28 July 2012

The "Pharmer's" Mind in UNMC -- 2 --

               Hey guys, I’m Susan, errr..technically Liong Siew Zhen, the annoying ‘Ah Long’ who always collects fees from you XD..First and foremost, I would like to thank Mag (our dedicated IT officer) for giving me this privilege to scribble something here during my long summer holiday..muackkss ^^ Okay..about what I enjoyed as a first year pharmacy student?? Being a uni student? Freed from the fetters of parents? Hell no..I’m totally a Mama’s girl^^. No more dress code? Tonnes of lab reports? Oh no! T.T
                To me, my first answer will be ‘Being in the Pharmnotts Committee’. To be honest, I did air my grievance to my friends when I could not collect the fees from the whole cohort on time. I would feel like I was begging money from my colleagues if they were not willing to pay. I would also get irritated sometimes when I was late to the lecture because I was in charge of selling stuffs at our SA booth. But soon I realized it is inevitable to sacrifice something in achieving what we want for almost everything we do. At the end of each event, the sense of accomplishment would always far exceed the sense of grievance I feel. As an assistant treasurer throughout the year, I’ve learnt lots of soft skills and gained priceless experiences which I can never obtain from textbooks. Like what my friend always says ‘Learn hard but play hard too!’, Pharmnotts is one of the ways I chose to get away from academic a while. Through the various events we organized, I could witness how our members worked together, the creative ideas and dedication they contributed to make every single event a great success. Besides, I could mingle with our beloved seniors via our society activities and this is also how I got to know each and everyone of you in my batch (through collecting fees haha). So Pharmnotts is where my friendship with others blossoms =)   
Figure 1: Pharmnotts Committee 2011/12
                 The lab session in our course is the other aspect I enjoyed very much in my first year. Isn’t it cool to make our very own drugs in the dispensing labs?! Sometimes it was very heartbreaking if our creams or suppositories did not form properly, but yeah..we still love our dispensing labs and would take care our final products like babies^^ I did enjoy the patient counselling session near the end of our labs too, though I might feel nervous at times. This is the skill we must master in order to become a remarkable pharmacist. I particularly liked my session with one of the hilarious postgrads lab assistants who always made it into a scenario and then his acting talent would come into play.. I really learnt a lot from the questions he challenged us. In addition, I loved our Physpharm labs which used human subjects! However, the reports that followed would always cause me headache =.= All the fun we had in the labs like getting our pupils dilated, using ECG and all will always be etched on my memory.
Figure 2: TVB ‘On Call 36 Hours’?? Haha..we were playing around with the stethoscopes after our BP lab.
               Surprisingly, I liked the A10 module, though I hardly like any of the academic-related stuffs except labs. This module is very beneficial to us as it will open up our views and expose us to information on the pharmacy career options which is not learnt during the conventional lectures. Moreover, we could broaden our knowledge on the current healthcare issues in the world and some other pharmacy-relevant topics. Our visits to the hospital and community pharmacies also demonstrated to us what a pharmacist does other than dispensing medications and giving patient advice. All the valuable experiences I gained from the two visits are very helpful to me in my attachment today. We also had the opportunity to learn more about laws and ethics in pharmacy and how a pharmacist can be suspended or expelled. Besides, I enjoyed Mr.Vibhu’s workshops pretty much on prescription checking, drug chart checking and problem-solving skills in different situations.
Figure 3: My group picture with Ms.Chiam during our community pharmacy visit.
                 All in all, being a pharmacy student is not that torturing right? So while busy pursuing our dream to become an admirable pharmacist, don’t forget to enjoy everything we do at the same time. Remember to live, love and laugh! *wink* ^v<
Figure 4: Live, love and laugh!!

                                                                                                                    Love,
Susan Liong =)

21 July 2012

The "Pharmer's" Mind in UNMC -- 1 --

Hello everyone. ^^ Hope you are in the middle of enjoying holidays! You have to be quick if you haven't do anything you wanted before the new academic year starts!

Alright alright, for introduction, this post, "The Pharmers Mind in UNMC" will be showing about the students' life in Pharmacy course in University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. This giving the students of Pharmacy course a chance to write a post in PharmNotts blog(no offensive x)). They can either write or put up photos with descriptions.

This idea came up suddenly from my mind as I am thinking to promote PharmNotts blog, especially to the people who are soon to join UNMC Pharmacy course or thinking to join us. This giving them some ideas of our Pharmacy student's life in UNMC. So, please do leave comments if you have any advice or ideas or even anything to ask kay? I will update the this blog once my coursemates send me their post (probably on the weekends). Remember that this is not compulsory for all the coursemates to write. ^^ (no forcing). Okay, shall we begin with the first post? ^^

Magdalene Foo
IT Officer of PharmNotts 2012/2013
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Assalaamu’alaykum and hi peeps! I hope all of you have been enjoying the summer break so far, whichever way you chose to spend it.. Dear Mag has kindly offered me a chance to write a post for PharmNott’s blog, and I thought, well, why not? Heheh.. So here goes then..

My first year here at University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus is now over..and one thing I must say, is that time seems to fly super fast. Without realizing it, I’m already one step closer towards becoming a pharmacist. Surprisingly, I guess I’m not the only one who seems to feel that time is speeding by. Coming back home for the holidays, family and friends have been echoing this thought as well, saying things like “Whoa, it’s been a year already? And next year you’re off to UK??” And I’d be like, “Err, yeah..". With God’s will, and all goes well, UK campus here I come!! ☺

So what can I say about first year here at Nottingham? A lot really, but not all of ‘em can be put effectively into words. Suffice it to say that this past year has been an absolutely great and awesome one. I’ve learnt so much both academic-wise and non-academic. Although at times the demands of the pharmacy course could push stress levels up high, (to me at least) I reckon that’s completely normal and indeed, it’s what pushes us forward to do the best that we’re capable of. Now all I’m wondering is what second year has to offer...

As a fresher, there’s bound to be some things about university life that needs getting used to, but once we all got the ball rolling, those weekly piles of reports and courseworks weren’t so bad huh?  It felt good to meet new people in the Pharmacy course from other pre-university programmes and from other parts of the world too. Differences aside, it’s great to see that as a group comprising of more than 100 students, we’re able to work together in most circumstances and help each other out in studies. I must admit though, that with such a large batch, there are still some people that I have yet to get acquainted with. Haha..  Not to worry, perhaps next semester then??

  It’s been an enjoyable year indeed, filled with many memorable moments as I’m sure everyone would agree.. In the end, words do no justice to express what the heart feels. Just to wrap up this brief post, here’s me wishing the best to everyone, be it seniors, fellow batchmates or even any juniors who might be reading.. May the future hold great success for each and every one of us.. ☺
                                                                                                                                                                    Amirah Md Nor

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Nottingham University Malaysia Campus definitely provides a conducive environment for me to study. Besides having good lecturers, what I appreciate the most is having one of them as my personal tutor to assist me during my first year in university. As a student staying off campus I learnt to be more independent, helping out each other and that creates deeper bonds among friends and course mates. In this course, learning the fundamentals in a broader sense gives me a different perspective of science and chemistry, it is not just theoretical knowledge but lab sessions enhance learning. I enjoyed the lab sessions especially during preparing and dispensing medicines. I have learnt a lot and looking forward to greater exposure in coming semester!

 Leong Hui Wen

20 July 2012

11th Asia Pacific Pharmaceutical Symposium in Taiwan- Chapter 6

Day 6

All of the participants left to the Taipei Medical University. A talk about "Medication Safety Beyond Hospital: Role Of Pharmacists" was given by Professor Azmi from Malaysia, "How to build a safer drug usage environment for the public" by Angela On, "Asia Pacific Pharmacy Education" by Professor Chan Siu Yang, and "Reforming pharmacy education to meet the social need" by Yea-Huei KaoYang.

So the talks were basicly about the drug safety and the role on the pharmacist on the drug safety.

1st check: label of container before taking
2nd check: label of container against the prescription during actual dispensing
3rd check: label of container before putting it away.

and Remember 5 Rights:

5R
  • Right Drug
  • Right Patient
  • Right Dose
  • Right Route
  • Right Time

So, we have to make that we always check and check and check and check and check and check and check.... before dispensing.... x)

Owh and one thing to remember, the difference between SIDE EFFECT and ADVERSE DRUG REACTION. It was told that some of them like to ask this during interview. x)
From what I learnt there, if I'm not mistaken, side effects are the possible symptoms which we already know after taking drug, whereas adverse drug reaction are the unknown reaction which could be life-threatening.


The Patient Counseling Event came up next. It was the final competition for this PCE. Here are some videos I took which could be helpful for the students. Listen to the comments or advices from each judges as you might do the same mistakes as well. All the participants below did a great job overall.

Our dear seniors Vivian Tan and Vinesh were acting as patients.

Beginner level: 1st participant
This video continues the videos above.

2nd participant

3rd participant

Advanced level: 1st participant

2nd participant

There was another participant for the advanced level but unfortunately I don't have the video with me. I will upload once I found the video from others.


So after the PCE, it was the Pharmacy contest where each group had 10 minutes (if I'm not mistaken) to present their topic in the auditorium.

After Pharmacy Contest, all of us returned back to our hotel and prepared of the Gala Night, the night when we say Goodbye to everyone! All of the handsome boys and girls wore formally with evening gown / dress / tuxedo. The food there was delicious. (I like the cheese cake.. x) teehee). There were some performances by the magicians, the participants, and from the committee members of APPS Taiwan. The night WAS AWESOME! And here are the videos of photos taken throughout the APPS Taiwan.




I guess some of the committee members did cried while watching this video. (okay I did also.) Thanks to all of their hard work, if not we wouldn't have such a great TRIP in Taiwan.




Me, Vivian, Cindy, Hanna Ong and Dana 

MeiSian, Jasmine, Me, Cindy and Stephanie.

I know I am in most of the photos. hehehe.. so sorry as these are the photos I currently have now.

But anyway, overall, the APPS Taiwan was nearly Perfect. Why not 100% perfect? because nothing is perfect! x) If there's another chance of participating APPS in Taiwan, I WOULD WANT TO join again! Next year, the Asia Pacific Pharmaceutical Symposium will be held in Japan.  It would be a great chance for you as you will make more friends from all around the Asia and you may learn a lot which may be helpful in future studies.
Oh and if possible, there is also an IPSF World Congress available for you to join as well if you want to. For this year, it will be held in Egypt, next year would be in NETHERLAND! x)

Dear future UNMC juniors... the event was very very helpful for our future studies. If you are curious about the APPS event (for the previous or coming APPS), like the rules and condition or what they will provide us, feel free to ask your seniors.
(For batch 2012/2013 year 1 students, you may contact Dana, Hanna Ong, Cindy, me, or any of our senior who went as well [Vivian Tan, Jasmine, Chloe, MeiSian, Stephanie, JinHan, Vinesh])

AWESOME EVENT, AWESOME PLACE, AWESOME PEOPLE.

Magdalene Foo
IT Officer of PharmNotts 2012/2013

17 July 2012

11th Asia Pacific Pharmaceutical Symposium in Taiwan- Chapter 5


Day 5

All of us headed to Taipei Medical University for Regional Meeting. This meeting covered the plans for APPS next year (2013), and disccussed / vote the suitable venue (country) for APPS 2014. Other than that, the elections of RWG officers were also held. Congratulations to them again who got the post, no matter it's a new post or old post!


And yeap! The APPS 2013 will be held in JAPAN. (SAY YEAHHHHHH!!!) It was planed to be held in August of 2013. (It may be a problem to us, the students of UNMC, if you are worry whether you'll need to resit for your exams. [but think positive!] Furthermore, for the second year students, you will need time to do your VISA for third and forth year in UK) So yeap, you may go ahead if you really want to go! It will be a great experience also. I think there will be more pros then cons. So study very very hard for next academic year yeah!


After the regional meeting, there was a campaign near Taipei 101 relating to pharmacist and drug. There are F&B, games and etc. We are required to hold sandwich board and asked the people around to sign after we shouted "Use medicine, ask Pharmacist" (something like that) to promote the event. They will be given some gifts after they signed.

Photos credit to Dana Leong.


TAIPEI 101!!!!

After this campaign, it was a free night for every participant. That means that we were allowed to go anywhere we like on that night. Some of us went RaoHe night market, Shilin night market, Taipei 101 mall and etc. It was great as we can explore Taiwan ourselves. x)

Day 6 to be continue.

Magdalene Foo
IT Officer of PharmNotts 2012/2013


16 July 2012

11th Asia Pacific Pharmaceutical Symposium in Taiwan- Chapter 4

Day 4
(Photos credit to APPS 2012 in Taiwan, Dana Leong and me)

EXPLORE TAIWAN! I can say that it was the memorable day most the participants had.

All the participants were divided into more than 10 groups. We headed to National Palace Museum in the morning as the start of Exploring Taiwan.
They have this cute little "English Translator" thingy for you to carry around and so when you are curious with a thing, you can always click the number stated on the glass and click play. Ta-Dah! It will explain the story of that valuable collection to you. And for your information, no cameras are allow in the Museum, so we cannot take any pictures there.


Next station, we went to Taiwan Flora Expo. You can see a lot different kinds of flower there, very beautiful. We went into the Pavillion of dreams. I cannot really describe much here but I will post up some photos here alright? 






this is something like the flowers from our hand (what we wished were on it) flowed from our hands to the ''river'' and to the big screen.. It's something like, all of our wishes were on the screen and will be kept.


After Taiwan Flora Expo, we went to Chiang Kai Shik Memorial Hall, a favourite place to take photos.


 not even 300 of us...



And this is it... THE NIGHT WE ENJOYED THE MOST!
First of all.. photos..
 Performances..
 We dance along!
Heeeeeyyyyy haaaa heeeeeyyyyy hooo heeeyyyy...
 Old McDonald had a farm... yeee yaaa yeee yaaa ooohhh...


 Performance











What a great experience of playing sky lantern. During the event, they kept playing the "You are an apple of my eyes" theme song. (If you know what I'm talking about) The people there sang as the song was played. We wrote our wishes on the lantern, and released it to the sky. It was very very touching.The moment when you looking at those lantern on the skies, thought of the memories you had in APPS Taiwan with your friends and you met new friends, thought of the wishes you made for your friends and your beloved family (and perhaps your girl friend or boy friend)... (I admit that I cried.. hehehehe). We even hugged each other after that. Awwww.. sweetest moment of all. x)

And this is how we spent that night.

I would like to say Thanks to all the committee member who planned that. That really really gave us a memorable night.

Day 5 to be continue!

Magdalene Foo
IT Officer ot PharmNotts 2012/2013