Pharmacist is a health care
professional who works hand in hand with other health care members and pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs.
The management, faculty and students
of Devaki Amma Memorial College of Pharmacy- Chelembra, Malappuram, Grace
College of Pharmacy- Palakkad, St.James College of Pharmaceutical Sciences- Chalakudy and
Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy jointly presented Quality Pharmacy
Practice Module Advanced Learning
Series-V from 1st July-3rd July 2013 at 10:00am. The
venue arranged for the function was the auditorium of St.James College of Pharmacy.
Learning is always a new process
compiled with knowledge, experiences, advices and much more. The module was
extremely a very wonderful learning experience for each one of us as it was
blessed with the presence of very eminent professors and scientists working in
different parts of the world. The chief guests of the function were Dr. Krishna
Kumar - Professor of
Biopharmaceutics & Pharmacokinetics, College of Pharmacy, Howard University,
Washington DC, Professor Sarah Mcbane - Assistant Professor, SKAGGS School of
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical
Sciences, University of California, San Diego and Professor Wendy Brown- Associate Professor of Pharmacy
Practice, NDSU College of Pharmacy.
Pharmacy
practice is the discipline of pharmacy which involves
developing the professional roles of pharmacists.
The inaugural function started off with
the prayers and thanksgiving to the
almighty. It was followed by the welcome address by Dr. Krishnakumar-
Scientific Co-ordinator (Kerala) &
Principal, St. James College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chalakudy and
presidential address of blessed Rt. Rev. Dr. Pauly Kannokadan, Bishop, Diocese of Irinjalakuda. Dr. K.
Mohandas, Vice Chancellor, KUHS,
Thrissur inaugurated the function and also administered the inaugural
address. It was succeeded by the chief guest address by Prof. K. Chinnaswamy-
Co-Chairman & President, Indian Association of Colleges of Pharmacy,
Chennai who happened to mention a lot about the present scenario of Indian
pharmacists. Dr. Krishna Kumar was
designated as the guest of honor who evoke in our minds the need to wake to the
various injustices happening in the name of pharmacy profession. Next we had
felicitations; firstly by Rev. Fr. Paul A. Ambooken- Director, St. James
College of Pharmaceutical sciences; secondly by Dr. T.K. Ravi- Principal,
Sri Ramakrishna Institute of
Paramedical Sciences, Coimbatore and finally by Mr. Narayanan M., Manager, Devaki Amma College of
Pharmacy, Chelembra. Now it was the most important time for the Guest Address
by Professor Sarah Mcbane and Professor Wendy Brown. The speeches they
administered throwed a light on the topics they were to explain in the future
classes. Finally the inaugural function was winded up by the vote of thanks by
Dr. Sajeeth C.I, Vice-Principal, Grace College of Pharmacy, Palakkad.
All the delegates didn’t forget to
mention the roles of a pharmacist in various fields of medicine and about the
various recent approaches to improve patient quality of life and to raise the
standards of pharmacy profession. They also added that we are our own destiny
makers and that nothing is impossible until we think its possible. They also
offered support for the improvement of
education system of Pharm. D’s in India & also emphasized on the development
of interpersonal skills among Pharm. D graduates.
Classes on the very first day
were taken by Dr. K. Krishna Kumar who spoke on the topic “Theophylline
Pharmacokinetics”. Theophylline is a drug
mainly used for the treatment of bronchial asthma, COPD, neonatal apnoea &
bradycardia. He showed us few calculations and graphs on the conversion
of IV therapy to oral therapy, therapeutic index, dosing interval etc. He
pointed out that at least 200 drugs in the Essential Drug List; regarding their
dose, clearance, properties, generic
name, pharmacokinetic parameters, minimum effective concentration, maximum tolerable dose, indications etc
have to be well studied by a pharmacy practice student. He also mentioned that
recently few drugs had been withdrawn from the Indian market but they had been
tested in a wrong population, e.g.: Thalidomide was withdrawn as it showed an
adverse drug reaction when administered
to pregnant women; similarly Viox was withdrawn as it precipitated cardiac problems but was
administered at very high doses.
Classes on the second day were taken
by Prof. Sarah Mc Bane on the topic “Chronic
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease”. COPD is a disease state characterized by
airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. He gave us a very wide knowledge
about the disease by stressing on the various improved diagnosis, assessment,
management and preventive techniques of COPD and also by mentioning about the
various drugs like anticholinergics, theophylline, β-agonists, inhaled corticosteroids, phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor-Roflumilast etc
including their dose, dosage form,
side effects etc. A recent surgery technique introduced is Lung Volume
Reduction Surgery (LVRS). He also highlighted on a very important mode of
therapy followed by the physicians in
the asthma clinics in USA i.e. administration of β- agonists and steroids as combination therapy such that the
concentration of steroids is kept minimum to avoid the unwanted side effects of steroids but at
the same time to provide the wanted therapeutic effects of β-agonists.
He also talked on the prevalence of
cigarette smoking in the present
computerized world. He stressed that today in a world where even
youngsters and small boys are addicted to cigarette smoke , pregnant women are
to strictly keep away from such harmful behavior that might prove fatal to the
foetus and to the mother in the long run. Various guidelines and slides that
depicted the necessity to quit smoking and that also gave tips on how to go
about made the topic easy to be understood. He finally added on few drugs like
Bupropion and Varenicline that can relieve the addictance by affecting release
of neurotransmitters (Noradrenaline & Dopamine) and decreases craving for
cigarettes. Lastly he didn’t forget to mention that it’s the pharmacist’s duty
to educate women not to smoke during pregnancy and also spread awareness among
the population about the ill-effects of smoking.
On the third day classes were
lead by Dr.Suresh and by Prof.Wendy Brown. Dr. Suresh gave a very brief class
on the challenges and opportunities of Pharm.D whereas Prof.Wendy Brown gave a
demonstrative class and a discussion on the topic ‘asthma’.
Dr.Suresh boldly mentioned that
the aim of Pharm.D programme is to redefine and
rediscover the role of a clinical pharmacist. We as upcoming Pharm.D’s
have to be well versed about the primary healthcare system, massive
immunization programmes, community healthcare system etc. We have to have more
knowledge and skills in order to stand upto the mark and to face the
competition of an ever changing world. He even added that one of the
biggest drawbacks of the pharmacy
field was the presence of unqualified and imperfect professionals and also the
very dry attitude that the society has towards the profession.
Class by Prof.Wendy Brown on the
topic was very appreciative. Asthma being one of the most prevalent diseases
today, she gave a very concise information on the etiology, pathophysiology, triggering
factors etc of asthma. Demonstrations of various breathing exercises and of
various instruments used in assessment of asthma like spirometer, peak flow
meter etc were shown. Some instruments like inhalers, metered dose inhalers,
spacers, canisters etc were also demonstrated. She also mentioned about the
GINA Guidelines i.e. Global Guidelines For Asthma Management.
All together all the classes were
very informative and useful for our day-to –day life. The classes comprised of
pharmacotherapy, control measures, pharmacology of various drugs specific to the disease, diagnostic
tests, graphical pictographs etc that made it more clear to the mixed audience.
We cordially thank each and everyone who took all the efforts to make the seminar a very different one.
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