Clinical Learning (Pembelajaran Klinik (PK)) in Thailand
The master`s degree department of Faculty of Pharmacy of Ahmad Dahlan University again sent the practical work/ clinical learning student in Thailand
Two students of master`s degree of clinical pharmacy of University of Ahmad Dahlan (UAD) Yogyakarta were sent back to do the clinical practice in Prince of Songkla University (PSU) Thailand. Formerly the two students (Nadia Saptarina dan Ainun Muthoharoh) were also sent to clinical practice to Siam University Bangkok on November last year. They are Aris Fadillah dan Baiq Lenysia Puspita departed to PSU Thailand. Both students accompanied by two lecturers of Clinical Pharmacy as the advisors, Lalu Muhammad Irham and Adnan flew off on the beginning of January 2017. They would be in Internal Medicine dan Trauma Ward, Community Pharmacy and Drug Information centre (DIC) Songklanagarind Hospital Thailand for four weeks. The two students had enrolled the clinical practice selection program in PSU before departing and they had been approved academically, which consist of ability in English and the mastery of clinical practice in the purpose of joining the clinical practice in PSU.
Both students deepened the new cases found in the internal, Trauma ward, drug information centre. During the practical work, they enthusiastically followed the process of the practical work and it was expressed by the advisor, Lalu Muhammad Irham. The activity was begun at 08:00 and started with a visit by specialist doctors, Internship Medical Students, Pharmacy specialist (Preseptor), Students of Pharmacy specialist, Pharm-D Students/students of PKPA and students of master`s degree of clinical pharmacy of UAD. Next, in the visit, Irham conveyed that he and colleagues felt that the doctors involve the pharmacist to make decisions in order to achieve the effective therapy on the patients. For example, doctors always consult in the matters of drug dosage, drug onset and other drugs that need the surveillance level such as Vancomisin, Phenytoin. Doctors obviously need some information related to adjustment dose, time of blood sampling, the time of blood taking to have the Ctrough and Cmax decision to get the level of the drugs.
We found the main of this good collaboration in preparation (mentally and by knowledge) and the confidence of the pharmacists so they can explain the clinical problems asked by the doctors. We take examples from the students of the pharmacy specialist that they had studied and learned for 4 years. In Thailand itself, there are 5 universities provide the such program and one of them is in PSU Hatyai. It can be imagined that they are faced with clinical cases and problems in their ward, they are assigned to collaborate with the specialist doctors which the students must learn in four years. The Program of Pharm-D or pharmacist lasts for 6 years with 1 year in service work, both in hospitals and dispensary, compared to the learning process in Indonesia which lasts only 2-3 months. After the visit, it was continued by discussions with the preceptors to observe the cases related to the improvement of the patients that day, from the dosage of each drug prescribed to pharmacokinetics. When there was a problem or problems discovered, the preceptors would offer and assist the students to inform the team in the next visit in the afternoon. I had got a chance to ask the point of view from the doctors about the attendance of the pharmacists in their office and they received warmly.
The doctors said that they need the pharmacists help in order to get the updated references of drugs and the satisfying responds, especially the dosage connected to pharmacokinetics of a drug. From this experience, definitely we can get spirit to learn and update the knowledge so that we can get the right answers of the drug problems. The master`s degree department of the Faculty of Pharmacy of UAD has a commitment to encourage its students to have a broad mind of pharmacology in clinical and herbs medicine. It has been reflected with the cooperations with overseas that keep improving like the ones with PSU-Thailand, Siam University Thailand, and Taipei Medical University Taiwan.