ipsf phuture 17 2011
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Message from IPSF
Dear IPSFers,
I would like to take this opportunity to
present to you the asupplement of IPSF
Phuture 2011. The theme for this years editionis Mapping a New Vision Translating ideas into
practice. This educational supplement is created
with the idea of sharing with all you aspiring
young pharmacists some personal opinions
written by our very own fellow pharmacy
students throwing light on the current situation of
our profession in their country and how they
envision the future of their careers. We have
tried to showcase the technological
advancements observed in our field through anexpert opinion followed by a review on the global
status of a major health threat Tuberculosis.
I am grateful to Bastien and his team for
providing the glamour and beauty through their
design of the Phuture. I am indebted to Lena K
for her constant efforts in compiling and creating
this edition. We hope you enjoy reading this as
much as we enjoyed building it.
Viva la pharmacie!
Message from the Phuture coordinator
Dear IPSFers,
Its my pleasure to present to you this years
theme of Mapping a New Vision-Translating
Ideas into Practice. In this edition we includedthe personal opinions of our fellow pharmacists,
from students to professors, about different
aspects of our profession. They are all based on
their personal experience and their belief in the
significance of these topics in our professional
future.
I hope it will inspire you to follow your visions and
to create the future as you wish it to be!
Special thanks to Dimple M for all the hard workand her devotion to Phuture, and to Bastien V for
the beautiful and creative design.
Enjoy reading!
3
DimpleModi
IPSFChairpersonofEducation
2010-11
LenaKojukarov,
Phuturecoordinator2010-11
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New Pharmacists, New Media, New Environment, New Issues 5
Prof. Jeff Cain
Pharmacy Over the Counter 9
B.Pharm Or Moskovich
Role of Pharmacists in Tuberculosis Management 13
Zamzam Torabi
Pharmacy in my Generation's Perspective 16
Jasmit Singh Suri
How my Pharmacy Education Prepared me to be a Pharmacist 18
Asma Khanniche
Table of Contents
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Introduction
Students today live in an era of
unprecedented social communication
capabilities. Due to the immense
popularity of social media platforms such as
blogs, microblogs (e.g., Twitter) and socialnetworking sites (e.g., Facebook), it is extremely
simple to share aspects of everyday actions,
attitudes, and opinions with others. Maintaining
communications with friends, classmates, and
family members has never been easier.
Because of this, young healthcare professionals
embarking on their careers face a different set of
situations than their predecessors. E-
professionalism, online reputation management,
and health 2.0 are three new concepts that did
not exist prior to the age of social media.
E-professionalism
Because of social medias quick ascent to
worldwide popularity, society has not been able
to adjust fully to the changes wrought by the
openness of social communications. Social
media is so new that we have not had role
models from which we learned proper and
acceptable behavior. Until now, most of ourprivately shared beliefs, attitudes, and opinions
have had little role in the professional aspects of
our lives. However, once we voluntarily share
those same beliefs and attitudes to an online
public then we expose them to the criticisms of
that same public. This has led to numerous
instances of individuals who have been expelled
from school1 and even lost jobs because of their
actions in the online environment.
The emerging construct of e-professionalism is
new and one that practicing healthcare
professionals and students should comprehend.
In its most basic form e-professionalism is simply
an extension of traditional professionalism
attributes (e.g., empathy, integrity, excellence,
etc.) to the online setting. Pharmacists and other
healthcare professionals are expected to treat
patients with utmost care and respect. That now
applies when conversing with or about them
through social media. Face-to-face interactions
are no longer the only way that professionalism
can be observed and assessed. If you are active
on social media, you should consider the
following questions as you prepare to become a
new professional. How do you want to portray
yourself to the online public? Are you
comfortable revealing the details of your
opinions, attitudes, and relationships with
others? Will you be outspoken regarding your
religious and political beliefs? Will you openlycriticize others through social media? Which
context of your life will dictate your online
persona? Do you care about how others
New Pharmacists, New Media, New Environment, New Issues
Jeff Cain, EdD, MSAdjunct Associate Professor
Department of Pharmacy Practice & Science
Director of Education Technology
University of Kentucky
College of Pharmacy
114M BPC Bldg
789 South Limestone St
Lexington, KY 40536-0596
(859)257-4429
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perceive you through social media? If you offend
someone with what you say or do online, how
might that affect your career?
These are just a few of the issues to take into
consideration. For those who have grown up inthe online environment, you may not have given
these questions much thought. For those who
have lived in a society pre-dating social media,
these questions are ever present. Ten years
ago, it was easy to separate the different roles
we played and contexts in which we lived
because they were usually separated by time
and space. However, that is no longer the case
for social media users. The line between public
and private has been blurred beyond recognition.Whether it is right or wrong, traditionally private
information may be considered public if
voluntarily published online.
Like many others, the pharmacy profession can
be stressful at times. Sharing job frustrations is
one method of reducing that stress. If done in
private, complaints about the job, patients, or
fellow professionals are usually innocuous.
However, when the grumblings enter the digital
sphere, especially through social media, the
situation becomes more tenuous as it now is
open to a much larger audience. Social
networking posts and blogs that expose attitudes
contrary to those espoused by the profession
may begin to erode the trust and respect that
patients have for pharmacists. While blogging
about stressful encounters may serve as a
release valve and humanize pharmacists, they
can also portray the profession in a negative
fashion. This is not to say that all social mediaposts describing problems or issues are
negative. There are several examples of
pharmacists who are adept at depicting issues in
a way that is not demeaning or whiney. Using
social media to present constructive criticisms is
a way for pharmacists to potentially influence the
profession in a positive manner by bringing
attention to the issues. Pharmacists Place
(http://www.pharmacistplace.com) and Eric,
Pharmacist (http://eric-rph.blogspot.com) aretwo prime examples of blogs that seek to
advance the profession rather than broadcast
anger and vitriol.
If you examine e-professionalism from the
employers perspective, you should be able to
see the importance. No employer wants an
employee who portrays a negative image and
runs the risk of alienating patients or otherprofessionals. How one is perceived by his/her
patients is a significant matter. It would be
difficult for patients to trust a pharmacist who is
known to use social media to copmlain
incessantly about negative interactions with
patients.
Personal branding and reputation
management
What is your personal online brand? In other
words, if someone were to know you only from
your information on blogs, microblogs, and social
networking sites, what would the impression be?
As online technologies become more prevalent
in all aspects of our lives, your online brand will
become an important extension of yourself.
Pharmacists have the opportunity to define who
they are to the online public. Online reputation
management is a relatively new concept
pertaining to how an individual or organization
manages and maintains the impression
generated through their online presence. It is
very common (and almost second nature for
many) to use a search engine (eg, Google) or
social networking site to discover information
about someone. Individuals, especially young
professionals, should project an impression that
does not conflict with career goals. The reason
is that others in authority positions may seek
additional information about you when evaluatingyou for jobs, fellowships, residency positions, or
other career-related honors. The online persona
that one projects through blogs, social
networking, and other social media applications
may influence ones opinion of your character,
judgment, and even professional abilities. Many
younger healthcare professionals have missed
opportunities due to information discovered
through online searches. What may be even
more troublesome is that those individuals areprobably not even aware that this information
negatively impacted their careers. Most
employers will not reveal to an unsuccessful
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candidate that they were not offered a position
due to an offensive Facebook comment.
Instead, they will suggest that someone else was
a better fit for the organization or more qualified
for the position. If you have not already
performed an online search for yourself, do sofrom the perspective of a potential employer.
What does that information reveal about you?
Do your posts, comments, photos, and group
affiliations reflect positively or negatively upon
you as a healthcare professional?
Health 2.0
In addition to the major role played in social
communications, pharmacy students should beaware that healthcare and social media are now
crossing paths. Health 2.0 (sometimes referred
to as Medicine 2.0) is defined differently by
different groups, but in general refers to patient
involvement in their healthcare aided by Web 2.0
technologies. The vast majority of pharmacy (or
any other) professors have not experienced this
phenomenon; therefore, it is unlikely that many
students are currently receiving formal training in
this area. This means that students are entering
uncharted territory and will need to adapt to the
world of Health 2.0 by learning how to navigate
through the issues and opportunities.
Health 2.0 also refers to how members of the
healthcare environment (patients, healthcare
professionals, biomedical researchers, etc.)
utilize social media to connect, share, and learn.
PharmQD (http://www.pharmqd.com) is one
example of a professional social networking site
for pharmacists. PharmQD was created bypharmacists for pharmacists and was designed
to enhance individual and collective
understanding of professional pharmacy issues
and to help members create and maintain
connections with pharmacy peers and
employers.
With the push towards patient participation in
their healthcare and the increasing use of the
internet for information, healthcare professionalsroles are slowly evolving from that of gatekeeper
to more of a caretaker. However, numerous
opportunities exist for pharmacists to play a
major role in impacting health through the use of
social media. While popular social networking
sites like Facebook and Hi5 may not be the best
platform for sharing healthcare information, other
social media applications excel at this. For
example, PatientsLikeMe(http://www.patientslikeme.com) embodies
principles of participatory medicine by
empowering individuals to share with and learn
from others who have similar afflictions.
Healthcare providers are available to vet
information for accuracy. Communications are
open and data is voluntarily shared in order to
promote healthcare advances on the individual
and at the population level. This is in sharp
contrast with traditional healthcare models thattypically prevent transparency and data sharing
for various reasons. Your future role as a
pharmacist might involve expanded use of social
media to evaluate, recommend, and ensure
accurate healthcare information for patients and
other professionals..
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Conclusion
As you enter the professional field of pharmacy, you will be confronted with challenges and
opportunities that have not previously been encountered. Each individual must decide for
him/herself what it means to be a healthcare professional in the era of social media.You will need
to define your online presence by carefully considering your conversations and affiliations in onlinespaces. Even if you choose to use social networking for non-professional reasons only, you should
still be aware of your digital footprint and what is says about you as a person. Ethical or not, you
may be judged professionally by how you present yourself to the online public. If you really want to
be progressive, then stay abreast of developments pertaining to Health 2.0 and consider how you
as a pharmacist can take advantage of these new communication capabilities to positively affect
healthcare. You will probably still perform a traditional role in a pharmacy or in the hospital, but you
can enlarge this role (and hence make yourself more valuable) through innovative uses of
technology. The opportunities will continue to expand and probably at a rapid pace, so pay attention
and set a positive example for students who follow you.
References
Resources :
1. Morris A. Nursing student dismissed over blog posts. Available at:
http://internetdefamationblog.com/2009/03/14/nursing-student-dismissed-over-blog-posts/.
Accessed July 10, 2010.
2. Smith C, Kanalley C. Fired over Facebook: 13 posts that got people CANNED. Available at:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/26/fired-over-facebook-posts_n_659170.html. Accessed
April 29, 2011.
3. Cain J, Romanelli F. E-professionalism: A new paradigm for a digital age. Currents Pharm
Teach Learn. 2009;1(2):66-70.
4. Evans T, Gerwitz AE. E-Professionalism Dos and Don'ts. Available at:
http://www.tourolaw.edu/cso/docs/eprofessionalism.pdf. Accessed April 25, 2011.
5. Thompson LA, Dawson K, Ferdig R, et al. The intersection of online social networking with
medical professionalism.J Gen Intern Med. 2008;23:954-957.
6. Cain J, Dillon G. Analysis of pharmacy-centric blogs: Types, discourse themes, and issues.
J Am Pharm Assoc. 2010;50:714-719.7. Clauson KA, Elkins J, Goncz CE. Use of blogs by pharmacists.Am JHealth-sys Pharm.
2010;67(23):2043-2048.
8. Dutta S. Managing yourself: What's your personal social media strategy? Harvard Bus Rev.
2010;88(11):127-130.
9. Madden M, Smith A. Reputation management and social media. Available at:
http://pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2010/PIP_Reputation_Management_with_topline.pdf.
Accessed April 28, 2011.
10. Eysenbach G. Medicine 2.0: Social networking, collaboration, participation, apomediation,
and openness. J Med Internet Res. 2008;10(3):e22.
11. Eytan T. e-patients: Participate in defining "Health 2.0". Available at:http://www.tedeytan.com/2008/05/07/917. Accessed April 28, 2011.
12. Bottles K. Patients, doctors and health 2.0 tools. Physician Exec.2009;35(4):22-25.
13. Cain J, Romanelli F, Fox B. Pharmacy, social media, and health: Opportunity for impact. J
Am Pharm Assoc. 2010;50(6).
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For students, taking a little glimpse of whatthe future may or should hold for our
profession as a whole is often put aside for
more pressing matters in the everyday
exhausting routine of hard studying, job chasing
and occasional partying. Unfortunately, true
change starts from the bottom up, so on top of
our other duties it is also highly important for us
students and soon-to-be graduates to take an
active role in mapping out the future of pharmacy
as a profession.
In this day and age the need for professional
personal in the field of pharmacotherapy is
bigger than ever. The major advances in the
different fields of medicine and pharmacology,
such as pharmacogenomics, drug delivery
systems, the complexity of drug therapy inmanaging various chronic conditions like
diabetes mellitus, hypertension and other
cardiovascular morbidities, different kinds of
cancer, etc, along with the growing phenomenon
of polypharmacy in the elderly, are all providingthis need with the fuel to only increase demand
more. But who will provide the solution for this
ever growing problem? The pharmacist is, of
course, the natural answer. The increasing
complexity of drug therapy described earlier and
the state of most national health systems leads
to the following fact: Medical doctors and nurses
cannot stand alone on the front lines of patient
caregiving.
It is true that pharmacists in some places of theworld are already an integral part of the health
providing team, and that the field of clinical
pharmacy is growing and developing, but its not
enough. Taking a quick look into the wonderful
world of drug-related problems is the key to
understanding this fact. Drug-related problems
(DRPs) are defined as ill outcomes of the drug
therapy process. It can occur in any stage of the
pharmacotherapy procedure- from prescribing to
dispensing to following the drug therapy regimen.The literature indicates that the incidence of
hospitalizations caused by DRPs is
approximately 4-7%. DRPs are related to
considerable morbidity, mortality and substantial
financial burdens. About 50% of total DRPs are
considered avoidable that the underlying
reason for them is either a medical error, like
prescribing the wrong drug, or lack of compliance
to the pharmacotherapy regimen.
I met those problems face to face last summer
when I took part in research designed to assess
the incidence nature and outcomes of DRPs in a
government hospital in Israel (Hillel-Yaffe,
Pharmacy Over the Counter
Or Moskovich
Graduating 4th year pharmacy student
School of Pharmacy, Ben-Gurion university of the Negev.
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Hedera). In the course of our research we found
that about half of the DRPs that eventually
resulted in hospitalization (about 7%) were in fact
avoidable. The majority of these were linked to
lack of compliance. Most of the patients that
suffered the consequences of the DRPs had achronic condition like diabetes mellitus or heart
disease. Not at all surprising, considering the
growing prevalence of different chronic
conditions. For example, according to current
trends more than 360 million individuals will
suffer from diabetes mellitus by the year 2030.
In light of those facts, as I see it from my humble
position of a student that is about to start his
hospital internship, the pharmacy professionsfuture needs to be shifted more towards the
prevention of DRPs, as well as optimizing and
individualizing personal health care. Those
improvements must happen in both the hospital
and community settings. Suitable changes in the
academic curriculum are needed in order to give
students and new graduates the tools to reach
the goal of individual health care optimization.
Effective ways to approach and guide patients,
together with further deepening of clinical
studies, are among the essential topics that have
to be present in current and future curriculums.
In the hospital setting the role of clinical
pharmacists needs to be further defined.
However besides clinical pharmacy, other
pharmacists in the hospital can also have an
important role in providing the patients with
proper guidance. Pharmacists should counsel
patients about how to use their medications as
part of the discharging process. They can alsoplay a role in the detection of DRPs in patients
that arrive to the ER as a part of the patient
screening process, and also detect possible
drug/drug or drug/food or herbal remedy
interactions after the patient admission is
completed. Pharmacists can also take part in
certain aspects of patient monitoring as a part of
the hospitals pharmaceutical care.
In the community setting, a suitable infrastructureneeds to be built so that the pharmacist will be
able to properly counsel the patient, rather than
just sell a drug. They could even guide chronic
patients that have a complex treatment regimen
and/or compliance problems on a regular basis.
It may sound unusual, but projects like this
(mostly with diabetic patients) already exist, and
some of them show very good results. Most of
the individuals in my class and I participated in aproject that provided guidance and counseling
for diabetic patients in the community. Every
student held meetings with his patients
throughout the semester. In those meetings the
students explained to their patients the different
aspects of their disease and guided them as to
how to use their medications in the correct
manner. The students also provided their
patients with moral support and the feeling of
solidarity. Although there were certain difficultieswith the process, a lot of the patients showed
improvement. They had better control of their
glucose levels, improved HbA1Cs, and better
general well-being. Projects like that can take the
pharmacy occupation another step forward.
Making other pharmaceutical services, such as
individualized drug counseling and drug therapy
review more available to the general public is
another way to improve the future of care
through pharmacy. All of those changes must of
course be accompanied with the proper
infrastructure.
In Greek mythology, Ascelpius, the god of
medicine, delegated the role of compounding
medicines to his daughter Hygieia. While her
fathers duty was most associated with direct
healing, she was responsible for the prevention
of sickness and the continuation of good health.
The past seems more relevant than ever
In conclusion, to stay relevant the future
pharmacist should probably leave the safety of
the counter, and be a more over the counter
kind of professional.
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Introduction
TB is a curable disease only if patients are
given a complete and uninterrupted course
of drug therapy and if they take these
medications as prescribed. Pharmacists have an
important role to play in the management and
prevention of TB especially in aspects related to
improving availability and accessibility of drug
treatment, improving adherence to therapy and
educating patients on the treatment and on thedisease.
General facts about Tuberculosis
According to the World Health Organizations
(WHO) Global Tuberculosis Control short updateto the 2009 report, there is an estimated
incidence of 9.4 million cases of tuberculosis
(TB) globally.
Provisional analysis of this data by age andgender indicates that women account for an
estimated 3.6 million cases. Most of these
estimated cases in 2008 occurred in Asia (55%)
and Africa (30%).
Why, in defiance of efforts to stop TB, does it
still kill millions of people each year?
1.The Menace Of HIV/AIDS
2.The Increase Of The World's Poor3.Poor health facilities in impoverished countries
4.Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis
5.Immigration: The Developed World's Problem
Role of the Pharmacist
Pharmacists may not be aware of the recent
trends in tuberculosis
resistance or of the impact that they can have on
educating the public
about this disease. The main objectives of the
Pharmaceutical Management for Tuberculosis
Manual include:
Providing data on TB pharmaceutical
management practices
Identifying ways to improve the pharmaceutical
management system
Monitoring to ensure an uninterrupted supply of
quality TB medicines
Creating country-based operations research
capacity by transferring this self assessmenttechnology .
Role of Pharmacists in Tuberculosis Management
Zamzam Torabi ,third year pharmacy student
Semmelwies University
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Pharmacists can deliver quality treatment
and care for HIV and TB patients and take
part in this process efficiently by:
Maintaining high standards of pharmacy
practice and observing any official codes ofpractice
Working as members of multi-disciplinary
healthcare teams
Acquiring skills in patient counseling.
Promoting holistic and wellness concepts to HIV
positive and TB patients and providing psycho-
social support or referral to support service
providers.
Supporting families within nationally approved
guidelines on MCH supported by the respectivegovernments, or referring patients to appropriate
facilities, where they are available.
Recording and notifying incidents of observed
drug resistance
The role of the pharmacist in collaboration
with other organizations
Working collaboratively, the Pharmaceutical
Associations and theirmembers can maximize impact by:
Interacting with networks of people living with
HIV and TB to better meet their needs and
requirements.
Assisting major data collecting agencies to
strengthen and improve systems for the strategic
use of HIV/AIDS, TB and MCH related
information, providing information on counseling
and testing services, and providing consumerinformation on sexually transmitted infections,
including referral services.
Participating in community, school and faith-
based activities
Pharmacists and government:
As the government has direct access to the
countrys statistics, has a strong influence among
organizations and owns the tool required to helpreach the goal of stopping such global diseases,
it is important to have the appropriate
communication with government and health
administration.
Main goals of pharmaceutical actions
regarding the government can be:
Build working relationships with politicians and
officials within the respective national and local
ministries of health
Contribute to policy development and
implementation as it relates to pharmacy
practice, pharmacy education and public health
(with special focus on reducing stigma and
discrimination)
Advocate for and assist the government and
appropriate agencies to combat the importation
and distribution of counterfeit and substandard
medications.
Advocate and negotiate with governments toincrease patient access to affordable and
sustainable antiretroviral therapy for antenatal
patients where appropriate.
Private pharmacies, their role and facts
The private sector offers an acceptable but non-
affordable service for many TB patients. A
substantial amount of anti-TB drugs are being
sold in private pharmacies, and therefore apotential role for pharmacists to play in
collaborative efforts between the private and
public sector in TB control exists. In contrast of
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the helping aspect of private pharmacies, in
many cases violation of the laws in private
pharmacies may amplify the disease.
Research done in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)
Vietnam has estimated that between 1100 and3400 people buy anti-tuberculosis drugs each
month in the 1814 registered private pharmacies
in HCMC, and that about a quarter of them do so
without a prescription. At least 40% of all anti-
tuberculosis drug dispensing in HCMC occurs in
the private sector.
Effect of pharmacist-led patient education on
adherence to tuberculosis treatment
To assess the effect of a clinical pharmacist
directed patient education program on the
therapy adherence of first-time tuberculosis (TB)
patients and to identify the major pharmaceutical
care needs and issues of first-time TB and
multidrug-resistant (MDR)-TB patients, research
was done by several scientists and published in
the American Journal of Health-Systems
Pharmacy in 2007.
The final results showed that the adherence in
patients who received pharmacist directed
patient education was greater than that of
patients who did not. The attendance at
scheduled visits and urine screen for the
presence of isoniazid metabolites yielded better
results for adherence in the EDU group, while
medication counts did not differ between the two
groups.The important conclusion is that patients
adherence to TB treatment improved when a
pharmacist provided patient education on
medication use and addressed patients
pharmaceutical care issues.
Conclusion
Pharmacists already contribute to the safe and
effective use of medicines throughout thehealthcare system. They also have a critical
responsibility towards ensuring a consistent
supply of medicines, promoting rational use of
drugs and providing information to patients and
this should be no different for anti-TB
medications. The private and public sector need
to work together if TB is to be brought under
control.
Government needs to begin to involve the private
sector in tuberculosis control programs, so as to
ensure a more comprehensive management of
TB patients.
Resources :
1.Treatment of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis and role of the pharmacist , Mitrzyk BM. 2008
Oct;28
2.TB management . By Gail Mkele, BPharm, MSc(Med)Pharm SA Pharmaceutical Journal March2010
3.Indian Pharmaceutical association
The Chennai Statement ,the Role of the Pharmacist ,in the Prevention &
Management of HIV/AIDS and in Maternal and Child Health (MCH) and Tuberculosis (TB),2010
4.The Role of Pharmacists in Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis
Yvette C. Terrie, RPh .Published Online: August 1st 2003 in http://www.pharmacytimes.com
5.Global Tuberculosis Control. A short update to the 2009 report.
http://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_repor
6.Private pharmacies and tuberculosis control ,Lnnroth K, Lambregts K, Nhien DT, Quy HT, Diwan
VK. in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7.Effect of pharmacist-led patient education on adherence to tuberculosis treatment
Philip M. Clark, Turan Karagoz, Sule Apikoglu-Rabus andFikret Vehbi Izzettin , American Journal of
Health-System Pharmacy, Vol. 64, Issue 5, 497-505
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Delving into the thought processes of a
particular profession, especially in thehealth care arena, is a tough proposition.
The values and goals of a profession cannot be
easily defined. There is historical data to be
accounted for, as well as a wealth of anecdotal
information and observations. But nothing quite
takes you to the heart of a matter like a personal
one-on-one conversation. Capturing feelings and
thoughts in ones own words and then
quantifying them into statistically significant
analyses provides a valuable insight in
understanding the aspects of a profession.
Here, an effort is made to bring out the common
perspective of my generation towards this noble
profession of pharmacy by presenting this essay
using my personal opinion along with some
general public discussion.
Every coin has two faces, one winning side and
one losing side, but it is never pre-determined
whether a side is doomed to win or lose. Onesown actions and decisions make him/her lose or
win. Pharmacy by default is like such a coin,
where if one is more basic and spiritual in belief,
he will tend to do great towards humanity and
nature, but on the other side, if a person is more
materialistic in his actions &decisions, he brings
out a little ugly side of this noble profession.
Let us try to evaluate & dwell into our
generations mind and ponder upon the latestviews of pharmacy. To understand the depth and
essence of this profession over the generations,
we begin with a simple question:-What does a
pharmacist of today actually do?
Previous generations had a variety of answers.
A general answer is-He is an individual in the
back of a dispensary wearing a white coat and
counting pills. So, here we see that pharmacy is
being set in minds of people of previous
generation as a money-making job. Another very
interesting answer to the question is-an
individual with some sort of medical degree
(though less valuable than a doctor) and working
in a medical shop. Now, here you see people
had limited the pharmacists role to just a
dispensing counter and to a profession not as
valuable as a doctor.
Brushing aside these previous generations
opinions, we now move on todays generation of
pharmacists & students and their views on this
noble profession. There are basically two
categories of views: - one is business oriented
and the other is research oriented. These two
categories are seen in most pharmacy studentsthese days, along with a perfect mixture of the
3rd kind- the serving nature.
To begin with the first kind- the business
oriented, we bring out a simple but amazing
quote it is not in the hands of a customer to
understand a commoditys use, but it is the art of
the seller to bring to light the importance of it.
Todays students studying pharmacy aim high to
generate cash out of this highly rankedprofession. Pharmacy today is not just a
lifesaving profession, it has become a source of
plentiful penny too. Some of the students have
Pharmacist in my Generations Perspective
Jasmit Singh Suri
Indian Pharmaceutical Association Students Forum
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clear cut goals to open a factory or a pharmacy
to begin their career and make it big, while others
have dreams of obtaining a highly paid job as a
retailer or a pharmacist in already well
established companies, thus offering their share
of expertise towards this noble profession which
too requires market and management.
Another portion of students fall into the second
category of research oriented. In this second
category, students are generally more innovative
and focused on doing something big in regards
to research and development, and for keeping
the spirit of this profession. Also, along with being
determined and intelligent, they are frequent
opportunity seekers, thus making themselves
career oriented in some aspects. They do wellwithin research & tend to shift towards more
famous establishments in order to gain
publications to publish their discoveries, thus
contributing significantly towards this noble
profession by drug discovery, testing and
maintaining good public health.
TThe third kind often seen in todays generation
are those who are more service oriented. Todays
generation tries to gain experience and derive
pleasure out of this career and pay off their share
of duties and responsibility towards nature and
mankind. They seek respect, love and words
of appreciation seldom. Along with generating
revenues they devote themselves to the local
hospitals, in the rural tribes and to the sick and
the wounded, just like the older generations ofpharmacists.
These three kinds of views have added variety
to the noble profession of pharmacy today. The
word noble has been used extensively
throughout this article in order to bring out the
essence of this profession, which has always
been constituted mainly of the services of the
third kind, the dedication and intelligence of thesecond kind and the field work of the first kind in
the ratio of 3:2:1.
Todays general perception of making money,
providing management and building a career out
of this field of expertise is justified when we look
at it in light of the ever increasing economy and
population growth, market growth and increasing
advancements. The market for pharmaceutical
drugs offers great opportunities andmoneymaking platforms, but in this race for
money, one should never forget to contribute
his/her share towards humanity and mankind.
It is often seen today that newly minted
graduates try to manage & help with the
medication regimens of patients with chronic
diseases, by looking for services in hospitals
or clinics, and not just in retail pharmacies.
Today, if the materialistic thought prevails in
society, an ethical sector too has grown over
time. If students of today are aspiring to acheive
acash generating career out of this noble
profession, they too are getting more involved
with the modern benefits of this profession.
Today, pharmacy is not just being limited to doing
community service or to sell drugs, it has crossed
its boundaries to explore the horizons of public
awareness, drug discovery, doctor assistance
and patient counseling too.
This essay is to be concluded with a very wise
thought which todays generation still keeps in
mind even while making cash out of it, that: -
Pharmacy is not about just counter-selling
of the drugs to the needy and the sick, it is more
about patient counseling and drug discovery.
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A
s a little girl, I used to be a dreamer. I grew
up and my dreams grew up with me.
When I got my high school degree, I wasthe first on my province and among the first
twenty in my country (Algeria).My marks allowed
me to study any major I wanted to. In Algeria the
best students choose to study medicine or
dentistry, and my family was expecting me to do
so. However, my interest in drugs discovery and
helping the sick sparked my passion for
pharmacy .I could not find anything more
satisfying than being involved in saving lives by
dispensing medication or contributing to
research on new drugs and vaccines. At thatmoment, I realized that I was destined to be a
pharmacist.
A major that crosses many disciplines
I entered pharmacy school full of excitement and
I was prepared to endure its hardships and
overcome its challenges. The education program
was rich and diversified and comprised of three
main components: Basic sciences,pharmaceutical sciences and the internship.
Through the first two years I was learning about
natural and basic sciences on different levels, I
got several classes of: Biology,
Chemistry, Anatomy, Physiology, Geneticsetc.
It was fascinating to learn about the biological
and the chemical make-up of the human body
and the innumerable processes that are
occurring constantly inside us. After acquiring the
basics of pharmacy, I started the advancedprogram and learned in great detail about the
different medicines from different perspectives.
The program explored ideas and principles in
more depth. A broad range of topics were
covered and the connections between them
were emphasized as well as their relation to
pharmacy. The Pharmacology and Galenicscourses gave me above all the feeling I was
waiting for, the feeling of being a drug expert!
The classes offered me the chance to practice
as an industrial pharmacist, and contributed to
deepening my understanding of the mechanism
of action of drugs, their clinical indications, their
different pharmaceutical forms and preparations,
and the list goes on. The curriculum also
included classes of pharmaceutical law and
management that taught me the laws and
regulations governing the health care system inmy country and distilled in me the good sense
and the ability to be cunning in difficult situations.
I liked the diversification of subjects and enjoyed
most of my classes. However, I was not very
satisfied with the clinical practice, and I hope the
program will offer a broader range of practice
opportunities to the students; and I wish that
better educational methods will be taken into
consideration, including moving from a lecture-
based to a problem-based learning curriculum.Life outside the classrooms and the labs was
interesting; away from the scientific courses I got
the opportunity to be actively involved in
volunteer work and school activities. I got extra
classes in first aid that were of great benefit.
Pharmacy education opens doors for future
careers
During my final year, the school offered me ahospital internship consisting of several rotations,
covering the hospital pharmacy and three
different laboratories .It was an amazing
experience that gave me the chance to put into
How my Pharmacy Education Prepared Me to Be
a Pharmacist
Written by: Asma Khanniche, a pharmacy graduate.
Shanghai Jiao Tong University-School of Medicine
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +8615921044839
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practice the education I got through the past
several years and also the opportunity to explore
both hospital pharmacy and laboratory research
as future careers; my thesis project allowed me
to make my first steps into the scientific research
world. By the time my last year of pharmacy was
underway, I started looking back through all thepast years with a criticizing spirit, I realized that
many aspects of my education could be
improved, so that the next generations will enjoy
better education and get more skills. Therefore I
think it is important that the education program
focuses more on improving the interpersonal
skills necessary for future pharmacists while
interacting with patients and other healthcare
professionals; and also helping them integrate
pharmacotherapeutic knowledge, problemsolving skills, and communication skills into their
daily practice. Furthermore, it would be
interesting if the school would consider
expanding strategic collaboration with other
health disciplines and in the community to
establish participatory leadership programs,
pharmacy practice experiences, a virtual portfolio
and research activities that not only provide
health and wellness programs to a populace, but
monitor and evaluate the associated outcomesof these efforts.
Lessons for life
Through those five years, I learned the meaning
of perseverance and diligence, and that being a
pharmacist requires a great deal of commitment.
I realized how essential the roles of pharmacists
are to improve patient adherence to drug therapyand ensure optimal therapeutic outcomes.
Moreover, the multifaceted education I received
allowed me to speak multiple languages such as
the language of genetics, the language
of biochemistry and pharmacology and many
others, and most of all showed me how to
integrate all of it. At the end of my journey, I
graduated from my school as a valedictorian and
got a scholarship to follow further studies, I am
currently completing a master program inImmunology, as I am interested in practicing in
an academic institution or more advanced clinical
settings. The adventure I lived in pharmacy
school was amazing, full of joy and excitement,
and it was also rewarding and opened doors for
me. Now that I am out of pharmacy school, I can
see clearly how that experience forged my
personality, raised my scientific spirit and
aroused my curiosity to seek more knowledge.
References:
1. Anne Marie Whelan, David Yung. Moving from a lecture based to a problem based learning
curriculum perception of preparedness for practice. Pharmacy education journal. 2007.Volume7-
Isuue3
2. Jennifer Silverthorne. Student perceptions of group function in a pharmacy Problem-BasedLearning course. Pharmacy education journal. 2009. Volume 9-Issue 1.
3. Michael S. Evaluation of Clinical Skills in Pharmaceutical Education: Past, Present and Future.
Am J Pharm Educ. 1995.
4. Charlene Y. The Role of Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy in the Advent of Healthy People
2020. Am J Pharm Educ. 2011;71 3Article 56
5. Smith RE, Kerr RA, Nahata MC, Roche VF, Wells BG, Maine LL. Engaging communities:
Academic pharmacy addressing unmet public health needs: Report of the 2004-05 Argus
Commission. Am J Pharm Educ. 2005;69 5Article S22.
6. O'Neil C, Berdine H. Experiential Education at a university-based wellness center. Am J Pharm
Educ. 2007;71 3Article 49
7. Patterson B. An advanced pharmacy practice experience in public health. Am J Pharm Educ.
2008;72 5Article 125
8. Popovich NG, Katz NL. Evaluation of a microteaching exercise to help develop specific
performance-based abilities in pharmacy students. Am J Pharm Educ. 2009;73 (4) Article 73.
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