There's more to a pharmacist's job than just dispensing medicines
AS A fresh graduate from the NUS pharmacy cohort 2007, I followed with great interest the recent exchanges in The Straits Times regarding the public's opinion about pharmacists and their roles as played out in hospitals and community pharmacies.
What struck me was that the role of pharmacists is neither well defined nor understood by most.
Unlike other professionals in the health-care field who play more visible roles in our society, such as dentists, nurses and doctors, pharmacists are not seen as playing an evident part in the health-care scene. We are somehow in the picture, but no one's quite sure about what we really do.
Typically the pharmacist's main point of contact with the public is in the course of supplying medicines to them. Little else is known about what goes on behind the counters, from the reception of the prescription to the end point when the patients receive their medication.
As mentioned in the letter, 'Educated public best check on prescriptions' (ST, Oct 1) - 'I doubt if any pharmacists would or should challenge a doctor's prescription' - the common misconception is that pharmacists simply supply medications as directed by the doctors. End of story.
However, in the outpatient pharmacy in hospitals, there is a systematic process which involves pharmacists using their professional judgment, and contacting the doctors about changing a dose or adjusting a treatment to ensure that the public gets the most efficient and cost-effective drugs. Other clinical roles of pharmacists include medication monitoring, patient education, improving patient medication compliance and side-effect profiling. Pharmacists also play active roles in answering doctors prescription queries, and regularly publish updates to keep fellow health-care professionals updated on recent drug developments.
I believe that we, as a profession, have the knowledge and training to make informed decisions about prescribed medications, and it is our responsibility as part of the health-care team to ensure a patient's best interests are always met.
Michelle Tan Wan Lin (Miss)
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And some from PSS websites:
PSS Vice-President's reply "Pharmacists help to ensure safe and right use of drugs" to Edgar Koh's Tough Pill to Swallow
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