I don't like to work in lab@@.I prefer helping people around. Actually I am a mufian,i have met the requirement, currently waiting for the offer letter.but I still considering whether to choose monash or imu because I don't feel waiting for half a year.TT

the half the year wait will be worth it.

So monash is much batter imu?

Monash University's Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Australia is ranked 6th or 7th in the world. In Malaysia, the pharmacy school is quite new and while it is not at the same standing as the faculty in Australia, they should have similar-ish standards upheld (I hope).

IMU is very established in Malaysia but of course ain't that great in world/Asia rankings by any stretch.

This post has been edited by Farmer_C: Jun 23 2013, 06:11 PM

Hello to everyone here, I am facing some problem on applying uni. I am a A level student, taking 3 subjects only, chem, phy and maths. I made up my mind to study pharmacy last year and I checked the requirements of most of universities and here too. There was NO biology required. However, when I was about to register for Monash today, they told me that the pharmacy board has made biology a must for new students. Anything I could do?

well, let's just say you only pay about 20k more to get a degree which is recognised throughout the whole pharmacy world.

did you take Biology in SPM?

This post has been edited by zstan: Jun 24 2013, 10:08 AM

Singapore accepting Bpharm from Monash Sunway ?

hey all,

need your opinion as having a discussion with colleague.
they say aircond filter + air purifier is a must now because of haze.
true?

Yes yes, I got a B+ for it. The thing now is, the new set of requirements made it a must during our A levels and Monash refuse to let me register because of it. I am so lost right now. I planned to start my course in next year Feb, but now it becomes a problem to me.

Besides, I saw Monash havent get accreditation yet. So does it means that even I graduated from Monash Sunway, I cant register as a pharmacist in Malaysia?

dunno yet. first batch just out.

personally i think an aircond filter should the job. if you have extra money then go ahead. don't think it will increase your health at significant levels though.

they changed the requirements already lately.

http://www.pharm.monash.edu.my/future-stud...quirements.html

previously i have also added the requirements to page 1.

you can get registered. the first batch have already started working.

This post has been edited by zstan: Jun 24 2013, 02:41 PM

Hi Farmer_C & zstan,

At the pharmacy schools, do you manually count individual pills on a tray, or rely on hands-free automated pill counter?

If counting manually, are there any rules of thumb for a pharmacist to dispense prescription of drugs safer, more accurate and more efficient?

In Australia, we don't normally remove the pills from the original packaging. From my understanding, it's common practice in Malaysia (I've volunteered in a pharmacy in Malaysia for 2 weeks when I was in my first year) to sell loose pills in those white bags. I don't feel that that's a good idea for many reasons. The only time the pills are removed is when we do 'webster packing' or filling dosette boxes.


Webster pack


Dosette box

In this case, we just count the pills needed manually and put them in - the final product is then double-checked by a pharmacist if it was done by an intern or student. Obviously, mistakes can still happen and they happen more frequently than they should...

This post has been edited by Farmer_C: Jun 24 2013, 08:05 PM

I know they changed the requirement lately, but it wasnt changed when I register for A levels. I take that as my guideline and now they changed it. Isnt it unfair to people like me? I studied one and half year A levels going through everything and now it becomes useless to me. What's the point of me studying A levels then? I am so frustrated right now. I called up to the pharmacy board today and got scolded because they said they had given notice to all school and university about this issue in year 2011. Yet it seems that many schools didnt give any attention to this piece of notice nor say anything about it. And me, ending up into a situation like this.

erm i don't have any pill counting classes if that's what you mean. but in the hospital settings some pills are individually counted but most pills/tablets nowadays comes in packs of 10s, but yeah, manual counting most of the time. its financially infeasible to place one tablet counting machine in every single pharmacy.

sorry to hear about your predicament hopefully you can get things sorted out.

Thanks Farmer_C and zstan for both of your explanations.

In terms of medical information on prescription drugs, vitamins and over-the-counter medicines, do pharmacists share the same knowledge as the general physicians?

Say I developed some health-related symptoms and I went over the counter at a pharmacy. Do the pharmacists know all types of general medications for the gastrointestinal tract, the cardiovascular system, the central nervous system, pain and consciousness, musculo-skeletal disorders, the eye, the ear, nose and oropharynx, the respiratory system, endocrine problems, the reproductive system or urinary system, contraception, obstetrics and gynecology, the skin, infections and infestations, the immune system, allergic disorders, and nutrition?

This post has been edited by Critical_Fallacy: Jun 25 2013, 07:55 PM

Pharmacists are often the first port of call for patients because 1) we're health professionals 2) we're available without appointment 3) talking to us doesn't cost a cent (which is kinda sad).

No other health professionals know more about drugs than pharmacists, not even GPs. Sometimes GPs or even medical officers in the hospitals know so little that I sometimes wonder if they really should be allowed to prescribe at all. The exception to the rule is that consultant doctors are likely to know more about the drugs in their field than regular pharmacists. A registered pharmacist in Australia will know pretty much most common drugs inside out (doses, side effects, indications, contraindications, food/drug interactions etc) and know enough for the not so common drugs (that said, a pharmacist's knowledge of pharmacology tends to drop to embarrassing levels after a while out of school or if they don't keep up on their knowledge actively). I haven't done my pharmacy internship yet I can recognise most drugs available in the market and know at least their uses and side effects, so a practising pharmacist will know a lot, a lot more.

Pharmacists are heavily involved in primary health care and can handle most minor ailments. For common problems like colds, allergies, rashes and vaginal candidiasis, pharmacists are trained to recognise symptoms and recommend treatments or refer to a doctor if severe enough. While pharmacists know the fundamentals of diseases, they're not experts. The experts in diagnostics and diseases are the doctors.

NB: The above pertains to community/retail pharmacists only, not hospital pharmacists.

This post has been edited by Farmer_C: Jun 25 2013, 09:19 PM

Like what Farmer_C mentioned, if you are talking about drugs alone then yes, pharmacists are more trained in the aspects compared to the general physicians. but we wouldn't know how to diagnose as much.

Thank you for your wonderful explanations. Pharmacists are indeed respectable health professionals.

Could you tell how does the job description of a Pharmacy Assistant (shown below) differ from the Clinical Pharmacist’s one? If a Pharmacy Assistant works smart and long enough, will his or her knowledge be competitive as of the Clinical Pharmacist on the drugs inside out (doses, side effects, indications, contraindications, food/drug interactions)?



This post has been edited by Critical_Fallacy: Jun 28 2013, 04:43 PM

Technically, in terms of clinical knowledge, pharmacy assistants (let's call them PA for short) can rival a pharmacist any day as long as he/she really puts in hard work. however there are some areas that PA fall short off. Firstly, is their official recognition by law. The most obvious difference is that PAs cannot dispense psychotropic drugs as well as many other controlled drugs, despite knowing how they work and act. They might not be trained to monitor drugs which have narrow therapeutic index. Actually they may not be trained in many stuff since their whole course only lasts for 3 years.

to put it in a blunt way they are more capable in doing all the 'easy' jobs that pharmacist used to do and are slowly taking over while pharmacist moves on to more 'sophisticated' jobs like patient counselling and other stuff.

Pharmacy assistants or dispensing technicians here do dispensing (i.e. grabbing stock, processing in computer, labelling) but have to allow the pharmacist to check the final product. They do other stuff too but my pharmacy law is foggy so I'm not sure what else they are legally allowed to do. This allows pharmacists more time to take better history and give better counselling, at least that's the theory. I guess it's different here... pharmacists definitely have far superior clinical knowledge than the assistants.