With trepidation I opened my prescription pad and wrote ‘Keflex’ for the first time. I placed the script into my patient’s hands and watched her walk out the door.  

I slumped into my chair, awaiting the angry phone call from her GP, or at least a confused one from her pharmacist. Neither happened.

I was the 25th podiatrist in Australia to obtain their prescription license, and I was off to the races. 

How Australian podiatrists accessed our first prescription medication is folkloric. For decades, we lobbied for access to local anaesthetic, consistently being blocked by larger stakeholders.