hello, u should comment at NUS pharmacy, or NUS pharmacy chit chat house. Im sure more pple would answer there
anyways, here is something i koped from NUS Pharmacy thread. Fenix compiled it.
Short guide by FeNix[/B]
This is a guide for prospective Pharmacy undergraduates. Included are an outline of a pharmacy career in Singapore, a mini questionaire to self-check if NUS Pharmacy is for you, and some data compiled from some students matriculating in 2009 who were offered a place in NUS Pharmacy.
Pharmacy in Singapore
There are almost 1,500 registered pharmacists in Singapore. After nurses and doctors, pharmacists form the third largest healthcare professional group here. Pharmacists work in a wide range of jobs in both the public and private sectors. Traditionally, pharmacists' role as custodians of drugs is to ensure the passage of safe and good quality drugs to patients through proper distribution and dispensing, protecting patients from counterfeit and substandard drugs. Careers in pharmacy include areas in hospital pharmacy, community pharmacy, industrial pharmacy, academia and research, heath promotion and regulation, as well as in healthcare sales and marketing.
Pharmacists are most commonly known to work in hospitals and the community, supplying medicines from dispensaries. In the community, most family doctors train their receptionists or clinic assistants to dispense medicines without the presence of a pharmacist, hence community pharmacy consists mainly of over-the-counter drug sales. The government is also keen to develop research in Singapore and has recently made significant investments in this area. Pharmacists are, therefore, also in an ideal position to become involved in research, especially in areas such as pharmacogenomics, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. The demand for pharmacists is increasing to meet the rising healthcare needs of Singaporeans and to support the growth in biomedical sciences and pharmaceutical research.
To practice as a pharmacist in Singapore, a graduate must undertake a four-year pharmacy degree and one year of pre-registration training. He/she can then work as a pharmacist following a successful pre-registration appraisal and registration with the Singapore Pharmacy Council (SPC), previously known as the Singapore Pharmacy Board. Pre-registration trainees are often rotated through different departments in their training year before specialising in one area. Pharmacists are assigned to one of five grades depending on their experience. A newly qualified pharmacist enters at grade 12 and a senior pharmacist is considered at grade 14. The highest grade is grade 16, that of a senior principal pharmacist. Moving up the grades is based on individual performance assessed via an appraisal system.
SPC, a regulatory body, is separate from the Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore (PSS) that represents the profession. Registration with the SPC is compulsory in order to practise as a pharmacist in Singapore and must be renewed annually by the payment of a fee. It requires fulfilment of Continual Professional Education (CPE) requirements, based on a points system. Each accredited lecture, seminar or conference is worth a certain number of points and pharmacists must enter the points they obtain into an online record. Pharmacists need at least 50 points over two years to stay registered with the SPC. On the other hand, the aim of the PSS is to maximise the contribution of pharmacists to the healthcare of Singaporeans. Membership is voluntary and must be renewed annually by the payment of a fee. The PSS organises CPE talks, an annual pharmacy conference and other events. Membership with the PSS allows members to attend CPE talks free of charge or at a reduced price.
There are three main paths as a hospital pharmacist: administration/management, clinical or research. Pharmacists with specialised expertise are in an increasing demand, particularly in areas as oncology, cardiology, critical care and geriatrics. Plans to set up a separate register for specialist pharmacists and the registration of such specialists, and plans to establish a Specialist Accreditation Board to define specialities and to determine the requirements for specialist registration are in progress. Such specialist pharmacists will enable cost-effective drug prescribing, optimal dosing of drugs, reduction in medication errors and fewer drug therapy related complications. With the advent of molecular medicine, there will also be a need for targeted therapy, to deliver the right dose of the right drug to the right patient at the right time. Specialist pharmacists in pharmacogenomics and nanotechnology will support such advancements in disease management from research to pharmaceutical manufacturing to clinical service.
The working hours of a hospital pharmacist will vary, but are generally based on a 42-hour working week. Official hours are 0900h to 1730h from Mondays to Fridays and 0830h to 1300h on Saturdays, but also dependent on the organisation and department. Sometimes pharmacists will work all day on a Saturday or Sunday and some may be scheduled to do opening or closing shifts as well as on-call duties. Outpatient pharmacists work longer hours during the week but have a reduced number of Saturday duties. Many pharmacists also come in early for consultant-led ward rounds. Below summarises a typical day for a hospital pharmacist:
• 0830h: Attend consultant-led ward round
• 0930h: Review drug charts (each pharmacist sees 70-80 charts in about 2 hours)
• 1130h: Return to pharmacy with drug orders and help technicians pack and check drug orders and discharge prescriptions
• 1230h: Take discharge medicines to the wards and counsel patients
• 1400h: Lunch
• 1430h: Type labels, pack and check drugs for patients whose drug charts are brought to the pharmacy. Protected time for one or two afternoons per week to follow up complex cases on the wards, work on projects or attend clinical discussions.
• 1800h: Finish work
Supply of medicines from dispensaries is still the major role for hospital pharmacists, but pharmacists are progressing from a mere drug focus to a patient focus. While they still provide the check and balance required in the drug dispensing process, pharmacists today also tailor drug therapy according to patients' needs, such as the titration of antibiotic dosages for individual patients. Strategies like automation, electronic prescribing and centralising of inpatient services are being introduced to help achieve this goal. The recruitment of more pharmacy technicians in Singapore also frees up more pharmacists for roles on the wards. The ratio of pharmacists to technicians is currently about 1:1 and the aim is to shift this to 1:2, extending the roles of technicians to take on duties such as warfarin and inhaler technique counselling, and central venous additive services.
The pharmacy profession has undergone many changes. With continuing discovery of new drugs and novel drug delivery systems, there will always be constant new demands on pharmacists. Pharmacists will play an increasingly important role as domain experts in drug research and evaluation, as well as drug use and surveillance.
Some References:
1) Singapore Pharmacy Council:
http://www.spc.gov.sg
2) Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore:
http://www.pss.org.sg
3) NUS Pharmacy:
http://www.pharmacy.nus.edu.sg
4) NUS Pharmaceutical Society:
http://www.nusps.org/
Mini Questionaire
1) Do you like subjects like Chemistry and Biology more than others?
2) Do you have a passion for the healthcare industry?
3) Do you aspire to be a professional in the healthcare industry?
4) Can you accept a lifetime career related to healthcare, be it in clinical practice, biomedical research or even pharmaceutical sales or regulation?
5) Are you interested in all things related to drugs?
If you answered yes to all the above, Pharmacy may be just for you!
Template: Username (School / Gender / Grades / Date of Offer / Status)
1) Shar- (NJC / F / AAA/A / 200309 / Accepted Offer)
2) nala (NJC / F / AAA/A / 250309 / Rejected for Vet Science Overseas)
3) jess (RJC / F / AAA/A / 270309 / Accepted Offer)
4) FeNiX (AJC / M / AAA/- / 240409 / Accepted Offer)
5) saltsterlings (TJC / F / AAA/A / 250409 / Accepted Offer)
6) wl_90 (VJC / F / AAA/B / 270409 / Rejected for MOE Overseas Scholarship)
7) Joyful&Triumphant (VJC / F / AAA/B / 300409 / Accepted Offer)
8) octopi (JJC / F / AAA/A / 300409 / Accepted Offer)
9) nefta (ACJC / F / AAA/B / 080509 / Accepted Offer)
10) Axi_Ruin (AJC / F / AAA/A / 080509 / Accepted Offer)
11) moodoftheday (MJC / M / AAA/A / 080509 / Accepted Offer)
12) ghostron (HCI / F / AAA/A / 080509 / Accepted Offer)
13) klty (VJC / M / AAA/A / 130509 / Accepted Offer)
14) appleface (ACJC / F / AAA/B / 130509 / Accepted Offer)
15) Maydream (NJC / F / AAA/A / 130509 / Accepted Offer)
16) myfootprints (RJC / F / AAA/B / 130509 / Accepted Offer)
17) kuding (VJC / M / AAA/A / 130509 / Accepted Offer)
18) seamonkey (ACJC / M / AAA/A / Before 2009 / Accepted Offer)
19) xiaojie_gundam (AJC / M / AAA/A / Before 2009 / Accepted Offer)
20) teabag (SRJC / M / AAA/- / Before 2009 / Accepted Offer)
Linear Mode
