“Computer” for Pharmacist and Pharmacy Education

Er. Babu Ram Dawadi
System Engineer, Center for Information Technology (CIT), IOE Pulchowk Campus,
Senior System Operator, AI3/SOI-Asia Project, WIDE University Japan
baburd@ioe.edu.np, baburd@gmail.com


Introduction


When I got a chance to be a computer teacher in Kantipur College of Medical Science, I have gained little knowledge of about pharmacy education in Nepal and I found some points regarding the necessary of computer for pharmacist and pharmacy education.

I am trying to elaborate the applications and necessity of computer education in pharmacy through this article.

In Nepal, due to its heterogeneous geographic distributions and inaccessible areas, proper implementations of proper education to Nepalese pupils are still difficult. Not only to education but also other fields is valley centric. Pupils within the valley and some other cities are definitely getting quality education. Here quality indicates the use of audio video tools, experienced teacher, knowledge of computer and other Montessori activities what we can use during teaching/learning. In addition, what about schools on remote areas? Definitely they are lacking behind the quality education. Almost 60/70% students of Nepal even don’t know what is computer. Computer is that a tool, by which everything can be possible to maintain quality education. There are no fields where we can avoid computer for quality. Time saving, logic enhancement, knowledge enhancement, practical implementation by simulation, efficient service to customers, faster information dissemination, production rate improvement, improvement of self learning power, automation etc etc… for all, computer have major role.

As far as I know, pharmacy is not limited to counting and dispensing pills. Pharmacy is a rewarding profession in the health care system that involves working closely with doctors and patients. No matter what health field you step into, there will always be a need for pharmacists. They provide their expertise on the composition, use, and manufacturing of a drug, as well as its physiological and chemical interactions. Pharmacists not only educate consumers on medication use, but also monitor their patient's health to ensure that the patient is getting the full benefits of the drug.


Computer and Pharmacy Students


Computer technology has been growing at an amazing rate, particularly over the past decade. At the same time the prices of computers have been declining, making it affordable not only to businesses but also to individuals. The introduction of computers in the work place has vastly increased the efficiency and productivity in most businesses. The health care industry has joined the computer revolution and it has been estimated that computerization can reduce both health care costs and labor efforts (e.g., paperwork). The introduction of computers in pharmacies has also been beneficial to pharmacists in a variety of service functions (e.g., label preparation, access to patient data, detection of drug interactions and other clinical information, facilitation of drug utilization reviews (DURs) and patient assessments, and provision of a means for documentation of professional activities and services). If the pharmacy has access to a system like DRUGLINE, a full-text question-answer database offering drug information, then the new information received by the pharmacist about the patient and the new medications prescribed to the patient can be added to the database to screen for possible adverse drug reactions. Laptop and hand-held computer devices have been developed which can be transported from one place to another very easily. These devices can help pharmacists gather patient information and monitor patient drug therapy at whatever site the patient/pharmacist interactions occur. Computers have now become an integral part of education and the use of computer-aided instructional techniques has evolved vastly over the past few decades (e.g., pharmacology laboratories, practice training and therapy, dispensing laboratories). Computer assisted teaching modules have shown potential as an effective alternative to printed exercises for problem solving instruction in pharmacy education. Faculty members at various schools of pharmacy have taken an initiative in helping students to acquire helpful computer skills and in the evaluation of student confidence in using computers. The rapid evolution of computer technology demands continuing education in an effort to remain competitive and maximize the provision of professional services. So, the pharmacy students of today will likely be required to make vital decisions regarding system upgrading in their future practice scenarios. Without an adequate knowledge of current pharmacy computer technology, it is quite possible that pharmacists may become caught in an informational web knit by computer sales personnel, and thus, unnecessarily encumbered by inadequate computer systems.


“The computer meets medicine“

Let’s point out the fields of medical application where computer system is successfully embedded. The major systems and areas of research in medical where computer has major roles are:

For these all systems implementation, research and analysis, we cannot avoid usage of computer.

Pharmacists now use computers to perform many critical patient care tasks. For example, they rapidly access patient and medication data, perform critical non-distributive activities, and document their actions. The likelihood that pharmaceutical computer applications will expand in the future has been reflected in curricular guidelines that suggest Doctor of Pharmacy graduates “apply computer skills and technological advances to practice”.

Several factors have increased pharmacy students’ use of computers. Pharmacy faculty predicted how computers could be used in pharmacy practice and helped students acquire computer skills, assessed students' confidence using computers, developed computer software to enhance student learning, and integrated computers into courses and curricula. Pharmacy schools also recognized that their students needed computer skills and made computers accessible to students. Finally, an increased demand for certain types of professional services stimulated computer use in various types of pharmacy settings.


Pharmacist in e-Commerce


This is the age of internet. Every types of business can be run over internet what is we called as internet business. Selling and buying of goods and services through internet is termed as e-commerce. Similarly pharmacist can run his/her business through internet. The main business activities may includes: accepting order from clients for drugs as well as providing online service to the customers with sufficient medical information. You can put your all information about what service you are currently providing to clients on the internet web server. Any client referring your web can order drugs and other services which may lead to faster service and faster business growth. A pharmacist can create his own web template like below to provide online service.

Fig 1: online pharmacy service system


Computer Education for Pharmacy Students in Nepal


Computer and internet are updateable fields. Updates are necessary within a month where as education system and syllabus on other fields are rarely updated within years. From my experience, the computer education what we are providing to our pharmacy students is not sufficient so far. Our Syllabus only covered knowledge about DOS commands, Windows, Word Processing, Excel sheet and statistical analysis. Our product must have added knowledge about internet and internet programming technology (for knowledge about online business), database systems (for knowledge drugs storage and management), basics about hardware and software troubleshooting (to improve self confidence to independently handle computer), knowledge of medical software, simulation study over drugs control & production system and knowledge over open source system is the most. We don’t need to purchase open source software which is definitely useful for such developing country. We have to pay millions rupees for Original Microsoft office system and other packages which are necessary to us. Almost all schools/colleges of Nepal use pirated products. What if Microsoft keep control over pirated software! On this case we have to move to open source software over Linux/Unix Operating System. Hence knowledge about open source system and Linux/Unix Operating System must be necessary to our students.

We need to be concerned with computer knowledge and evaluate our first year pharmacy student’s experience and attitudes like:

The answers to these questions were important in two ways. First, it would provide faculty and administration with specific information about students' computer backgrounds. Faculty could use that information to meaningfully integrate computer activities (e.g., writing papers using word processing) into their courses. Administration could also use that information to allocate limited hardware and software resources. Second, it would contribute to a growing body of knowledge about pharmacy students’ computer experiences, skills, and attitudes. While this study addressed issues (e.g., pharmacy students’ possession of personal computers) that need to be explored. It also examined student’s use of and self-assessed expertise in specific types of software applications.

Hence, at the conclusion, Pharmacy is an information intensive profession. The availability of affordable computers and the advancement of information technology have resulted in our ability to rapidly and effectively access, retrieve, analyze, share, and store large volumes of information pertinent to patient care.