More news on dispensing rights

I just read two doctors' blog on their view on the dispensing rights:

one is here and here (two posts) and to summarise it, he has given 10 reasons why pharmacist should not have exclusive dispensing rights, but from what I have read it sounds like why are pharmacist trying to act smart. Among the 10 reasons are, pharmacist want to make money, there are no 24-hour pharmacy and pharmacist keep trying to be better than doctors. Can't they give a new reason cuz this is getting old? (BTW, I noticed something in his post. He said that he wrote a prescription for his sister to buy something. Correct me if I'm wrong but, I thought you shouldn't treat your own family? If I'm wrong, I'm sorry)

Another is here, here and here ( a three-part series) in retaliation to the above person.

Mind this, both are doctors. I do not know where the first one was educated in but the second graduated and worked in a developed country before.. see how different their views are?

Ok, so far I've read doctors comments and doctors blogs... Anybody know any Malaysian pharmacist blogging about this topic?

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

RPSGB Local Branch Meeting

I just came back from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain Local Branch Meeting which discussed on the use of Antibiotics and Statins.

Something we learn during this lecture: antibiotics are not all that useful in simple infections. Most infections would resolve by themselves and the use of antibiotics only help resolve the symptoms by, at most, 1 day. Thus, simple infections like sore throat, eye infection, ear infection in children, do not really require a course of antibiotics.

One of the interesting things to note about is, that when you place lecturers in the seats where we would normally sit in, they become like little kids themselves. They chatter and giggle and act like how we would normally act in a lecture.

This is my simple (but incomplete) CPD for antibiotics and statins RPSGB local branch meeting.

Sometimes

Sometimes it's just tiring not to have someone to lean on.

Sometimes it's just overwhelming when you have to do everything on your own.

Sometimes, you can be lonely even when there are a lot of people around you.

How I wish that I am not here, but safe and sound at home, where I don't have to pretend I'm strong, where I don't have to show the world a brave front.

Sometimes I'm just tired... of being me..

But I shall hold on... I shall still go on being bold, hiding the scared person inside of me. I will overcome this challenge in life and I will make it through..

Because I'm me.

Updates on my life

Had a 4 day "holiday" since I did not have any labs on Thursday and Friday. Decided to just rest and relax but ended up doing quite a number of things.

Wednesday Night:

Went out for dinner at Nando's for Kaeshin's Birthday. About 20 of us walked down the dark shortcut to Nando's. About 20 girls following one guy, Goh. He was a bit like the Pied Piper leading all the poor rats/ children away from town.

The company was good.. but the food wasn't all that interesting.

Puisan baked a strawberry chocolate cheese cake for Kaeshin..

And we baked cinnamon rolls. (We were on a baking spree)

Thursday:

Went out with yanleng for a shopping spree... and met up with Pui San to have dimsum

Made sweet and sour pork! from scratch! Google'd the recipe again.
Had a girls' nite in at home. Movies, chips and wine..

Friday:

For the life of me, i do not remember what i did.

Saturday:

Went out with Yan Leng again. This time to meet up with her uncle and bring him and his friend around Nottingham. When we got to town, this was what we saw.

Fresh hot Walkers! So we just quickly went to queue up to get our share of fresh Walkers.

Had dimsum again for lunch, but at a different restaurant. This one was better than the other one. Then brought them around to see University Park and Yan Leng's home. Went out for dinner and the food was great. Services wasn't great but quite efficient. Wanted to take pictures of the food we had but didn't in the end... regretting it now..

Sunday:

Went to Hyperama which is a cash and carry store which sells in bulk. It's only 10 minutes walk away.. And we had to pay in cash. I only had 22 pounds and Puisan had 3 pounds.. We had to count everything we wanted to buy just so we had enough cash to pay for it all!

This post took me ages to complete.. and it's a crappy post. Have a lot of things on my mind. Need to go and study a bit now. Apparently there's a test tomorrow which slipped my mind. Argh..

Fickle-minded people

I admit it.. i am fickle-minded. You can ask me one day if i'm going for something, i'll say no.. the next thing you know, you will see me there. Ask me lots of times and i would (most of the time) change my answer.

Well.. it's not only me. Probably most people make decision only to change them ever so often. I think our brains aren't capable of making firm decisions.

One thing i dislike is when faced with a decision. Especially a decision with millions of possible answers. For the life of me, i will never be satisfied with the decision i make. I will always end up regretting what i had decided in the beginning and wish i could turn back time and change my answer.

I guess i'm just fickle.. I'm entitled to be..

Someone just asked me whether i think i'm selfish.. I suppose i am sometimes. But depends on who the other person is. I treat people how they treat me. which is the other way round of what i should be doing. I should treat people how I want people to treat me. But sometimes you can't help but reciprocate in what people do to you.

Freedom! and Photohunt: Important

That's right.. free from exams! at least until the next exam period turns up. So, to summarise how the exams had been, it was terrifying. Seems like the first time in my life that each day before the exams, i feel like puking. And it is not a funny thing. I left earlier than my housemates each exam day as being at home made me nauseous. Good thing is that the cool weather calms me down a bit. A bit. So to everyone of us who have finish exams, congratulations on surviving!

So.. what should i do now? I'm free from everything for the weekends. Sadly, the new semester starts on monday. Well, going for a potluck steamboat dinner later.. and to Derby tomorrow for a shopping trip! hehe.

Well, it's time for this week's photohunt! Important!

So what's important to me? Of course, My Family!

And Friends!

Just one more...

*Disclaimer: I'm just rambling on. It might be boring but i feel better writing it out.*

one more... one more... i can do it..

sometimes it just seems like I'm just going on with my life with.. for want of a better word, deadlines. It's always one more day... or 6 more months... or one more year.. or... what my last few posts have been saying.. three more.. two more.. one more...

What's with these numbers? Would I have a better life if I live in the moment, without all these figures prancing around in my mind?

I suppose this way of mine (maybe not only mine, probably a lot of people do this as well) of looking at a date in the future, makes life easier somehow. It's easier to bear with things. When the going get tough, it's just easier to think that there will be a better day, without all this annoyance. A time where you know you are rid of what is bothering you now.

But then somehow it seems like a sad way to live. Chanting to yourself, "It's only 6 more months, it'll pass by in a blink of an eye." It's just difficult sometimes, to see the future. Somehow, sometimes, it's not so enjoyable being in this situation. I just want to enjoy the present, is that so wrong? Why can't i do that half the time?

Well, it'll be over in the near future, and all I have to do is enjoy myself as much as I can and not care so much. That makes life easier..

Words that just pass you by

Have you ever came across a situation where it required you to answer promptly? Where words are just at the tip of your tongue but you bite them back, because you think it might be too insulting? Then, right after that moment has passed, you are banging your head on the wall, wondering why in the world did you swallow those words, when in fact you should have voiced them out cuz they probably deserved it in the first place?

I have...

Anyway... one last paper! I can get through this... Should've gone library... House is cold again.. which reminds me... i wanna watch HOUSE!

Toilet break

Two more... two more... two more...

Someone once told me that when girls want to go to the bathroom, they would announce to the whole world that they are going. "Hey, I want to go to the toilet, who wants to go along?" in a really loud tone. And an outing is being held. But when guys want to do their business, they would just stand up and just leave for the bathroom.

When I heard this, I thought I'm not one of them who announce to the whole world what I'm about to do, but sometimes... just sometimes.. I catch myself doing the exact same thing. I think it's ingrained in us that we should go away in a group instead of alone. Maybe for safety, maybe for companionship, or maybe just to hang out together (yeah.. in the toilet).

How many of you would announce to everyone and their friends that you are going to the loo? Just interested in finding out. :D

Exam

You feel your heart beat faster... you feel nauseous... you feel that nothing is going to go right for you... you feel that your brain might explode any moment and you can't do anything about it. Urgh...

Exams are the teachers' torture method. Since most teachers/lecturers might feel tortured when they are teaching in class (since probably half the class isn't listening to him), this is the best way for them to get back at us. It's a conspiracy, I tell you.. a conspiracy..（ “上课时不听课，看你现在怎么样死！” muahahahhahah）<--that's what goes through the minds of our torturers..

Anyway.. you think you got everything down in your brain, but on the day itself, your mind comes up as a blank piece of paper. Nothing inside. You can probably hear the sound of your tiny brain rattling inside your skull as all your brain contents have been leaching out when you were sleeping at night. There might be some stuff left but once you get into that exam hall, there's this force that sucks everything that you know out of your mind and you turn into an empty zombie with no intelligence at all..

So, all the studying done in one semester, falls down to that critical moment in your life.. the point of no return.. the time that you do or die.. all for what?

All for the sake of your wonderful future that you are going to achieve...

Just wondering

Have been staying in the library for three days now and because it is warmer in the library, i managed to make my brain absorb some of the essential stuff that we need to know in order to pass the dreaded .... *gasp*... exams..

Here's something i was wondering while revising on molecular pharmacology this afternoon. First, some basics. Nitric Oxide (NO.) is a gaseous radical and is extremely reactive, which causes the smooth muscles in our body to relax. NO. also causes penile erection.

Nitric Oxide is also abundant during a lightning storm. So.... Does that mean that men are getting erections everytime there is a lightning storm? lol.. but after thinking about it.. i guess not. Since NO. is so reactive.. it'll probably not reach there in time...

I deduced another thing when i was revising but don't think there's any point in blogging that as it'll only take someone who has learnt molecular pharmacology to get that. The wonders of molecular pharmacology. I quite like this module..

Well, decided to write down what i was thinking about anyway.. so if you're not interested don't continue reading...

cGMP is broken down by phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) to 5'-GMP. If there is an increase in cGMP, that means that there would be excess fluid that is secreted into the gut lumen, causing diarrhoea. Based on those two facts, that means that by applying a PDE5 inhibitor, we would inhibit the break down of cGMP and there would be an increase in cGMP, thereby causing diarrhoea, right? Sildenafil or better known as Viagra is a PDE5 inhibitor... But BNF doesn't say anything about diarrhoea as side effect. I'm just speculating.. don't take me too seriously.. the dose is probably too low to cause diarrhoea anyway..

really.. things i can link together while studying molecular pharmacology

Just have to get it off my chest

First of all... Happy Birthday Sarah! I suppose you're starting A Levels soon. Good luck!

You can stop reading now if you don't want to read about my problems. :D

Next.. about me now.. Just feeling kind of depressed today. I think I need to spend one day out of these 4 walls and study in a new environment. I can't study properly and everything seems to be overwhelming. Friends who see me think i'm overly relaxed but truth is, i just don't know how to study anymore. I don't know how to store all these information away!!

I need to get out of here. Better i go and study in the library tomoro.. more human contact there. either that or i can always sit outside at the park and study.. haha... probably freeze, what with the cold snap we are experiencing now. I sure hope that we can at least see some proper snow tomoro.

Feeling better now that i jot down these silly thoughts, but sure hope it'll help me study better tomoro. It's terrifying when you think you've got everything stored away in your brain and when you try to do past year papers, you find that you don't know anything after all. Wondering if i could fill in an extenuating circumstances form.. i could say that the weather and the place is too depressing a condition to study in.

Anyway, the important part about this post is wishing Sarah a happy 18th birthday! you're old you're old!! hehe..

I found something that cheered me up ---> click here

Say bye to the old year, hello to the new one!

The year is coming to an end and 2008 is just around the corner. I thought i would do a list of 10 things that i have done. And maybe some new year resolutions!

10 things or more that i have done in 2007 (in no particular order) will add on more when i think of it

1. I turned 21 (duh)
2. I successfully completed 2nd year of pharmacy and entered 3rd year in Nottingham!
3. I travelled for 23 hours from Kuching to Edinburgh ALONE! (well, dhivya did accompany on the last leg of the journey from Heathrow to Edinburgh)
4. Learnt to be fully independent (not very fun)
5. Got my first paying job and my first salary
6. Toured around Scotland and had fun
7. Made new friends (and stopped being too antisocial)
8. Played flute during mass!
9. Saw snow (albeit very sad looking snow, since it was raining heavily and snowing lightly. Only flakes)
10. Improved on my cooking skills (I cooked turkey!)
11. Had fun making gingerbread men with Pui San and Yan Leng
12. Spent my first christmas away from home.. but spent it nicely with friends and also with Uncle Jim and family.

New year resolution

1. Study harder
2. Survive another semester here
3. Apply for hospital placement (sheesh.. i have to do this soon)
4. Find a place to stay in Cornwall
5. Try and bear with some people
6. Try do more exercise
7. Try and make praying a daily event (I always fail this)
8. Explore UK and Europe
9. Be more sociable?
10. Improve more on my culinary skill

Happy New Year all!

Christmas Party away from Home!

I successfully made turkey! ahhaha... following are photos of my christmas party.. thank you all for coming and hope you all had fun! Merry christmas!







I'm glad to be able to share christmas with great friends like you!

White Christmas?

I'm dreaming of a white christmas.... just like the ones i used to know...

I don't think i'll be getting a white christmas this year. No snow from what i see in the forecast. But today is very very foggy, probably as close to a white christmas as i'll get, just not in snow format. ahha..

I'm wearing three layers now and still feeling cold. From a friend's suggestion, i should go out and gather wood to burn to keep warm! ahha... I would do that, if i had a fireplace.

I can't study properly as well.. I think i'm burning too much ATP to keep warm, when i should be metabolising ATP for brain activity. Think that's why my brain is shutting down. Someone help!

Update: Make that 4 layers...

****

Today went to mass and Fr Chris was saying something about trust. And how hard it is for us as humans to trust someone. To put ourselves in a vulnerable position in front of someone else and put ourselves in a position to get hurt by them. Something to think about: God sent His only son to us to save us. He placed His son in the family of Mary and Joseph. What does this say about God's trust to us as humans? Maybe we should try and reciprocate the same trust towards God. Thought-provoking statements by Fr Chris.

Christmas season

As most people would know, this is my first christmas away from my family. I thought that I would have a hard time being away but it's not so bad. It really helps when you have great friends around you, enthusiastic about celebrating christmas for the first time. It helps when we get together to make gingerbread men (even though it too so much energy to mix the dough properly). It helps when we plan a christmas dinner together and all of us come together spreading christmas joy.

Even though it is cold and miserable here, even though i am far away from much loved family, even though I wish to be at home surrounded by family, I'm glad that i'm surrounded by good friends here, relieving some of the loneliness i feel sometimes.

So, thanks Pui San and Yan Leng for the fun time we had making gingerbread men!

It's only a few days more to christmas! Merry Christmas all!

btw.. tomorrow's the shortest day of the year! and also the winter solstice. can't wait to eat glutinous rice balls!