2012 : The year when we became adults!

We all go through different phases in life.

I think, right now I'm officially an adult.

WHY?

1. I graduated
2. I'm working
3. I got my first pay
4. People start to ask when is my turn to get married
5. My close friend got married. and more wedding plans to come.

It's funny when you reflect back on the past years, the person you were, and the person you are now. May be the same person, but different in many ways. We all go through changes at some point of our lives. 

And i guess it is safe to say, that i'm proud of the change in me.

It's funny how the conversations you have with your friends now have somewhat change. though, sometimes, I have the tendency to bring up whatever high school gossips, just for the sake of being childish and young. *we do need some gossips in life, dont we?*

But yeah, the main topics nowadays are work related stuff. when can we ever be like we used to be? I guess, NEVER is the answer.

This year, i'm 23. at my working place, I'm the youngest. 

Next year (2013), I'll turn 24.

And I wonder, how much more do we have to change?

Well, this post is basically just a shout out to all of you youngsters out there. Enjoy your youth while it lasts! Coz once u turn into an adult, there's no time machine to turn back time. 

Pharmacist - Learn to swim when you're thrown into the ocean

As a pharmacist, my main priority is to ensure that the patient rteceives the best pharmaceutical treatment possible. Yes, the doctors are the prescribers but don't forget, that behind every successful doctor, there is a pharmacist. We may not get as much credit as doctors do, but really, our pharmaceutical knowledge, no doctors can beat. That's the truth.

I've just started working for 3 weeks. Everyday has its own challenge. Like today, I thought my main challenge was charging the prescriptions into the system.. it is a challenge when you watch your colleagues do 5 times faster than you. it is a challenge when your colleagues patiently wait for you to charge and not complain even a bit. it is a challenge every time you do a mistake and having to re-charge into the system. it is an even greater challenge to read certain doctors' handwritings. so please to all you future doctors, do not burden us with your handwriting

I think i have quite a nice group of colleagues. yes, some may not be as warm and nice as I expected, but i guess majority matters most. One thing about working in a hospital with many staff is that : 

1. you have to meet with patient's expectation

2. you have to meet with your colleagues and other medical staff's expectations

3. and i think for me the most challenging part is meeting with my own expectation

On daily basis, errors in prescriptions and dispensing are really common. for me, it's even annoying whenever  i see myself making errors and thankfully my colleagues are not the type to scold menjerit2 and what not. I suppose, everyone makes mistakes and just have to learn from it. 

but I guess as someone who just started, it's a learning process and throughout the learning process, shit happens. ok, no major shit happened so far, so fingers crossed. i'm glad that i haven't got scolded by a patient. that is one of my biggest fears. I guess it doesn't matter how much your colleagues scold you, but once a patient scolds you, that will hit you hard.

By the way, apparently today SDMC was super busy because the occupancy was up to 97%. And plus, many staff were on leave so it is even harder to ensure that patients get their medications as fast as possible. a staff actually had to wait for 3-4 hours to meet a doctor. surely they do not want to wait any longer for their medications. sorry patients, if only SDMC has the electronic prescribing. it would be easier for all of us.

Ezan Alia

One of the many things that I am grateful to God is the bunch of friends He has sent to me all these years. I may not appreciate the relationships I had in life, but I think that is compensated by having such amazing companions.

A great friend is someone you share your happiness and sadness with at all times. like my best friend Shera always says, "through thick and thin". Last weekend, one of my closest friends, Ezan Alia got married. It was exciting for me and my other girlfriends coz she was the first but the youngest amongst us to get married. 

Ezan and I knew each other since KTJ. I was her senior by one year and we were in the same house, Irinah. I knew Ezan since she was 15 and it was interesting to witness her growing up and change into a woman throughout these years. One thing that I never stopped saying to Ezan til now is, "I'm so proud of you". It's amazing to see a person to be able to withstand all the challenges in life and yet, still come out smiling and strong as ever. Ezan is the epitomy of beauty inside out.

I treat Ezan like she's my own little sister. For the past two years, we shared about each other's lives like we never did when we were in KTJ, hence why I felt some sort of an attachment to this girl. On the day of her solemnization, I couldn't stop tearing up from the moment we sat down after bringing the dulangs in til the solemnization completed. I was shocked myself, but I guess it was because I witnessed such a beautiful ceremony and of course I was so happy that she found someone in such a short time but I could see such a great love between them. On that day, I understood the meaning of true love.

So our baby girl Ezan got married, leaving four of us (we call ourselves the attap girls). I wish her all the happiness in the world. I'm so glad that she found someone who can take a good care of her and who loves more than anything in the world. Alhamdulillah. we're gonna miss Ezan in our joyah sessions, of course she may not be able to join all the sessions but I'm sure once in a while her husband doesn't mind heheheh. 

Congrats Ezan Alia! you know i love you! =)

p/s: sorry this post is a week late.

First week of PRP training in SDMC

Hey guys, I know a lot of people has been asking me about work as provisionally registered pharmacist in SDMC. I shall give an overview of the pharmacy department and which rotation i'm currently at.

As you all know, SDMC is one of the most well-established private hospitals in the country. So, I felt it is a privilege to be part of the SDMC healthcare professionals. As for the pharmacy department, it is surprisingly HUGE! like the government hospital to be exact. I'm currently posted at the outpatient pharmacy at the ground floor. there are also satellite pharmacies as well at each floor in the outpatient building, but this does not mean that the ground floor is not busy! may be less hectic, but between 11am to 2pm, prescriptions  come in non-stop. on average, the ground floor OP pharmacy dispenses over 800 items a day. and that's just at the ground floor. sometimes, if the satellite pharmacies don't have stock for certain items, they have to send the patients to ground floor to get their medications. owh ya, not forgetting inpatient pharmacy in the other building,CDR, store. all those are in the pharmacy department as well.

The hospital also has a very extensive medication formulary i.e the list of medications available for dispensing.    most of the medications there are branded products i.e  EXPENSIVE products and not generic.so during my first week, it was important to familiarise myself with the different types of medications available there. 

In terms of colleagues, I think most of them are nice and friendly. there were 3 other new pharmacists who came in to join the department. So I was not alone.

First week was all about familiarising and understanding the work flow. there is an added pressure working in a private hospital compared to working in government hospital, in terms of cost and efficiency. As I mentioned, most of the medications in the pharmacy are branded items. Private hospital patients are brand conscious when it comes to their medications, hence why they're willing to pay so much for their treatment. they're willing to pay rm100 for a branded antihypertensive agent, when they can easily get an equivalent but generic product which cost much much less than what they're paying. in terms of efficiency, working in a private hospital means that you have to meet with the patients' expectations. medication errors happened and lead to lawsuits. So double checking prescriptions is really important. And must keep in mind - a simple error (not life-threatening) may lead to a lawsuit.

I'm working from 9am to 6pm on weekdays and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays. Quite tiring but at the end of the day, as long as you enjoy what you're doing, any obstacle can be overcome easily. Be prepared to get scolded etc, coz you are there to work and serve the patients. the main goal is to give the best possible treatment to the patients. afterall, they invested hundreds or even thousands for their hospital visits. surely, if I'm a patient, I would want to be treated well.