Too bright!! too bright!!

My eyes are fully dilated now and any exposure to light makes my eyes water and my vision blurry. I can't see near stuff so I can't do any reading that I have planned to do. Even typing out this post is a bit difficult and I have to turn down the brightness of the screen.

Anyway, there is nothing wrong with my eye. There is not "fairly large naevi" which was written down by the optician, only a very very small pigment according to the ophthalmologist. These pigments could, in time, turn into a tumour, but it mostly occurs in Caucasians and very very very very rarely in Asians. So nothing to worry about!

OK... going to rest my eyes now. It was difficult trying to walk back just now because, even without the sun, it was too glaring. Blessed relief when I got back home and into my room.

Am I going bananas?

The whole house is filled with the aroma of bananas today, as I embark on a baking frenzy. I bought lots of bananas which cost 1 pound on Friday and they are ripening very fast so I had to find a way to get rid of them.

And so, I baked....

Nutella Banana Muffin! Well, I didn't have enough nutella so you can't really taste the nutella. But it is really moist and soft. Yum yum..

And banana walnut bread! It looks nice, smells nice.. but I have no idea how it taste like as it just came out of the oven and I'm too full to try it out. Never mind, will let my "guinea pigs" try it out. 

To break the monotony of banana-made products, here's my dinner. Baked chicken with potatoes and mushroom and homemade coleslaw. Somehow I think I need something new to try out for my dinners. It seems to be repetitive.

Baking is fun and all, but the tedious part is washing up. You get tons of dishes to wash up after baking.

Anyway, if you want the recipe to the above banana muffin and bread click here and here.

I still have some more bananas.. What should I do with them? Banana milk shake?

Pharmacist Dispensing Right in Malaysia

I was just reading the news about the upcoming pilot move to shift dispensing rights to pharmacist. O the controversy!

All the doctors go, "NOOO.. this is going to cost the patients more as they have to pay for consultation fee and also another charge for medicines! The trouble they have to go through just to get their medicines." or "There are no pharmacies placed conveniently near the clinics and not enough pharmacists to go around." or "Pharmacists are just money-grabbing no-good people who want to earn more money out of this."

Few issues I would like to address here:

1. Pharmacists go through 4 years of studies, if I dare say, intensive study of medicines and their properties. I, as a pharmacy student, do not see myself as stepping over the boundaries of the medical profession. What we do is complement it by giving the best of the two expertise (from doctors in their diagnostics and pharmacist in their medicines) to the patient. Ultimately, it is the patient who is going to benefit the most out of this.
2. By separating the two roles (prescribing and dispensing), a lot of medication error can be avoided. We are all human after all, so mistakes do happen. But with two people being vigilant in the care of a patient, many errors can be avoided.
3. There are not enough pharmacists because most students do not even consider going back to work as there is no future. I, myself, have always wanted to go back and work, and managed to convince myself that everything will improve with time. But with some doctors looking down on pharmacists and refusing to give up dispensing rights, how is it possible that pharmacy in Malaysia will improve? If ever that the dispensing rights are given to the pharmacists, more students will consider going back. There would be more pharmacies opening near clinics for better access by the patients. The fact that pharmacists now working in the community in Malaysia are often nothing more than shopkeepers, selling shampoo. Without the need for pharmacist, why do we need a pharmacy in Malaysia? Why go back when here in the UK you are regarded as someone who is a healthcare professional able to give useful advice?

This topic is just what I thought about when I was writing my paper on "Is Pharmacy a Profession?" for my Social Sciences and Pharmacy module. Writing that paper really made me think about what I was doing in Pharmacy when there are such questions being asked. Here is UK, pharmacy is slowly evolving into being a real profession. But in Malaysia, pharmacy can never be considered as a profession if what we study for 4 years for is never being given to us to practice.

This government move is a good chance for pharmacy to be viewed as an actual part of the healthcare system. It does not have to happen overnight but slowly, step by step, better prospects will be there for pharmacists.

Some news and letters:

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/Frontpage/2198656/Article/index_html

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/Frontpage/20080402120749/Article/index_html

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/Letters/2201251/Article/index_html

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/Frontpage/2200105/Article/index_html

 

I think I don't make sense in parts of this blog.. who cares.. I have vented out my frustrations and that's that.

 

P/s: Another point made by a person who I shall not name is that there are not enough 24 hour pharmacies to deal with dispensing. Correct me if I'm wrong, since I don't go around Malaysia looking for doctors, but how many clinics in Malaysia are 24 hours? Some pharmacies also open til quite late. The reason why not a lot of pharmacies open till the middle of the night is because for NOW, there is no need for it! As before, lots of changes would occur if the dispensing rights are returned to pharmacists. And I say return because it is always the right of pharmacists!

Is not the healthcare industry big enough for everybody?

Added on 03 April: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7326856.stm 

News on how pharmacy is evolving in the UK