I remember my first day of my internship hospital rotation as if it was just yesterday. How I was bursting and oozing with excitement and determination to show my prowess to the world.
During that orientation, as we were being provided with our duties, roles, and schedules, I was this close to interrupting the session with the words,” release us already to the wards and pharmacies, we are more than ready.” But I had to restrain myself and withhold my demons for another day.
The first weeks are all about showing one the ropes. No one trusts you yet, and there are a lot of supervisory activities that feel strangling. Independence is just a mirage and a figment of your imagination, but it was during these mundane weeks that I would sneak to attend a ward round—my first and last.
I bet you all know how ward rounds work for most institutions. You are first greeted with awe and confusion by medic students and interns, wondering why you here in the first place, and so you slowly remove your badge to maintain the peace. The consultant or medical officer leading the ward round may or may not take notice of you. It depends on how much you answer questions, where he/she may candidly ask for your identity and badge. To which you proudly say, “a pharmacist intern,” only for them to pouter the words oh! And boy, does it crush your soul.
The conversations are mostly on diagnosis, so you can kiss in depth pharmacology analysis goodbye. And this frustration is further fueled by your pharmacist superiors, who could care less to organize and go for ward rounds. Not for CMEs, though. Now those they attend in a heartbeat. We wouldn’t want to miss that English breakfast, buffet, or KFC, aye?!.
And so, yours becomes a routine where you go for solo ward rounds, sorry, I mean analyzing several patient files in different wards. Mostly on an assignment basis, rarely for personal knowledge. That or to sit down at your new corner desk to charge patient treatment sheets, the most preferred routine.
We can’t all have that MTRH (Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital) experience, but what’s the deal with ward round practice among pharmacists?
By Dr. Anonymous.
Quite a mind boggling piece right there! Sadly, the profession is at a point where we have to work so hard to prove our worth. The question that should be lingering on our minds is how far we are willing to go to see that change in our practice…
Pharmacists should take the mantle and use our knowledge for clinical purposes. R.