As designated in 2009 by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), September 25 is observed as World Pharmacist Day every year. This year’s World Pharmacist Day was celebrated with the theme “Pharmacists: Your Medicine Experts”. As part of the celebrations, Amrita School of Pharmacy, Kochi, conducted activities to honour the hospital and community pharmacists for their services to society.
The students and faculty members visited 32 community pharmacies and 16 hospital pharmacies inside Amrita hospital and greeted the pharmacists on duty. Badges, a copy of the pharmacist oath and sweets were distributed to the pharmacists to honour them for their service. Community pharmacy visits were in the regions of Kaloor, Kadavanthra, Cheranaloor, Edapally and Palarivattom regions of Kochi. The visits received great appreciation from the pharmacists.
Two invited talks were arranged for students at Amrita School of Pharmacy in connection with World Pharmacists Day on October 6, 2018. The first session was handled by Ms. Haima M. S., Assistant Manager, Pharmacy, Renai Medicity, Ernakulam. The title of her topic was ‘Hospital Pharmacy- Changing Concepts’. She explained the current scenario of pharmacies located in the hospital, their vital importance in the proper functioning of hospitals and the role of a pharmacist. She shed light on many challenges faced by hospital pharmacists and shared her experiences in facing them. She concluded her speech by wishing all the students the best in their various pursuits of a career in the pharmacy field and opened their eyes to the current scenario of the pharmacy world they would soon inherit from their predecessors.
Next, Dr. Vrinda Namboothiri, Clinical Pharmacist, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, addressed the gathering. Her talk was about the Antibiotic Stewardship Program at Amrita. Antibiotic Stewardship Program regulates the use of antibiotics in the hospital and properly scrutinizes to prevent any misuse of antibiotics in any form. She talked about the various procedures that the hospitals have to follow and the history of the program in Amrita as well as introduced the team involved in running the program. She explained her role as a clinical pharmacist in the program and her duties in carrying out the vision of the program. She concluded her talk by encouraging students and spoke of the bright future that awaits them. After their respective talks, mementos were handed out to each of them and a vote of thanks was delivered by Adarsha S., a 5th-year student of Pharm. D.
