Global experiences

AS part of the healthcare team, a pharmacist provides care for patients. This care focuses on the patient from the perspective of drug therapy. The pharmacist is responsible to identify, prevent and resolve patients’ drug therapy problems. Pharmacists are “experts on medicines” and play an active role in the quality use of medicine in our society. Pharmacists have skills in chemistry of the drugs, formulating medicines and the therapeutic use of drugs to treat diseases.
A pharmacist’s job includes: taking medication histories, identifying goals for drug therapy, providing recommendations and education to patients regarding self-medication, providing recommendations to other healthcare providers on drug therapy, working with patients to maximise benefits and minimise adverse effects of drug therapy, maintaining patient drug profiles, counselling patients on prescribed medication and monitoring drug interactions, adverse drug reactions and patients compliance with their drug treatment.
Other activities include the provision of information on drugs to patients and other health professionals, the preparation of suitable materials for use as medicines from natural and synthetic sources, the compounding of drugs and the dispensing of suitable medication.
Pharmacy graduates have a wide range of career opportunities. The majority enter community pharmacy practice. Hospital pharmacy also provides an interesting challenge for pharmacists, particularly in view of their expanding role within the clinical setting. The pharmaceutical industry provides opportunities for pharmacists in the fields of sales and marketing, production, research and quality control.
The increased role of federal and provincial governments in public health has provided opportunities for pharmacists in analytical laboratories and in administrative positions as consultants, government inspectors and health officers. Opportunities may also be available in universities as teachers and researchers.
At present, the job prospects for pharmacists are very bright since there is shortage of pharmacists in both the public and private sectors.
To complement the needs of pharmacists, the Management & Science University (MSU) offers both the bachelor degree and diploma in pharmacy through the School of Pharmacy, and bachelor and diploma programmes in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmaceutical Technology.
For more information on pharmacy courses or other programmes offered at MSU, call 03-5521 6868, email enquiry@msu.edu.my or visit www.msu.edu.my