My first love clinical attachment.

Weee.. Guess what? I've finally applied for a short attachment after my fifth semester. You know how 'passionate' I am bout the degree I'm doing that only now I've take some time to get my butt to the hospital.
Many thanks to Andrew and my sister who helped me to applied for it at Hospital Melaka.

SO, there I was two weeks ago (18th-22nd of April) to do my one week long attachment. Apparently a week is very, very short as the people working there were surprised as I answered them, that. *smiles*
Obviously you can't learn much in such short period of time, and probably forgotten everything bout it until you graduate and be in the scene again. But I've to say it's a pretty good exposure!

Who would have thought you'll probably use only 30-40% of whatever you've learnt throughout the study years. Other times you'll be doing office and paper work. *grin*

I was sent to 10 different units, given the time frame of a week.. it was divided to half a day for each unit. Am now excited to begin my stories of each unit but I don't know if this will last till the end of the post. *evil grin*

Anyway, I was at the main pharmacy on the first day.. Both the OPD and IPD were just side by side. Trust me, in the midst of all the studying and reading.. abbreviations are of vital importance when it comes to working in the hospital. I felt like a flower bud, which was far from blooming! anyhoot.. OPD was good and there were pharmacist assistants there to fill the prescriptions. Most of the time you just screen the prescription and dispense + counsel. They also have two little rooms in any cases whereby you need a more thorough counselling, usually in regard to the usage of devices eg: insulin pump and inhaler.
THERE are also different types of pumps and inhalers. Shit... why la they never taught us!

IPD was about the same, the only difference is you don't have to see the patients! Nurses drop prescriptions and you fill them up. There's also drugs that you can give as floor supply, drugs that are kept at the ward for convenience sake. Most of the noon and eve spent sitting in the office as it wasn't the peak time (morning).

Where's next?

-->The Therapeutic Drug Monitoring unit (Farmakokinetik Klinikal)

You just have to love how they translate it to BM. LOL
As the name suggest, this unit normally run blood test to see the pharmacokinetic of drugs with narrow therapeutic index. They actually apply the calculations we learnt in Biopharm 4!! But most of the time, you just use machines (thank goodness for technology) to run the experiments and you analyse the results and jot down your suggestions on a piece of paper.

--> Pharmacy Store

Handle the drugs, consumables and reagents flow in and out of the unit. Didn't do anything much.. Just chit-chatting with the PRPs there, Jia Jie and Liang about the career.

-->MTAC Medication Therapy Adherence Clinic

Sounds awesome eh? but the name says it all! To follow up on patients cases and to see them for counselling sessions! ^__^ Again you feel like a flower bud.. Shit. I feel like a baby pharmacy student despite the fact that I'm in my 3rd year and what more? graduating next year! Yikes!! better buck up!

Oh Thursday was interesting..
I was in the TPN department. And I had the chance to play dress up upon entering the clean room to see the preparation of PN. I had my SPACESUIT! JUMPSUIT moments. (NO PHOTOS! ahhh.. saddd) tedious, very.. SO much to prepare bags of as sterile as possible nutrients, eye drops and also morphine sulphate. Patients and all other people should appreciateeeeeeee them really! *teeheee* I wanted to offer my help to the pharmacy assistant, Mr Aziz.. but in any case that I was contaminating my gloves by touching my face and hair.. I better not touch his work *sticks tongue out* Oh, before that.. the briefing was a bit of a please-stop-asking-me moments! lol.. She was asking about TPN and as far as I could recall.. the only stuffs we learnt about TPN was a few short paragraphs on roughly what is it about in  PP2 handbook. yikes.. flower bud.. flower bud

-->Production Unit
Place where they prepare drugs for internal and external use of the body. Syrup, cream, ointments.. you name it.. ^__^

--> Ward Pharmacy
Here's where the clinical pharmacist do their jobbbbb.. Walk around with the doctors, screen patients medications and counter check the dosage, forms and what nots.. Also intervene in any case the doctors didn't give the right dosage, forms and what nots. XD Learnt quite a few things from my preceptor also. Good exposure!
Rather than just sending us to clerk cases *cough* IMU *cough*
I know we're following the UK syllabus, but I wonder if IMU could just do a little extra than just following.. Least organise these sort of attachment for us than getting our cashhhhh only.. paper also save.. bleah. okay, totally unrelated!

-->There's also the DIS, the last unit I was sent to. Drug Information Service.
Basically, they answer your queries related to drugs. Not only that, they also organise talks for CPE (continuous pharmacy education) and also create pamphlets bout drugs.

I attended two CPE talks during lunch hour. boy-oh-boy, the drug companies were so kind to provide lunch. McD two days in a row~ Weeee.. save some cash from buying my own lunch!
It was interesting surely! though of course it makes you feel more like a baby pharmacy student.
yikes..

okay.. back pain d. lazy. Sorry my words are all jumbled up!

Came back to KL on Friday night itself. Many thanks to parents who were so kind to pick me up from the LRT station. :D

Oh! there were two seniors from IMU(P106) working there as PRPs.
I think my only regret is that I didn't put much effort to know their names. Yikes.. It bothers me how bad my communication and people skills are. Need to brush up also!

Anyhoot, I'm proud to say.. I've done my first clinical attachment at the hospital. *smiles in glee*

Oh oh.. came back that night to surprise this camera shy guy.
And he called me bendul.. apekahhhh.. --________________--

You know you don't have to read this, it's boring! Just for the sake of memory I'm storing it here!!