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Profiles In Personalized Medicine - Michelle Gray

This Profile in Personalized Medicine highlights PCCA’s 2022 Canadian Pharmacist of the Year, Michelle Gray, BScPharm, RPh, C4 HRT Specialist, Therapeutic Nutrition Lifestyle Coach and owner of Gray’s Compounding Pharmacy in Kimberley, British Columbia. She has been a proud PCCA member since 2013.

 

How did your pharmacy compounding story begin?

I was hired by a small independent pharmacy in 2002 to start the compounding practice for the owner. The owner and I went to Houston for C3 training. This along with the daily PCCA clinical support gave me the confidence to go out into the medical community to educate physicians about what compounding is and how I could help them with their challenges. They would then write prescriptions when appropriate, and I would go back, make the preparations and counsel the patients.


What was the moment you realized that joining PCCA was going to make a difference for your pharmacy?

The independent pharmacy I worked for was sold to the Shoppers Drug Mart chain in 2006. Along with the sale, we lost our PCCA membership. So, having to use a competitor, I phoned them for a formulation consultation to help me solve a problem. I was shocked when they said it would be two weeks for them to come up with a formulation. I told them the patient doesn't have two weeks, they have two hours! So I was on my own. Using what I had previously learned at PCCA, I came up with a formula for a very bitter suspension. In 2013, when I opened my own compounding pharmacy, there was no question in my mind about the value that PCCA would bring to my practice, myself, the clinicians I collaborate with and, most importantly, the patients I serve. Being a PCCA member also means we have access to the highest quality chemicals, clinical services and education.


How have you tried to make Gray’s Compounding Pharmacy different from other pharmacies and who are the people who make it work so well?

We try to look at our patients’ whole health, with an approach that considers the various systems and how they affect one another and overlay that with a functional medicine approach. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes can bring new solutions. We collaborate with healthcare providers with the patient as the main focal point. Peter Wu, our pharmacist, is not just filling prescriptions, he’s actively assessing what’s best for the health of his patients by analyzing lab work, performing high-level clinical reviews and pain consultations.

Heidi Radcliffe and Kayla Morrison are our registered pharmacy technicians. They are integral in so many aspects of our business. We’ve sent them away for specific training in drug compounding, they perform risk assessments and ensure we’re always following the highest regulations of the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities.

Our pharmacy assistants are Corina Howorko and Felicia Green. They are so efficient and able to quickly shift gears to take care of all pharmacy operations. That frees up Peter and I to spend more time with patients. It has changed the focus at Gray’s Pharmacy to a much more caring, in-depth, whole health service.

And of course, there is Andy Gray, my husband. We call him the fixer. He is trained in compounding and fills in everywhere – not to mention he’s coordinating taking care of our three children, our dog and even the exchange student in our home!


As PCCA Canada’s 2022 Compounding Pharmacist of the Year, what is something you would tell people who want to follow in your footsteps?

I am passionate about helping people and using every tool I have developed. I am proud that my ongoing efforts have been recognized and hope it inspires others to follow in my footsteps. I would tell newer compounding pharmacists to listen to all of their patients closely. Ask about their families. Inevitably, someone has an issue that is an opportunity for you to help with. I was surprised when I got a call from a community 600 km (373 miles) away. It was a patient whom I had helped years before with a burn when he was on holiday near my pharmacy. He was now calling for assistance with his sister in the next province who had a diabetic ulcer. You never know when you will be needed, and being present for every patient encounter will earn you a reputation as a "healer.”

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