Fun with pharmacy
OVER the last decade, pharmacists have evolved along with our healthcare needs. Besides dispensing medications and ensuring patient safety, today’s pharmacists take on significant roles as medical counsellors, educators and advocates.
The public sector offers jobs in hospitals as clinical pharmacists or support service pharmacists.
Clinical pharmacists work with other medical teams to provide therapeutic drug monitoring, parental nutrition support, oncology pharmacy, renal pharmacy, intensive care pharmacy, paediatric pharmacy and other sub-specialties.
Hospital pharmacists dispense medication to discharged patients or outpatients to ensure that they take their medicines correctly and achieve optimal beneficial effects.
Pharmacy graduates can work in the government as enforcement officers in the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency, researchers and academicians.
In the private sector, graduates can venture into community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, the pharmaceutical industry and trading.
With AIMST University’s Bachelor in Pharmacy fully accredited programme by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA/ FA8482), students learn how to become compassionate pharmacists with the knowledge, skills and values to deliver humanistic and evidence-based quality healthcare, with an aptitude for continuing professional development.
The four-year Bachelor of Pharmacy programme offered by AIMST is well balanced with didactic and experiential learning, and is designed to prepare students to play versatile roles in their chosen path.
The outcome-based curriculum of the programme produces critical thinkers with problem-solving abilities, leadership qualities, entrepreneurship and social skills that emphasise compassion.
Students are exposed to problem-based learning, debate and reflective journals, objective structured clinical examinations and journal appraisal to instil the desired qualities.
Educational visits to nuclear pharmacies, cure-and-care rehabilitation centres and more are incorporated into suitable courses to expose students to real-world practice.
For exposure in pharmaceutical industries, students are placed in suitable sectors either locally or overseas for a minimum of six weeks at the end of the third year.
AIMST’s collaboration with the JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research in Mysore, India, allows students to have industrial placements in Ooty and Mysore.
Students also benefit from the partnership in the aspects of manufacturing and production of vaccine at the Pasteur Institute of India in Coonoor, India.
Upon completion of the Bachelor of Pharmacy programme, students may enrol in the Provisionally Registered Pharmacist (PRP) training, for which AIMST is also listed as one of the training site providers by the Malaysian Pharmacy Board.
Those who undergo PRP training in AIMST will also enrol in the postgraduate programme simultaneously. At the end of the practice, the students will acquire their Master’s and practising licences.
All AIMST pharmacy students obtain placements for PRP within a few months after graduating.
AIMST’s Faculty of Pharmacy also offere various postgraduate programmes related to pharmacy for a successful career pathway.
Upon completion of the Bachelor of Pharmacy programme, students can enrol in any of the graduate programmes offered by the faculty.
■ For details, visit AIMST University’s campus in Semeling, Kedah, or call 016-443 8384 / 012-404 1592 / 04-429 8108.