Sawadee ka!

For two days we visited King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital/community pharmacy/pharmacy school. At the community pharmacy we got to see the products behind the counter which are considered “dangerous drugs” and over the counter which are “non-dangerous drugs”. Because Thailand has an open system, prescriptions are not required. This gives pharmacist a completely different role as they’re able to diagnose as well as dispense. This pharmacy was fairly progressive in comparison to others as they offered diabetes and blood pressure management services. They also created separate counseling rooms so patients could speak freely with the pharmacist. Another unique factor was this self testing machine ( I have no idea what the actual name is but you can see what it looks like below). So patients could walk in and use it to see what there weight, BMI, pulse and blood pressure is. A receipt with all this information prints out along with suggestions on how to improve their health. The pharmacist said it was a good way to start a conversation with their patients about their health. There are also home health services which was mind blowing because our community pharmacies don’t offer this.

Some resources for patients.

Over the counter section. 

There are some abused medications (seen below) which are controlled. There are quantity limits and patients have to sign for them but still do not require a prescription.

The home visit was a highlight!!!l We tagged along with a pharmacist, a pharmacy student and a nurse. We counseled two patients from the same household. One was about an 80 year old mother and the other was about a 50 year old son. The son took care of his mother all day while trying to balance an income riding a taxi from 2am to late morning. His mother was mostly bed ridden, had a high risk of falls and some mental health problems. She recently had to be hospitalized for her heart but is in recovery and feels much better. The major issue was the sons high blood pressure. Because he’s busy taking care of his mom and working he hasn’t visited a doctor (his doctors office is far from his home) and has self medicated for his blood pressure. Our goal was to convince him to at least visit a local clinic to get proper treatment. The pharmacist did an amazing job with understanding his situation and giving him realistic options. I think he was convinced   Apart from the educational experiences, I learned two major things. 1) I think many of us take this for granted. It’s amazing how accessible doctors are in most parts of the US. I’ve appreciated this before but not as much as I do now. 2)  I think what this son is doing for his mother speaks so much about the culture here. He gave up his life and dedicated it to caring for her.

Purvi