Symposium: Pharmacy.. Leading the wave of change

Pharmacy.. leading the wave of change? This topic may be frequently discussed among the pharmacy students, lecturers as well as pharmacists. The wave of change here reflects the growing responsibilities of pharmacists in health care profession and towards the society. To which extent the change will be, it will be discussed by our honourable guests of the day.

The panels include:

1. Mr. John Chang, who served as the President of Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society (MPS) from 1995-2008. Mr. John Chang had given a pharmacy talk at UCSI University on 30th September 2006.
   
2. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tham Sock Ying, BSc Hons (Mal), PhD (London).
   
   
3. Mr. Mohamad Hasli bin Ismail, who has 20 years experience in retail/ community pharmacy. He was a graduate from USM.
   
   
4. Melissa Hong Chui Ean, who is now working as PRP in a public hospital. She was a graduate from AIMST University, She was previously the IPSF Liason Officer from 2008-2009 before being appointed as the Asia Pacific Regional Office (APRO) Chairperson currently.

As can seen above, we have panels from different fields for this symposium.

1. Mr. John Chang representing the pharmacy organisation/ association: MPS
2. Dr. Tham representing the education field: Post graduate studies/ Research
3. Mr. Mohamad Hasli representing the community pharmacy: Community pharmacy
4. Ms. Melissa representing the hospital pharmacy: Hospital pharmacy

Perhaps, we lack a representative from pharmaceutical industry. Mr. John Chang led and chaired the panels.

While waiting for the arrival of the VIPs, we managed to take some pictures. xD.

The emcee of the symposium, Miss X.

Among the discussion/ talks by the panel were:

1. Mr John Chang
   
   
   • He emphasized the need for pharmacists to work together as a profession and to stay united through the pharmacy association, MPS.
   • He encouraged students to registered as member of MPS and to regularly visit the MPS website especially the iBulletin which is a weekly pharmacy news.
   • He cautioned the audience not to question 'question what MPS had done but should instead ask what you had done for the profession'. Each and everyone of us who had the thought should check the MPS website before making any doubt on the credibility of the MPS as the sole body that championed for the pharmacy profession and its rights.
      
2. Dr. Tham Sock Ying
   
   
   • She emphasized on the need to pursue higher level of education that is postgraduate studies.
   • She encouraged students to take on research and expand their knowledge.
   
   
3. Mr. Mohamad Hasli
   
• He emphasized on the challenging role of pharmacist in the comunity/ retail pharmacy as the public are more educated now and more aware of their health.
• He questioned on the ethics of pharmacists on safe prescribing. If the pharmacists do not adhere strictly to the ethics as well as rules & regulations, there won't be a prescribing right for the pharmacists. 
• Pharmacists must be aware of new developments in pharmaceuticals and provide good advice to their patients in drug related problems.
  
  
4. Ms. Melissa
   
   
   • She emphasized on the new process of learning when one ventured into PRP after graduated from university.
   • Pharmacists must be well equipped with drug knowledge or otherwise the public may perceived us as ordinary staff working in a hospital.
   • Pharmacists must carefully review the prescription and dispense in accurate and correct manner to the patients.

And many more.... Too bad if you had miss the chance of attending this symposium. Though the duration was short, it was good enough to make awareness among the pharmacy students on their roles and responsibilities in carrying their duties. One need to be competent and be ready to face new challenges. If you are the lazy type or do not like to obey the rules and regulations, please hold back and do not tarnish the image of the profession. Discipline yourself now!

Souvenir giving presentation by the Chairperson of the 6th NoGAPs 2010, Ms. Joanna.

The committee member taking a picture with the panels of the symposium.

Our lunch

We managed to take this picture with the 'scroll' and ribbon used during the official opening ceremony.

In a nutshell, students should carry the high qualities of being a pharmacist and bring up the pharmacy profession to a higher level.