsurprisingly, is research.
“I actually love research – research is really cool, really interesting and I like thinking about how we can better use pharmacy, so that’s kind of part of what I do in my spare time,” says Dr Gauld.
“I love doing things better and differently; where I can see an opportunity to do something new that I see there is a need for. Does it help the consumer?” she asks.
“Does it help the health system? Is it something that is helpful to have in pharmacy? If it ticks those boxes, I’m usually wanting to be involved.”
After qualifying as a pharmacist and seeing the role pharmacy can provide, she explains, she wanted to help prove it to others as well.
“Because it’s not enough for us to say ‘we can do this’. But actually, to get over some barriers you need to prove yourselves again and again. I’ve been interested in helping provide evidence for what pharmacy can do, but also helping to understand how can we do it better so that we learn.”
However, despite doing what she loves, she admits she still faces challenges – both personally and professionally.
“Whenever you’re trying to create change, there are always people who will do a lot to try and stop you – there are always so many barriers. Sometimes you wonder why you keep wanting to do this when it can be really, really, really hard,” Dr Gauld explains.
“I do find it challenging having diabetes as well. I started on insulin three years ago for a late-onset type 1 diabetes and that has changed my life.
“It makes it a bit harder...it’s unpredictable. It takes a lot more head space than what you want – you never have a break from that,” she says.
Interested in entering the awards and becoming a Primary Star in 2022?