Mount Gambier’s Nick Walters (pictured) has said farewell to the big city and made the move back home to Mount Gambier after completing his four-year pharmacy degree at the University of Adelaide.

Since completing his internship year at Priceline Pharmacy in the Mount Gambier Marketplace last year, his hard work paid off and he is now taking on the real world, starting his career as a qualified pharmacist at Priceline Pharmacy on Commercial Street West this year.

The 23-year-old said he always knew he wanted to move back to Mount Gambier, so when the opportunity arose it was too good to pass up. “I thought it was a good opportunity to find my feet in a place and actually be able to contribute in some meaningful way,” he said.

Favouring the regional lifestyle over the big city, Mr Walters said moving back home was a no-brainer. “I love living in the country,” he said. “I think there are more opportunities for pharmacists down here.”

Mr Walters said one of the best parts about being a local pharmacist was building relationships with customers. “Someone comes in, you know a bit of their back story,” he said. “There’s a small enough customer base that you build a relationship with nearly everyone that comes in and you know them through different avenues in the community.”

Mr Walters said his internship year gave him the chance to find his feet in a functioning pharmacy and was an opportunity to apply his skills from university to the real world. “It helped it be less overwhelming,” he said. “You get a year of grace really.”

When he was considering career paths in high school, Mr Walters said he knew he wanted to live in a country town, he always had an interest in the health field and liked chemistry and science, so pharmacy was the perfect combination of these elements.