Pharmacists crucial in effective healthcare

Pharmacists crucial in effective healthcare
By: Theresa S. SamaniegoPhilippine Daily Inquirer2:22 am | Saturday, June 25th, 2011

For most Filipinos, a pharmacist is simply one who sells medicine – one who stands behind drugstore counters, busily taking the prescriptions from customers and giving them the medicines they need.
“The perception of the community is that the pharmacist is just a seller of the drug and you can’t blame them because that is what they see and this is how some pharmacists act,” said Leonila Ocampo, president of the Philippine Pharmacists Association (PPA).
Ocampo pointed out, however, that there is more to a pharmacist than just being a seller of medicines. Clinical pharmacy is, in fact, a specialty practice, she said in an interview with Inquirer Science/Health.
“Pharmacists play a crucial role in the effective delivery of health services… We call our pharmacists medical experts, they are the ones who study the details and components of a drug or medicine,” she explained.
According to Ocampo, pharmacists are supposed to be the medication managers and counselors, who help patients achieve the optimum benefits of medication.
“It is the pharmacists’ duty to check the prescription for any potential adverse drug effects and interaction, inappropriate dosing. She should also monitor the effects of the medicine [good and bad] in individual patients, provide medical counseling to patients for various diseases and lastly provide drug information to guide the public and other health professionals,” Ocampo explained.
She added that this was a service patients have to ask their pharmacists because they are entitled to get it whenever they buy their medicines.
Medicine misuseUnfortunately, this kind of service is often not rendered here in the Philippines, where several cases of medicine misuse have been reported.
“It is a fact that there is a lot of medication errors occurring which the public may not know. The sad thing is, this error is very much preventable if only our pharmacists would really do their job,” Ocampo noted.
“We challenge the pharmacists to really do their job, meaning from educating an individual regarding a particular drug down to the selection, procurement, storage and dispensing of the drug,” Ocampo said.
Ocampo is also appealing to hospitals and drugstore owners and operators to support pharmacists in espousing this type of practice, adding further that this is all for the good of the patient.
“Medication is too expensive for patients not to use it properly. The medication of the patient has to be really look into for the benefit of the patient, besides improper use of medicine may cause more harm than benefit,” she added.
To date, only five hospitals – Makati Medical Center, St. Lukes Hospital, Philippine General Hospital and Asian Hospital – have actually invested their resources to push pharmacists in taking on their real roles as medication managers and counselors.
Regional conference
To further encourage this practice, the PPA is currently hosting the 11th Asian Conference on Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) at the Philippine International Convention Center.
Aptly themed “Broadening the Impact of Clinical Pharmacy in Asia through Innovations and Dynamic Partnerships,” ACCP serves as the platform for experts in clinical pharmacy education and practice to share to all pharmacists the ideas and strategies on how they could enhance the value of clinical pharmacy services in the healthcare systems in Asia.
Organizers are also hoping that through the conference, clinical pharmacy practitioners in the region will bring about innovations that may take the form of new clinical pharmacy applications, programs and interventions in a country and dynamic partnerships with other members of the healthcare team, government or nongovernment organizations, legislators and other players from the pharmaceutical companies and other countries.
“With the complexity of medications and the different types of diseases evolving in the world now, the pharmacists have to exert a little more time and effort to really find ways to be truly patient-centric while being product-knowledgeable as healthcare practitioners,” Ocampo concluded. 

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Reminds me of you :)

Photo from Yahoo!

Brunch to girls night out

April 14, 2012

My best friend Leanne, Ate Kimi and I had long planned to meet up in Manila for brunch. When Leanne stayed in Manila for her 2 week insternship we took advantage of her free time. Finally, our plan to have brunch had pushed through! Undecided on where to eat we did some research and came up with... *drum roll* DOME cafe in Salcedo, Makati thinking we can walk around after we eat. 

I always pass by that cafe whenever I go to Glorietta from Taft. I'd have to say that the place really looks inviting to me. I like vintage interiors by the way. And Dome cafe fits my taste just right. They serve pastas, gourmet sandwhiches, salads, cakes etc.They also have a set of magazines to keep you company as you wait for your orders.  

My Order: Tomato-Basil Pasta with Grilled Chicken

Two thumbs up for this!

Beef Stroganoff 

We also ordered the Great Turkey BLT and Mango fandango shake as our drinks. The Great Turkey BLT was ze bomb. It tasted really good. Next time, I will come back to try their cakes. 

 

Cousins getaway!

May 21, 2012

I think this post should come with a warning that says, "BEWARE OF OVERFLOWING GLUTTON AND FATNESS". Hahaha! Last month just before the month of May ended, our cousin's boyfriend took us to one of the best beaches in Pangasinan. It was a three hour drive from our house.On the way, you'd have to pass by mountains and rough roads to get to this paradise. Despite that, everywhere you look exudes a calm and serene scenery. One you'd love to meditate in. Going back, we we're on the verge of giving up the wait when suddenly the white-sand beach appeared before us. At first we were reluctant to go down but after a few minutes we didnt want to get back to the car.... ever.

Hello Burgos beach!! It may look a bit messy judging by this photo but I swear it isn't.

Quick post: Dinner at Packo's

April 9, 2012

After a day of long meaningful talk we unwind with comfort food. 

Adobong spareribs/Spareribs Adobo

Pugad adventure with cousins

April 7, 2012

Did you ever had one of those days where you had nothing to do and then your friend, cousin, special someone calls you up to drag you on an adventure? This is one of those days. I happen to be resting after our trip to Bangkok then my cousin calls me up to tell me about his genius plan. He asked if we wanted to go to Pugad to try the zipline. It was the perfect time to try it out because we we're complete then and so we decided to pursue with plan. (Believe it or not, there are only 6 of us in my mother's side of the family.) We ate before we left at around 4pm. We got there at 5. While on the way to Pugad we were begging for the sun to come out because rain started to pour. We never lost hope and when we got there it wasn't raining! Can you define what lucky is? :)

Here's a collage of our pictures while preppin' up for the zipline. 

Amazing Thailand Part 2

Amazing Thailand 1

Here's a photo set (with captions) of the my 5 day trip to Bangkok with my mom. :)

Day 1

Back on the game

I've been devoid of the internet for weeks already; which explains my one month break from blogging. The first month of my summer vacation was spent well; traveling, learning new things, reading awesome books and partying with friends until the break of dawn. Now I'm back home trying to get all the rest I can before I go back to the city. I will be uploading some of the photos from my food trips and from my trip to Bangkok. I hope you guys have an aweseome day today :)

Xoxo, Kat :)

Exactly what I feel right now. :)

xoxo

Photos from my week 1

It's the post-stress entry! I had one week of ultimate stress. It was our finals week and it's a make or break opportunity. It's the last chance we'll ever get to either raise or lower our grade. I've been visiting St. Jude everyday right after the exams despite the rainy or sultry weather. If I pass all of my exams, it would have been because of Him. It's not yet the end of our agony, we still have to wait until Monday for the results. Crossing my fingers that I won't fail in any of my subjects. Pray for me, please? Oh pretty pretty please? :)

*Warning: Another dose of poor quality photos

Lunch at 1236 in Dapitan right after our last exam

They serve the best fish dishes.

The right place to be on a no-pork/beef Friday.

My Order: Mandarin Fish

Dutches

Thai Fish

Pre-stress celebration

It's the time of the year again where everyone's hopeful about their future. When I wrote everyone I did not only mean the candidates for graduation who will be marching this April but also the undergrads who are anticipating fair grades from their difficult subjects- like me. We still have one more week of stress to overcome. This is our last push for the school year. It's a make or break opportunity. We didn't have Saturday classes this week to allow us to fully prepare for our finals. Hmm, I'm guessing it's going to be a dreadful one. But I'm just happy my weekend started on a Friday. :)

And..... last friday one of my friends cancelled their date to have dinner with me. She knew how down I was which is why she was more willing to give up her other appointment to go on a food trip with me. She took me to Banawe. At first she wouldn't tell me where she's taking me but after some time she finally gave in. She took me to Chicken Charlie which was very much like BonChon. Haha

For the love of food

Random food photos taken on random dates.

Zark's Burgers on a Saturdate w/ my brother :)

This is Zark's Ultimate

I ordered this because the ad was so enticing

Jack Hammer for my brother

Fish fillet from Eva's grill for breakfast on a Friday morning!

Abstinence it is :))

Found my new love:

Heavenly Chocolate's El Quattro

If you're a fan of Dark Chocolate, you should try this

Honey dew and melon milk tea at Bubble Tea!

Our new hangout place! I love the flavor of their teas, perfect for summer :)

Classic Ilocos empanada at Casa Naimas

The taste reminded me of food in our province. Homesick!

And of course, photos were taken by my favorite app in the world Instagram.

I still haven't purchased new batts for my baby but I promise I will by the end of the week.

xoxo

Remembering 2011: Pharade (Pharmacy Parade)

It is our annual tradition as Pharmacy students to celebrate our Faculty week. And we usually start the week with a parade of all the blocks in our faculty. This year's theme for the PHARade (Pharmacy Parade) was movies. Our block decided to dress up as the characters of Sucker Punch. I don't know anything about the movie because unfortunately I have not seen it yet and I have no plans on watching it since everyone says its a boring movie.

I didn't believe that the main characters were really serious about it until I've heard them talking about spending so much cash on their costumes. By the way, they had their costumes made for the event. Talk about career. Haha. But I believe it was worth it. They looked really great and the characters of the movie suited them well.  My girl friends and I went as burlesque ladies while Bj decided to dress up as a soldier. I love how uniform our costumes were and how it brought out our skin color. :)

So here's a set of photos to show you how we looked during the parade. :)

The main characters of Sucker Punch

What is sexy? 

Jaja and Bj! Oh, we did Bj's hair. He grew it longer than the required hairstyle for boys so we could tease it to give him that lady gaga inspired soldier look.

Remembering 2011: Organization's Night

I know I said I'll write about what I didn't blog about last year.... so here is my first entry! I'm really sorry it took me a very long time to gather up all the information, including the photos, to make an entry about this. I've been pre-occuppied with school. It's true what they say, third year is hell year. I can feel that now. 

Going back... I made a compilation of some of the photos of our Organization's night last year, December. I couldn't remember the exact date but I believe it was the Thursday of our Pharmacy Week. It was a fun night that started with a dinner buffet. I don't know who catered the event but the food was good. I ate a lot that night actually. We all did. Haha! A mini bar was opened after the program. I'm not sure if the drinks really had liquor in it. Because it tasted like it didn't have any. :)

Looking at the photos you can tell how game these people are with their silly poses. But who wouldn't love people who are so game, right?

Nobody does the "dougie" better than these two: Jessa and Bilog! Hands down to both of you hahaha
And oh, there's one photo below where Bilog and I tried the "suck it". It was a jelly inside the mini plastic sauce-cup and you have to literally suck it out so you can eat it. I tried really hard, but I failed anyway. Hahaha

Here's what I wore to the event. The invitation said smart casual and this is what I came up with :)

I'll write about the "Pharade" (Pharmacy Parade) on my next post. :)

xoxo

Quick post: Of sleep and peace

Okay, so my body clock has shifted 360 degrees and turned night into morning and vice-versa. I've been up since 11 pm and at half past four right now, I can't put myself back to sleep. I'm just happy that my thoughts are at peace right now. 

You know that feeling when everything's just so calm yet positive? The kind of feeling when you sit down and stare at an empty space and you smile because for one moment you get to stop thinking about your life and the world. And you didn't have to force yourself to stop stressing out. IT JUST HAPPENED. This occasion rarely occurs to me. 

Sweet treats part 2

The food trip didn't stop last Saturday. It went on until Sunday. 

P had long promised to take me to Sophie's mom. And just yesterday, he took me there. Can you imagine how happy I was after weeks of longing to be taken in this fancy bakery? But it's not just a fancy bakery, I tell you. 

Sophie's Mom is a quaint little store situated in San antonio Village. It offers cupcakes, mochi balls, cake pops even breads too. Since it was our first time there we bought most of their best sellers. We wanted to try everything so we'd know what to buy on our next visit. We bought Red Velvet Cupcakes, Chocolate Cake pops and Frozen Brazo and Cookie dough mochis. We we're surprised at how cheap our bill was with our goodies. We weren't the only one surprised, even the cashier was surprised at how our orders kept coming. Hahaha! 

I love love love these cake pops! They tasted really good and inspired me to make one on my spare time. :)

I didn't have a photo of our mochi balls. But they were to die for! At the price of 40php, you wouldn't want to miss that! I swear! :)

This has got to be one of the sweetest weekend I've ever had. But none of it would have been possible without my favorite boy in the world. Thank you God for blessing me with someone like him. I am and I will be forever grateful for having him in my life. :) :)

(All of the photos were taken with Instagram)

xoxo

Sweet treats part 1

I had a rough week last week. The weekend was the only thing I was looking forward to after Valentine's Day. My friends and I planned to watch the most awaited movie for the month, The Vow, as our post Valentine's date. I've been waiting for this movie since I saw the trailer on Youtube while searching for wedding videos. And the fact that Rachel McAdams is one of my favorite actress makes it more exhilarating. Come Saturday, my mom sent my allowance later that expected. I was really broke and broken hearted knowing I won't be able to come watch with them. It was kind of depressing. Really. I don't like staying at our dorm on weekends. It's lonely and boring. Hours later, upon receiving my allowance, I got a text from P asking if I want to come over instead and I said yes. I went to Fort and had one of the best weekends ever. :)

P took me to Jamba Juice for the first time. I was surprised that he was willing to walk from their condo to the furthest part of High Street. He doesn't usually do this so I kind of appreciated the effort. We didn't stay long in Jamba Juice. We just ordered and left. I ordered the Strawberries wild and he ordered the Banana berry with added  Daily Vitamin boost on both of our drinks. I liked my drink and what he ordered as well. But personally I think the drink would've tasted better without the added boost. I think it's responsible for the tangy taste. I don't know. Haha

Our next stop was Sonja's Cupcakes. They're store was decorated with hearts to match Valentine's Day. Cute! Both of us were craving for Red Velvet but they already ran out when we arrived. :( We just ordered whatever is available. I wish Sonja's would bake Red Velvet all the hours they're open. It's kind of disappointing leaving without Red Velvet. But anyway, I enjoyed what I ordered. :)

We bought this one (Berries n' Cream) for Ate Alyn. She loved it better than Sonja's Red Velvet. :)

That was how my Saturday went. Wait for my next post, you'll love it. :)

xoxo