A 10,000 pound jigsaw puzzle

Read the news:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7765701.stm

I wouldn't mind having that kind of puzzle to solve. I've always been interested in puzzles and how to solve them. I play lots of puzzle games online and try out every sudoku that comes my way.

But, how good it would be if solving a puzzle equates to getting 10,000 pounds at the end of it?

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

Earthquake!!

There was an earthquake last night. And i was fast asleep when the earthquake started and got woken up by it. You could feel shaking and really loud noise. At first I thought it was the normal loud bangs that we get occasionally but when it continued for a while, I thought it was an earthquake. But not knowing that there were actually earthquakes in England, I just went back to sleep.

Until I woke up in the morning and saw the news and confirmed that there actually was an earthquake.

Scary..

Python who thinks golf balls are eggs

I just saw pictures in bbc news of a python who thought the golf balls left out by a couple in the chicken coop to encourage the chickens to lay eggs, were eggs! haha.. it actually gobbled down 4 of the "eggs". Poor thing..

Photos here

Study break

It's the holidays!! It's a study break!! so.. is it a break from studies? or a break to study? Seeing as how the exams are right after the holidays, i should say it's a break to study. So, to try and scare myself, i should just post up my exam timetable:

08 Jan: Molecular Pharmacology
09 Jan: Nutrition in Health and Disease
14 Jan: Medicinal Chemistry
18 Jan: Advanced Drug Delivery I (or ADD)

and the first exam is..... just 20 days away! muahhahahhaa.... am i scared now? I have no idea.. I hope i am.. so i can have the "push' to study..

news of my "at home" haircut.. it doesn't look so bad i guess.. haha... feel that it's still a bit too long behind but yanleng and puisan don't dare to cut anymore. don't know why - i haven't worry yet and they are even more worried than me! anyway.. according to yanleng, i'm mad. Doing such crazy thing. She's not going to cut for me anymore.. =( guess i'll just let my hair grow til i get home. Not going to spend 20 pounds on a haircut.

Christmas is just 6 days away and my christmas party is just 5 days away! hopefully the turkey i'm going to make will turn out alrite.. hehe..

ps. the sun hasn't come out in a while. will we be lacking in Vit D? and increase our risk of getting lung cancer? news here.

Wikipedia

Can we start using wikipedia now for our studies? It's not like we don't use it anyway.

Read the news here.


On another note...

If you had to write an 3000-word essay, can you just put 3 pictures as a picture is worth a thousand words?

Dog hiding from threats

A millionaire dog, Trouble, is in trouble!! She has gone away under an assumed name after receiving death threats! ahha... funny...

click here for the full news..

A little bit of Pi.

Taken from BBC News, Day in Pictures.

Cool rite... The mathematical constant pi.. spirals of the numbers at Mathematikum museum in Giessen, Germany