Although this blog has been silent since the beginning of May, behind the scenes much has been going on.  Two Ugandan Pharmacists have been preparing to travel to the USA to work with me to complete an Advanced Pharmaceutical Care Experiential Training Program and I have been getting ready to receive them.  Cathy Namulindwa and Gonsha Rehema both are experienced pharmacists and have teaching responsibilities, to the Pharmacy Students at Makerere University and the Pharmacy Interns at Mulago Hospital, respectively.  During their time with me at my practice site, Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, they will learn new skills to help assess the medication regimens of patients and how to make recommendations to our physician team if any drug therapy issues are encountered.  They will gain experience evaluating the medical literature and using electronic drug databases to help them with clinical decision-making.  They will also get a chance to improve their patient and healthcare provider communication skills.  All they learn will be taken back to Uganda and used to help improve patient care as they teach other pharmacists to do the same..  Stay tuned to this blog to hear all about their adventures.

Now I’d like to introduce Gonsha Rehema.

Gonsha and KarenBeth at the Intern Presentation at Mulago Hospital

I am a licensed Ugandan pharmacist with a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree and a Bachelor of Science with Education. This makes me a pharmacist and teacher at the same time. Currently, I am the secretary to the Intern Pharmacist training committee in the Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda (PSU). I develop the training curriculum to cover relevant topics to be taught across different disciplines. The training method I use is practical experiential learning with a few interns who in turn discuss the knowledge and skill with the other general interns. I go to the ward with two to five Interns to discuss the patient case. We find out if the patient is taking appropriate medicine for the disease, correct dosing, find out whether the prescribed drug is being administered and then look for other drug related problems like drug interactions and allergies. We research and put together a presentation with the interns and this is presented to the other general interns that did not go to ward. They also comment and give in their ideas. We then identify the gaps in pharmaceutical care and suggest possible solutions. The final recommendations and solutions are discussed with the doctor taking care of the patient. In most cases the doctor takes our advice and even changes patient’s treatment and as a result the patient becomes better and is discharged.

I also work in a Community Pharmacy, Extra Care Pharmacy, as the Managing Director. Some of the activities I engage in include training of staff, patient counseling and follow up, stock management, drug dispensing, prescription review, expiry date monitoring, Blood pressure management and monitoring, Pharmaceutical care, Referral of patients to both Hospitals and Doctors. We see more than 200 patients per day.

In my leisure time I go to the gym, visit friends, watch plays and movies and travel once in a while.

Gonsha and KarenBeth at another Intern Presentation at Mulago Hospital