This year sees a third generation of
one family commencing their pharmacy
studies with Monash (and the Victorian
College of Pharmacy). For the Lee
family, the ability to convey complex
medical information and support patient
wellbeing is a tradition worth passing on.
It all began in Kuala Lumpur in the early 1960s.
Jin Lee recalls her eldest brother recommending
that she study pharmacy when she grew up.
Jin took his sage advice and began something
of a family tradition.
After relocating to Melbourne to complete her
secondary schooling, Jin commenced the
pharmaceutical chemist qualification with the
Victorian College of Pharmacy. She completed
her training and started work as a pharmacist
with Box Hill Hospital.
In the late 1960s, Jin worked in retail pharmacy
and as a locum pharmacist in Melbourne, while
raising two small children. In the early 1970s,
the family relocated to Kuala Lumpur, where
she worked as a pharmacist for an international
pharmaceutical company and a wholesaler.
In the early 1980s, Jin co-established a wholesale
pharmaceutical agency. From the late 1980s, she
worked in management with pharmaceutical and
medical product laboratories, until her retirement
in the late 1990s.
Jin’s career covered many facets of pharmacy
– hospital, retail, wholesale, distribution,
manufacturing and corporate. Jin’s daughter
Visakha Lee says her mother was always pleased
and proud to be a pharmacist. “Mum always
said that it was a rewarding and enjoyable career.
It made a big impression on me,” she said.
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Melbourne-born Visakha grew up in Kuala Lumpur
until the age of 15, when she followed in her
mother’s footsteps and moved to Melbourne
to complete her secondary schooling and study
pharmacy. Visakha completed the Bachelor of
Pharmacy with the Victorian College of Pharmacy
in the early 1990s, completing her training at
The Alfred. She worked as a retail pharmacist
in various locations prior to operating her own
pharmacy in Glen Iris for 10 years.
Visakha says her pharmacy degree has provided
a strong foundation for a diverse career – as it did
for her mother, and she trusts it will for her son.
“Being a pharmacist, I have a wide medical
knowledge of health conditions that I can apply
in my practice and patient treatment. It provides
the foundation for my work in traditional Chinese
medicine. Today I work in pharmacies and treat
my patients from a GP clinic and a TCM/
naturopathic clinic.”
Since that time, Visakha has completed further
studies in numerous fields, including management
and traditional Chinese medicine (acupuncture
and Chinese herbal medicine). In recent years,
she has divided her time between working as a
locum pharmacist in retail and hospital pharmacies,
and as a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner
in her business Sukhalaya, through clinics in
St Kilda and Glen Iris.
For Visakha, practising pharmacy is more than
just dispensing medicines. “We play an important
role in promoting public awareness and supporting
patient safety and wellbeing in the community.
The role of the pharmacist is so diverse. As primary
health professionals, we are trusted because
we have the education, training and experience.
The pharmacy degree prepares you for so many
different areas of practice.”
This year, Visakha’s son Nicholas Kolotsos has
commenced the Bachelor of Pharmacy with
Monash. (Nicholas’s late father, Peter Kolotsos
– who sadly passed away in April – was also a
pharmacist and Victorian College of Pharmacy
graduate. Peter operated retail pharmacies in
numerous locations, including Glen Iris, Preston,
Gladstone Park and Inverloch.)
While much has changed since Jin Lee began
her pharmacy journey in the 1960s, the profession’s
core commitment to patient safety and wellbeing
remain the same. It’s an honour to have a third
generation pharmacy student in our faculty –
from such a diverse line of pharmacy professionals.
We wish Nicholas well in his first year of study
at Parkville.
Nicholas says growing up in a pharmacy family
has shaped his life and outlook. “With both my
parents being pharmacists and owning their own
respective pharmacies, retail pharmacy has
always been part of my life,” he said. My parents
have always shared their knowledge and life
experience. I’ve worked in their pharmacies.
I’ve seen how they help people and play an
important role in the community. While I thought
about doing medicine, I decided to follow my
parents and grandmother and do pharmacy.
I guess it runs in my blood! I know it’s a valuable
profession and a fulfilling career.”