My Final On-Call

I just finished my final on-call as a provisionally registered pharmacist at HSNZ on 11th September 2010. And I had to communicate with the most arrogant medical officer ever.

Since it was the Raya holidays, most Muslim medical staff were let go of for the holidays and the Chinese ones had to stay to carry out on-call duties. And as usual during the festive season, the Casualty Department became a hectic place due to the many accidents, food poisoning, and gastritis cases courtesy of the festive season. With this hectic crowd, there are bound to be doctors who have to be borrowed from other departments and health clinics during this Raya season and mistakes in prescriptions are unavoidable.

There was this one case that totally irked me. This particular medical officer prescribed many slips with C. Ponstan II/II BD and T. Vit C I/I TDS. For two days in a row. So I decided to call up the doctor to verify the unusual doses during my on-call. Here was how the conversation went.
Me: Good evening Dr. .... I'm Ling from Satellite Pharmacy 7 and I would like to confirm the dose of a few prescription slips that I received from you.
Dr: Yes?
Me: (Proceeded with the problem at hand). Usually we give Ponstan as II/II TDS, do you really want to give it as a BD dose?
Dr: I know that the max dose is TDS, so it is not wrong to give it as a BD dose right since it is still within the max dose? I have always given it to my patients as a BD dose anyway. But since you say it is TDS then it is TDS.
Me: Alright. Then what about the Vit C? May I know what is the indication for I/I TDS? Cause usually I/I OD is adequate as a prophylactic treatment.
Dr: I usually give it I/I TDS as an anti-anxiolytic.
Me: (Reinforcing statement) But Vit C I/I OD is really already adequate enough as a prophylactic treatment.
(It's not like I can tell that doctor that:

1. We are always running out of stock of Vit C
   
2. Most patients don't even take their meds accordingly
3. There are better sources of Vit C anyway
4. I/I OD is REALLY adequate enough and it is the practice at the HSNZ A&E Dept.)

Dr: But I have always been prescribing it for my patients this way. Since you say it is I/I OD then it is I/I OD.
Me: Alright.
Dr: (Hangs up immediately)

Rude much?

But other than that, I have had quite a satisfying final on-call with new cases to handle and there were these two particular patients that made my day.

One made me took three puffs of MDI Salbutamol (which is overdose even for normal asthmatic patients and I was not using placebos) to get him to understand the MDI technique but he finally got it in the end. He thanked me and then went off happily with his meds.

Another was a Malay gentleman from Kuantan who had to get cough and cold meds from this hospital and he voiced his concerns that his inhalers weren't working for him anymore even though he took all his meds accordingly (and he was using the best inhalers too). So I took the time to explain to him about his condition and that his inhalers might not work as well due to his untreated cough and cold and his inhalers will work just as well when his condition improves. He thanked me for spending the time to explain his condition and for his supply of meds and went home relieved of one his worries.

It feels good to be appreciated and it is these small things that make you remember why you still pull yourself through with your job even when the conditions are less than appealing to you. And it definitely pays to spend a little more time to make a difference in patients' lives.