Fund from MOH will finance scholarships

Todayonline May 30 by SHERALYN TAY

COUNSELLOR, drug expert, dietary adviser, clinical coordinator and referral personnel. You may not know it, but these are the many roles a pharmacist plays.

Take community pharmacist Tang Li Jin. As one of the 1:,500 registered pharmacists here, she not only dispenses medication, but also helps elderly patients sort through presciptions from different doctors, weeding out drug duplications or interactions — the potentially harmful combinations of drugs. Often, she will advise patients on side effects and how to prevent or manage them. And if required, she can refer patients for further medical treatment.

Pharmacist’s Pledge Affirmation ceremony

It may be the third largest healthcare group after nurses and doctors, but pharmacists often get less recognition than their peers. However, a $7-million grant from the Ministry of Health (MOH) over the next five years looks to change that.

Announced yesterday at the first Pharmacist’s Pledge Affirmation ceremony,$4.5 million of the grant will go towards 35 scholarships in specialist residency training with prominent institutions like the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and the Johns Hopkins Hospital, while the balance will fund 43 scholarships in doctorate and master programmes.

Pharmacists welcomed the grant, saying it was a long-awaited but critical move — one that will raise their skills and profile.

Calling it “essential”,Ms M K Fatimah, chief pharmacist at Alexandra Hospital, said it would enhance their career paths, making them more challenging and rewarding. Ms Fatimah, who is also president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore, said: “Many people only see us at the counter but they do not know the thought and work that goes on behind the scenes.”

It also made sense, she said, to focus on specialised training. Like specialist doctors, specialist pharmacists are experts in specific diseases. Explained Ms Lim Siew Woon, principle pharmacist at the National University Hospital who specialises in cancer treatment: “Because we are drug experts, we can advise doctors on the optimal use of drugs.”

This means adjusting drug doses for elderly patients or those with kidney or liver problems, to lower the risk of toxic effects. “It’s a collaboration that benefits patients because while a doctor is an expert in diagnosis, we can concentrate on the drugs’ effects,” said Ms Lim.

The grant is also an affirmation of the profession that will help in the retention and recruitment of pharmacists, she added.

It comes amid recent moves to bolster the pharmacy sector here. It is estimated that 200 more pharmacists will be needed each year for the next five years to meet the demands of an ageing population. Specialist pharmacists too, will be required.:

To help meet demand, MOH will ramp up overseas recruitment efforts once the enhanced Pharmacists Registration Act kicks in at the end of the year. Passed by Parliament last year, the new Act will mandate continuing professional education for pharmacists, see the setting up of a register, and regulate foreign-trained pharmacists.

The Straits Times, May 30, 2008, by By Jessica Jaganathan 


$7m to fund specialist training for pharmacists

The goal is to have a cadre of pharmacists with specialised training, who will be able to complement doctors


EARLIER this month, senior clinical pharmacist Doreen Tan got a call from a patient complaining of bleeding gums. The man, who has a history of heart failure, had stopped taking his blood-thinning medication, fearing that it was behind the problem.
Ms Tan, who works at the Alexandra Hospital, told him to see a dentist. That visit confirmed that the bleeding was a simple case of gingivitis and Ms Tan advised the man to start taking his drugs immediately to prevent a stroke.

Ms Tan, 33, credited her seven years of specialist courses in cardiology for helping her recognise the patient's situation.

To encourage more pharmacists to take up such training, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced yesterday that it was setting aside $7 million to go towards scholarships in specialist residency training and doctorate and master's programmes over the next five years.

The areas of speciality include oncology, cardiology, critical care, infectious diseases, geriatrics and psychiatry.

Now, 38 out of the around 1,500 pharmacists in Singapore are recognised as specialists.

The eventual goal is to have a cadre of pharmacists with specialised training, who will be able to complement doctors. This would provide patients with better care and result in fewer drug-related complications, the MOH said in a statement.

Ms Ang Hui Gek, chief pharmacist at the MOH and president of the Singapore Pharmacy Board, said that, with newer and more potent drugs on the market, it had become more important for pharmacists to continue their education.

'Specialist pharmacists...will be able to effectively manage those complex therapies,' she said.

Her comments came at the inaugural pharmacist's pledge affirmation ceremony, held yesterday at the College of Medicine. Minister for Health Khaw Boon Wan was the guest of honour at the event, which commemorated the entry of 68 new pharmacists into the register.

Alexandra Hospital's chief pharmacist M.K. Fatimah said that while pharmacists were expected to be competent in all areas of drugs, specialist pharmacists could add value.

'For instance, the doctor may see a patient in the first consultation. Then the pharmacist comes in to counsel the patient on drug intake and to see if he is well taken care of subsequently. This frees up doctors to see more patients,' she said.

Continuing training in psychiatric therapeutics for four years has enabled Mr Ng Boon Tat, principal clinical pharmacist at the Institute of Mental Health, to provide patients with more personalised drug consultation.

'I am now able to spend more time with the patients and explain the drugs in detail,' said Mr Ng. 'They will feel more assured and will know how to monitor their condition.'

The Singapore Pharmacy Board has projected that Singapore will need an additional 200 pharmacists yearly for the next five years.

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