The inaugural National Clinical Pharmacy Challenge 2014 took place in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Kuala Lumpur campus on 16 – 18 May 2014. Jointly organised by the UKM Faculty of Pharmacy and Persatuan Mahasiswa Fakulti Farmasi, this challenge gathers pharmacy undergraduates from all over Malaysia in a healthy platform for gaining knowledge and useful experiences in the area of clinical pharmacy, besides strengthening their communication skills. Aptly themed “Enhancing clinical skills, advancing patient care”, it aims to produce competent and ethical graduates who are able to integrate knowledge, skills, and social responsibility.
A total of seven participating teams from five different varsities, including International Medical University (IMU), went through the grueling preliminary rounds 1 and 2, followed by semi-finals. The preliminary rounds consisted of written examinations of Multiple Choice Questions and Short Answer Questions based on pharmacology, therapeutics, and clinical knowledge. Participants took the Objective Structured Public Health Examinations for the semi-finals, completing five stations with different tasks to be performed in 15 minutes. The top four qualifiers to the final round were IMU (team A), Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences (CUCMS), and UKM (teams A and B).
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In the finals, each team were given a clinical case for which they had to devise a management strategy (or pharmaceutical care planning) and prepare a presentation within an hour. Teamwork and coordination was essential. The most exciting part of the challenge was when each team presented their cases in front of a panel of judges made up of clinicians from Ministry of Health Malaysia and academicians from several universities. IMU team was specially commended by the judges on their professionalism, presentation, and appropriate style of writing pharmaceutical care plans. 
The closing ceremony was graced by the attendance of the Vice President of the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society, Puan Adiba Syed M Haq. She emphasized the importance of communication skills, aside from clinical knowledge, in order to convey information to the patient. In his closing speech, the Dean of the UKM Faculty of Pharmacy, Prof Ibrahim bin Jantan expressed his hope that the National Clinical Pharmacy Challenge would continue to be an annual event with rotating organisers and involve more pharmacy undergraduates from a wider scope of universities both local and foreign in the future. The long-anticipated moment arrived when the winners for the 1st National Clinical Pharmacy Challenge 2014 were announced. IMU (team A) emerged first runner-ups and also bagged the best individual participant award. The winners for the challenge were as follows:- • Champions: UKM (team A) • First runner-up: IMU (team A) • Second runner-up: CUCMS • Best participant: Tiffany Soon Huey Ling, IMU (team A) The event ended with a photography session and exchanging of warm goodbyes. Certainly, many memorable experiences and connections have been established during the course of this challenge.
Among the various lessons and values imparted have been summarised by the winning team members of IMU:- “Students should participate in such events as it is a very good opportunity for pharmacy students from various varsities in Malaysia to meet, to know each other and to exchange knowledge. The memories of working hard to strive for the best with my teammates throughout this competition is something I will always cherish. I think that nothing is impossible and that success can only be achieved if one is willing to work hard for it.” (Yong Hui Xian, Catherine)
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