The Clinical Pharmacy II Module in Semester 8 of the Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons) programme [BPharm (Hons)] at International Medical University (IMU) has provided opportunities to the Pharmacy students to acquire real-life community pharmacy experiences and to have hands on practices. The community pharmacy placement is for a minimum duration of ten days. Students are allocated to either independent or chain pharmacy in this internship. Tan Chen Hui, a pharmacy student from the BP118 cohort of IMU BPharm (Hons) programme, was allocated to complete her ten-day final year placement at Pronature Farmasi. Chen Hui (in the photos below) shared,” I have always wondered about the working life of a community pharmacist ever since I had chosen Pharmacy as my undergraduate studies. This ten-days placement at Pronature Farmasi was a remarkable and rewarding experience for me. It helped me to have a deep insight of the roles community pharmacists play in community healthcare.” Throughout the ten-day final year placement, she was able to have hands-on practice in serving the customers and the procedures involved when filling a prescription.
“I was given the opportunity to prescribe medication for common illness such as colds and flu, allergies, stomach aches etc. I felt very excited as I am applying knowledge learnt in classes into real cases here. I also had the chance to practice the process of checking prescription, filling prescription, dispense medication, and keeping a poison book,” said Chen Hui.
Students are assigned with a preceptor during the placement to enhance their learning experience. “I was able to learn a lot for my preceptor, ranging from choice of medicine to ways to counsel customers. My favourite part is to discuss the cases with my preceptor for any improvement to be done in the regime given to the customer,” said Chen Hui. Another student, Ahmad Khairul Daniel bin Ahmad Kamar from BP118 cohort completed his ten days placement at Caring Pharmacy. Throughout the placement, he was able to engage in pharmacy’s daily duties such as handling customer’s enquiry and dispensing medication. In addition to that, he was also given opportunity to do health screening like checking blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring. “I really loved the environment here. The pharmacist and the staff were very friendly and willing to help and answer any questions especially about medications and supplements,” said the student.
Apart from that, he learnt about the pharmacy management such as stock ordering and receiving, layout arrangement and marketing. “During Semester 5 of BPharm (Hons) programme under Pharmaceutical Management and Entrepreneurship module, we were taught management and marketing skills involved in retail pharmacy setting. It was exciting to observe this practice in actual settings,” said Khairul Daniel (Standing in the middle in the photo on the left).
He also observed the pharmacist’s interaction with different customers when dispensing medication and supplements. “One of the things that amazed me the most was seeing how delighted the regular customer was when he walked in, greeting the pharmacist in charge, and having a small chat before obtaining the medication. This helped me realise how crucial a pharmacist’s social skills are, “said Khairul Daniel.
