Com. report

NAME: AKPALU MOSES KUDJO. INDEX NUMBER: PHA/12/01/1317. DATE: 21/09/2015. COURSE TITLE: COMMUNITY PHARMACY PRACTICE.

A REPORT ON A TWO (2) WEEK COMMUNITY PHARMACY PRACTICE ATTACHMENT AT LESSON PHARMACY (NIMA) PRESENTED BY AKPALU MOSES KUDJO FROM 15th TO 29TH OF SEPTEMBER 2015. INTRODUCTION As part of the curriculum for a third year student in the faculty of pharmacy of the noble institution Central University College waiting to make it to the final year, training under a pharmacist in any community pharmacy of one’s choice is required in order to help the student have a practical translation of the theory taught in class. The main role of a community pharmacist is to promote the safe, effective and responsible use of medicines in the community. This report serves to summarize the activities, benefits, observations and experiences gained as well as the challenges faced. Some recommendations were as well noted. ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to acknowledge the in-charge training pharmacist Pharm. Kwaku Ankamah for giving me the opportunity of acquiring knowledge at the pharmacy. A special appreciation also goes to the manager and the staff most of which were medicine counter assistant for their tireless attention, support and devoted time. I also appreciate the efforts, support, team work as well as the great ideas my colleague Miss Genevieve exhibited during our training at the pharmacy. God bless Lesson pharmacy and its workers for such a wonderful service and the great platform it has created since 1978 till date for the community and its indigents. ABOUT LESSON PHARMACY This pharmacy is located at Yahaya Seidu Street on the Nima Highway in Accra and it happens to be near the Nima market. It started providing its services to the community in 1978 as a licensed chemical store then to a pharmacy in 1988. The Pharmacy had about 11 working personnel of which some were medicine counter assistants. The pharmacy is managed by the pharmacist and an administrator. The pharmacy has two air conditioners, a camera to help provide vigilance and two sophisticated devices which are digital blood pressure monitor and digital body mass index monitor. The are used respectively in checking blood pressure and body mass index. The pharmacy has a computer software system used in the sale of medicines, taking and managing of stock. Clients tend up to make payments to the cashier which is also located in the pharmacy with receipts given them at the counter before their medication is supplied. Prescription only medication example anti-hypertensive, opioids etc. are kept in a separate location in the pharmacy from over the counter medication. The counter and shelves for dispensing prescription only medicines (anti-hypertensive, opioids etcetera) is separated from

medicines that are over the counter by a passage door. This door allows the clients access to the pharmacist’s office. The pharmacy also has a store room and a kitchen for its workers, a counseling room as well as the manager’s office. The pharmacy opens at 8:00am and closes at 9pm daily. The pharmacy is however closed on Sunday’s. The pharmacy does not practice a shift system but each member of staff has two days off in a week including Sundays. The most interesting thing about the pharmacy was the availability of an alternative power supply that ensures that work goes on and also provides regular appropriate weather conditions for medicines.

FIRST WEEK The first week was quite challenging because I found myself in a new environment with different people from diverse backgrounds. The community pharmacy setting was also new as this was the first time I had to experience it having already been in the industry. I therefore had to acclimatize to the way things are done by understudying the system and the workers. After being introduced to the pharmacist in charge and some of the workers I was then scheduled to work from 3pm to 9pm daily with the exception of Mondays and Fridays. After familiarizing myself with the operation procedure in this pharmacy, I started trying to render services to clients or patients. The picking up of medicines from the shelves to be dispensed to patients was major role I played in the pharmacy as well as taking a survey of all the shelves available so as to familiarize myself with the locations of the various medicines present on the shelves. I sometimes helped in the provision of medication counseling to clients who spoke in languages like Ewe and Hausa of which some staff of the pharmacy found difficulty speaking. Vividly observing by watching and asking questions were also the most frequent roles I was found playing during this week so as to help get accustomed to the way things are done in the pharmacy. SECOND WEEK Before the start of this week I had already gain grounds as to how things are done there in the pharmacy therefore I was this time around on regular occasions made to sit right before the computer and render services each time I report to work. The following activities happens to be my regular priorities at the pharmacy: dispensing medications to patients which include packing and labeling of medicines, providing medication counseling to patients who comfortably understood languages such as English, Ewe, Twi and Hausa, helping some workers take stock of medicines available on the shelves, helping to restock medicines that were out of stock; this is done to ensure safe dispensing of medicines, update and to also make auditing them easy, providing non-pharmacological treatments sometimes to patients pertaining to their condition so as to help reduce the cost burden of treating their recurrent ailments (for instance advising patients with sore throats to cultivate the habit of taking oranges alongside their medications) and operation of the digital blood pressure monitor device which was used in checking the blood pressure of clients who happened to attend the pharmacy and had requested for the checkup. This pharmacy did not only offer me some practical translation of the theory thought in class instead

provided me with the technical know-how of seeking medical records from clients so as to help diagnose the condition at hand. This therefore effectively helped me provide them with the appropriate group of medicines. In the same vein I acquired some good dispensing and counseling skills which includes labeling and packaging of medicine, informing patient about the purpose of each medicine dispensed, how and when not to take them. Despite the good orientation of the pharmacy setting to help its workers and clients function smoothly, I was still exposed to some shortcomings which were stated subsequently. CHALLENGES During this period of attachment the following short comings outlined below served as locusts eating up the success and effectiveness of my training:  Busy schedules at the pharmacy made it difficult sometimes for discussions and explanations to be asked for.  The challenge in locating the various medicines on the shelves made it quite difficult to pick them out for dispensing.  Unable to tune up my ears to the pronunciations of the names of medicines being pronounced by clients hence makes dispensing of their medication a bit tedious and  The noisy environment created by the nearest market posed as a communication barrier between me and the client to be attended to. RECOMMENDATIONS The aforementioned challenges and other difficulties faced during this training consequentially caused the bid for some inevitable recommendations which were as follows:  The provision of glass framed shelves with its sliding door would help reduce attraction of dirt and dust since glasses are less electrostatic as compared to the wood being used at the pharmacy.  The closure of the entrance door of the pharmacy which was always left ajar could help in curbing the issue of dust and noise making. This would consequently promote the clarity of words being spoken between the client and the pharmacist or the one counseling and  A program titled good community pharmacy practice should be added to the syllabus and lectured at school before students are allowed to go on attachments. This would at the long run make practice at the pharmacy a bit easier for students. EXPERIENCES An improved social life interaction with patients or clients despite their status was the major experience of this training. The art of asking clients or patients some diagnostic questions so as to help diagnose them of their ailments or disease was also another experience I am delighted to have obtained. This art of asking in turn gave me the capacity to dispense the appropriate

medicine. The ability to help clients or patients who could not afford certain brands of medicines, afford the generic alternatives to help reduce their cost burden was also an experience I had at the pharmacy.

OBSERVATIONS During my stay at the pharmacy the following observations about the way and manner in which clients purchase their medicines as well as medicines that were frequently dispensed were all being noted. These were as follows: the use of antibiotics wrongly or its overuse by clients or patients happens to be a culture of the Nima community. A typical example was a day a client came requesting for tetracycline for the treatment of her waist pain. Refusal to disclose the reason for purchasing a particular medicine by clients despite their difficulty in identifying the exact name of medicine required was also observed. Blood tonics, antimalarial medicines, pain killers, cough mixtures and appetite stimulants were also purchased regularly. CONCLUSION In a nutshell I would love to crown this report with the importance of this community pharmacy practice attachment to me as a pharmacy student and the university as a whole. The relevance of this community pharmacy attachment to me was not only to help provide the opportunity to apply knowledge in real work as perceived by the university but rather to also expose me to working methods and strategies not taught in the class. It also helps in the assessing of student’s interest in the occupation he or she plans to undertake. This attachment had imbibed knowledge into me which is of use in the upcoming licensure exams (Ghana Pharmaceutical Professional Qualifying Exams (GPPQE)). This program should be maintained and strictly enforced by the university because it has been of more good than harm to me the pharmacy student and the university as a whole.

THANK YOU.

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