First day of work

It was simply overwhelming. I was assigned to a huge drug store, much bigger than the one in Jelita. They carry all other products - toiletries, food, beverage, paper products, photo printing service and many others I might have missed out. The number of OTC products available on the shelf is sufficient to put me in convulsions. Different kind of brand names, different dosage forms for just one drug (enteric-coated, delayed release, caplets, tablets, gel capsules, liquid gel capsules etc etc JUST for ibuprofen 200 mg, not to mention there are the extra strength ones, those in liquid forms, and those in combination with antihistamines and so on), different packaging (the stuff here are more colourful!) and the different deals that go with it. It is simply impossible to keep track of everything. So my preceptor suggested keeping a few "favourites" in mind for recommendation.

So that was just a short intro about the pharmacy.

This morning we went to meet our abroad officer, which took us on a walk around the campus, where most of the buildings we have already seen on Sunday. Then she took us to get our uni ID card and computer password. For the latter, I must say that she is a little dim-witted. I have already told her specifically in an email that we have already received our computing username and password. And yesterday, when we were about to go into the building, I asked her again whether we are applying for the above and she said no. I think there is a major communication breakdown here. So after we got our new randomly generated passwords, we were unable to log on to the internet at night and hence, cannot do work and cannot book tour to Jasper/Banff.

After that, we went to see our placement coordinator who walked us through the objectives and expectations of the programme. We talked about what we wanted to do (to go for a home care and hospital visit) and she gave us a little tour around the faculty after that. She showed us the pharmacy practice lab, which was tastefully furnished and fully equipped with probably all the drugs in the world. It is a very nice lab to have counseling/dispensing sessions in.

Lunch was at a little pizza joint just about 3 blocks or so away from the Pharmacy building. Thin-crusted pizza with nice cool weather outside and a sunny sky makes a lovely lunch outing. Then we walked 5 blocks to CYYC's pharmacy and left her there while prof and myself made the remaining journey to downtown, where my pharmacy is located.

The trip downtown was rather crazy as we were quite late for our appointment. Ran to the train station, and ran for the bus as well. I thought the pharmacy was of a walkable distance, but looks like I will have to cover more than 20 blocks to get to the pharmacy from my residence. So maybe investing in some travel tickets will be good. If the weather is nice enough and if I wake up super early, I might want to take a 30 minute walk there.

My preceptor is a very young woman, probably just 2 or 3 years (or less) older than myself. She talks real fast and I was trying very hard to understand what she said. met the other workers in the pharmacy, they have 2 pharmacists in store, a pharmacy manager, 3 pharmacy technicians and 1 other pharmacy student from U of Alberta. I think I might actually look like a fool because the other student is also a 3rd year going on to his 4th (final) year but he's already counseling patients like his second nature. And he obviously knows more things than I. I really wanted to dig a hole and hide there. Stressful lah!

Did not do much when I was there, just hung around the store and learning up the types of brand names and the type of combination products they have. So far I have very quickly went through pain/fever, cough, cold and flu medications. Today (yes, I didn't actually write this yesterday after work. Was too tired to think and reflect) I will move on to the GI section where there are MILLIONS of TUMS preparation available. Sigh. Why can't they just keep it to ONE kind of plain antacids?! Grrrar.

Talked to some of the technicians and they showed me how they package drugs for people on polypharmacy (people on more than 5 drugs at a time). Most seniors would require this to help them remember taking medications. The tray has 28 slots, divided into 7 days and 4 "meals" per day. So if the drugs are to be taken in the morning, it will be slotted in the appropriate hole and so on. The end result is like a blister pack, filled with 5 or more drugs inside one blister. Looks nice, but is quite scary cos these people usually have all the disease at a time - diabetes, hypertension, hyperlidemia and very likely hyperthyroidism for ladies - and needs many drugs to keep their disease in control.

So that is about it. Couldn't help but to feel very much overwhelmed by the amount of work to be done and the expectations placed on me. And also, to try my best to learn as much as I can. My preceptor hopes to get me to counsel on all sorts of medications, which includes eye/ear drops, asthma inhalers, topical drugs, antibiotics and so on. And I will be doing much reading up on diabetes mellitus as I will have to do a minimum of 2 counseling sessions for patients with this condition. I have absolutely no idea what kind of counseling it will entail, but very likely it will involve monitoring their blood glucose levels and making sure that it stays at target. And whether the patient is suffering from side effects and whether the drug regimen fits into their lifestyle. I must always remember that pharmaceutical care means "the responsible provision of drug therapy to achieve specific outcomes to improve the quality of life of the patient"

It is going to be a steep uphill learning curve, but I am expecting a lot from myself so as to make this learning journey (literal sense too, since I travelled so far. Heh) a fruitful one. I just hope I don't crack. :)