Assalamualikum w.b.t dan salam sejahtera
seifniti kesyukuran kepada ilahi kerna diberikan peluang untuk diri ini hidup di muka bumi Allah dan disediakan ruang dalam kehidupan mengecapi nikmat menjadi hamba bergelar mahasiswa farmasi .. selawat dan salam kepada junjungan nabi Muhammad S.A.W yang membawa cahaya islam kepada dunia yang penuh pancaroba serta syukur kepada golongan ummara' dan ulama' yang sentiasa berusaha mentadbir dunia berdasar ilmu dan sumber yg ditetapkan oleh Allah taala..
alhamdulillah, kemaafan dipinta bersempena ramadhan.. menjadi rutin harian seorang hamba sentiasa memaafkan hamba yg lain kerana kita adalah hamba yang sentiasa mencari keredhaan Allah dan tidak terlepas dari sebarang kesilapan .. maaf juga kepada adik-adik dan sahabat matrix , sahabat sekolah lama dan juga hidayah kerna saya lambat membalas pertanyaan anda semua berkenaan profesion farmasi.. jika sebelum ini , saya menerangkan sejarah saya tercebur dalam bidang ini dan juga macamana saya juga tercebur dalam bidang ini dan seterusnya, untuk kini.. maka eloklah saya masuk kepada isi yang sebenar .. kerjaya sebgai ahli farmasi ..
sebelum pergi lebih jauh , saya ada satu artikel yang bagus untuk ditatapi oleh sahabat yang berminat berkenaan kerjaya farmasi ini . sebagai intro untuk perbincangan kerjaya ini ..
kisah yang diperoleh dari new strait time
(From left) Faten Fariza and Siti Noraishah
Q: So what do you want to be when you grow older?
A: Er… don’t quite know.
For those of us who aren’t quite sure what kind of an occupation we would like to end up in, Niexter will feature a career each week to help us decide. Today, walk in the footsteps of a pharmacist.
PHARMACISTS are health professionals who assist individuals in making the best use of medication. They are also responsible for the accurate and safe dispensing of medication.
For this column, I had the opportunity to interview two pharmacists about their profession - Faten Fariza Pakharuddin and her partner, Siti Noraishah Hassan. Their pharmacy was clean, bright and neat, just like them! And their jovial and easy-going attitude quickly put me at ease.
Both Faten and Siti, aged 31, completed their degree in Pharmacy in Universiti Malaya in 2002. They went through a year of compulsory housemanship (yes, pharmacists go through housemanship as well). Siti did hers at Kuala Lumpur Hospital and Faten at the Ipoh Hospital. After that, both of them went into retail pharmacy and became partners. The result— a flourishing pharmacy that has been going steady for three years now.
According to them, a typical day at work for a pharmacist includes facing and counselling patients plus dispensing medicine prescribed by doctors. Pharmacists also suggest the right medication when a patient describes his or her illness.
When dispensing medication, pharmacists provide a complete explanation regarding the medication such as how to take and keep the medicines, when to take them and possible side effects of the drug (e.g drowsiness). Pharmacists also enquire about patients’ underlying conditions and allergies so that the right drugs are given to them.
“Some patients are either uncomfortable with doctors or they forget to tell their doctor about their allergies and underlying conditions,” said Siti. However, with pharmacists, they open up and mention all their allergies. When this happens, the pharmacist has to call the patient’s doctor and discuss an alternative course of treatment. “This shows that there is a two-way relationship between doctors and pharmacists,” she added.
It takes four years to obtain a degree in Pharmacy. After that, one needs to undergo housemanship for a year. Then, one is recognised as a qualified pharmacist. It is also compulsory for pharmacists in Malaysia to serve the government for three years. Some pharmacists opt to pursue their Masters and further their studies in a specific field of pharmacology. One can also pursue a PhD after successfully obtaining a Masters degree.
Is a Pharmacy course difficult to undertake? “It’s just like the science we learnt in school, memorising, applying and calculating. Of course, it is more detailed compared with secondary school science. There are still many things to discover,” said Siti. One of the main concepts in Pharmacy is maintaining the quality and efficacy of a drug after many years. The science behind manufacturing drugs and preserving them while still making them economically viable is also vital to the field of pharmacy.
If you are interested in becoming a pharmacist you need to have basic knowledge of pure science in secondary school. You should also excel in Biology and Chemistry as these subjects are connected to this field. The communication skills learnt in school also come in handy here, according to Siti, as pharmacists are required to communicate effectively with their patients. Building a relationship with the patient is also a plus point.
Therefore, having good communication skills is an added advantage.
One of the personal traits that is essential in this job is being responsible when dealing with patients who require treatment. “You also have to be willing to face patients and have a caring attitude towards them,” said Siti. You need to be observant and sensitive towards patients’ needs as well. Pharmacists should be able to read people. For example, a pharmacist should be sensitive towards a person’s attitude and economic background. They should be able to provide the best treatment at the affordable price.
There are numerous fields of careers in pharmacy that can be pursued once you have qualified as a pharmacist, ie: lecturing, research, clinical pharmacy, law and enforcement, manufacturing of drugs and veterinary fields.
Why did Faten choose retail pharmacy then? “Initially, I wanted to be an accountant. Although I found my calling as a pharmacist, I was still interested in business. Retail pharmacy combines both pharmacy and business,” she said. She was also interested in patient care and meeting patients directly. In other settings like production, pharmacists don’t really get to meet customers. This evidently did not appeal to Faten.
She also said that pharmacists were in demand, and it was connected to a field of medicine that furthered her interest in patient care.
In a hospital environment, pharmacists are on call on a rotation basis. There are many departments in a hospital and each department has its own designated pharmacist. Pharmacists in the outpatient department, for example, will run the outpatient pharmacy with an assistant pharmacist. Clinical pharmacists do ward rounds with doctors to check the drugs given to patients, whether it is the type of drug or the dosage.
Pharmacists also have to prepare special drugs upon request. The preparation of these drugs is usually done in place called the “clean room” which is sterile. Pharmacists are required to wear proper attire and mix the drugs using the right proportions, suited for individual requirements. “These specially requested drugs are usually meant for cancer patients and parenteral nutritions for premature babies,” said Faten.
Among the challenges Faten and Siti faced during their time in a hospital was that nobody really recognised pharmacists as an important part of the hospital set-up. However, both assured me that it is no longer that way as awareness of the profession has increased nowadays. Sometimes, the challenges lie in the form of the patients themselves, especially when they are not compliance to the instructions given. In rural areas, miscommunication is always a hazard as a language barrier exists between the residents and pharmacists.
What about the challenges in a retail setting? According to Cik Siti, they have to be at their pharmacy at all times. Balancing family commitment and managing the business well can be a big challenge. They have to be tactful with their customers and keep abreast of the latest drugs on the market as patients might request for them. The business side to retail pharmacy is as important as the dispensing of drugs. Staff management, overhead costs and other expenses have to be managed effectively to ensure a successful business.
Siti’s career highlights so far is the learning process that has never ended. She has met loads of new people as well, making new friends along the way. She admits that not being able to fulfil her patients’ needs makes her unhappy while working.
Touching on future plans, Siti would like one day to own her own pharmacy and perhaps pursue her Master’s. But first, she is eager to build up her business and network as it isn’t easy to open a pharmacy now, in such a competitive environment.
“This is a good time for students to become pharmacists,” said Siti. She reasons are that there are countless universities and colleges offering the relevant courses and the lecturers, facilities and technology available locally is on par with the ones found overseas.
Faten and Siti’s advice to those who are interested in pharmacy is to be patient and determined while pursuing this career. They strongly advise against trying for this job without the interest in it as “… without passion, it will just be a boring routine”.
Well, there are many universities and colleges that are offering courses in Pharmacy, so if you are interested get in touch with the relevant people for more info on pursuing a career as a pharmacist. Good luck!
Secara ringkasnya, dengan berdasarkan dalil-dalil yang sohih, peluang dan kemudahan yang diberikan Allah SWT di bulan ini yang pastinya akan dirindui dan di tangisi oleh para mukminin dan solihin adalah :-
