Pharmacist in the hospital (Malaysian way lah)
Hello assalamualaikum
Too long, yep i know it's been too long. Anyways, as i just finished my hospital attachment of 6 weeks, i think i get the idea, what are the roles of pharmacist in the hospital. First and foremost, the work of a pharmacists in the hospital itself can be divided into many branches. It an be divided into outpatient, inpatient, Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and store. i might miss out things, but heck, i only went for 6 weeks what do you expect , a professional review?
The outpatient pharmacist will pack the drugs based on the prescription, check em, give em to patients, and counsel when needed. This counseling part is especially important for first timers on new drugs, patients with known compliance problem or just to ensure previous understanding of their medication. but i didn't attach to this part, so i don't know that much
Next is TDM, okay this is where all the blood sample (well actually not all) are sent to. when samples are sent here, it is usually to check whether the drug in the patient's body is at an appropriate level. Basically, not toxic and gives a therapeutic effect. So what does a pharmacist do ? after checking on the levels. The pharmacist will suggest interventions such as increasing, decreasing or maintaining the dose, or maybe reinforce compliance. Bear in mind ladies and gentlemen, not all drugs are sent to TDM. there are only certain drugs that an be sent, such as drugs with narrow therapeutic index (basically means a very very very small range between therapeutic effect and toxicity), suspected toxicity, non compliance issue and etc etc. i'm not a text book, find out urself *coz i don't remember*
Moving on to the oh so ever interesting store. Here is the place where our management skills are put to test. we have to determine the order point, that is when to start ordering, how much to order, and all the process related to the product until the product arrives and arrange them based on first in first out concept. That's about ordering, we must also ensure the condition for storage is fit for each item, and we must maintain that proper condition so that the stability of all the medications, products are maintained in good quality until it reaches the patient.
Last but not least let's go into inpatient pharmacy. This is further divided into those who arrange the meds and send em out to wards, and clinical pharmacist. The arranging part sounds simple, but believe me when i say it aint easy. firstly there's a system to follow, which i don't remember but basically we arrange medication according to the bed and the requirement for that day. so it's very critical not to get it wrong, because the nurses will give the meds based on what we have dispensed for the patient. and last but not least is the clinical pharmacist, as it is known by most people, the one who prescribe medicines are doctors. so what does a clinical pharmacist do. other than following ward rounds with the doctors, a clinical pharmacist goes around checking all the medication they are receiving, and ensure that there is no major interaction, all the required indications are treated, no unnecessary drugs are given, all the med are suitable to the patient's condition, the correct dose is given and etc. clinical pharmacist also check on their past medications, check on their compliance, and do counselling especially if they are started on new meds or have poor understanding of their condition and meds, using some sort of device like inhaler or insulin pen.
yehhay, finally finish a blog post after two weeks.
so this is a very simple overview that i can see from my perspective, it might not be all that correct or exact, but it's not all wrong either.
the end
Too long, yep i know it's been too long. Anyways, as i just finished my hospital attachment of 6 weeks, i think i get the idea, what are the roles of pharmacist in the hospital. First and foremost, the work of a pharmacists in the hospital itself can be divided into many branches. It an be divided into outpatient, inpatient, Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and store. i might miss out things, but heck, i only went for 6 weeks what do you expect , a professional review?
The outpatient pharmacist will pack the drugs based on the prescription, check em, give em to patients, and counsel when needed. This counseling part is especially important for first timers on new drugs, patients with known compliance problem or just to ensure previous understanding of their medication. but i didn't attach to this part, so i don't know that much
Next is TDM, okay this is where all the blood sample (well actually not all) are sent to. when samples are sent here, it is usually to check whether the drug in the patient's body is at an appropriate level. Basically, not toxic and gives a therapeutic effect. So what does a pharmacist do ? after checking on the levels. The pharmacist will suggest interventions such as increasing, decreasing or maintaining the dose, or maybe reinforce compliance. Bear in mind ladies and gentlemen, not all drugs are sent to TDM. there are only certain drugs that an be sent, such as drugs with narrow therapeutic index (basically means a very very very small range between therapeutic effect and toxicity), suspected toxicity, non compliance issue and etc etc. i'm not a text book, find out urself *coz i don't remember*
Moving on to the oh so ever interesting store. Here is the place where our management skills are put to test. we have to determine the order point, that is when to start ordering, how much to order, and all the process related to the product until the product arrives and arrange them based on first in first out concept. That's about ordering, we must also ensure the condition for storage is fit for each item, and we must maintain that proper condition so that the stability of all the medications, products are maintained in good quality until it reaches the patient.
Last but not least let's go into inpatient pharmacy. This is further divided into those who arrange the meds and send em out to wards, and clinical pharmacist. The arranging part sounds simple, but believe me when i say it aint easy. firstly there's a system to follow, which i don't remember but basically we arrange medication according to the bed and the requirement for that day. so it's very critical not to get it wrong, because the nurses will give the meds based on what we have dispensed for the patient. and last but not least is the clinical pharmacist, as it is known by most people, the one who prescribe medicines are doctors. so what does a clinical pharmacist do. other than following ward rounds with the doctors, a clinical pharmacist goes around checking all the medication they are receiving, and ensure that there is no major interaction, all the required indications are treated, no unnecessary drugs are given, all the med are suitable to the patient's condition, the correct dose is given and etc. clinical pharmacist also check on their past medications, check on their compliance, and do counselling especially if they are started on new meds or have poor understanding of their condition and meds, using some sort of device like inhaler or insulin pen.
yehhay, finally finish a blog post after two weeks.
so this is a very simple overview that i can see from my perspective, it might not be all that correct or exact, but it's not all wrong either.
the end
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