Recently, UiTM’s Faculty of Pharmacy held its second Hospital and Community Pharmacy Practices 2021 webinar on the 20 to 21 January. Spearheaded by the Department of Pharmacy Practice, the 2 half-day events witnessed participants from various ASEAN countries, namely Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.
Approximately 270 participants joined the web-based sessions which were made interactive and engaging for teaching and learning purposes. The presence of the international counter-parts from Estevez Memorial Hospital Philippines, University of Santo Tomas Philippines, Bandung Institute of Technology, and Universitas Gadjah Mada Indonesia enabled a pleasant exchange of knowledge between local practitioners from public hospitals, namely Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, Klang General Hospital and academicians from universities, such as UiTM and Management and Science University.
The virtual seminar served as an excellent platform for sharing of knowledge and expertise among practitioners, academicians and students on the current pharmacy-related health policy and its challenges on the implementation of day-to-day practice. The post-graduate students were exposed to the management, operationalisation and sustainability of medication therapy adherence clinic (MTAC) services conducted in various medical disciplines.
The first day covered the management and operationalization of the cardiology rehabilitation program (CRP), nephrology clinic and infectious disease care clinic.
Cardio care pharmacist, Mr Jivanraj R. Nagarajah shared with participants the setup of warfarin clinic and CRP, standard anti-coagulation protocol and collaborative drug therapy management. Dr Norkasihan Ibrahim, who represented the faculty and who is also a renal pharmacist, shared her experience on the sustainability of renal care services.
Ms. Afra Marizan Nor, a pharmacist specializing in out-patient parenteral anti-microbial therapy service from Hospital Sungai Buloh shared on the procurement, training and expansion of pharmacists’ role in the infectious diseases clinics.
On the second day, participants were presented with talks by experts representing three major MTACs which are oncology, diabetic and respiratory clinics.
Ms Chevena Arunasalam, a palliative care pharmacist from Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah,Klang shared the latest update on the protocol and daily practice adopted at the pain management care centres. Dr Navin Kumar Loganathan, a diabetes care pharmacist from Hospital Putrajaya discussed on the utilization of telehealth MTAC to ensure sustainability in diabetic care.
Following that, Mr Zulsairi Mohd Pauzi, a pharmacist from Respiratory Medicine Institute concluded the webinar session by sharing his experience in handling respiratory MTAC during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The webinar successfully facilitated the exchange of knowledge, expertise and fostered close engagement amongst the faculty members and partnering universities from both governments as well as private healthcare facilities.