Chiang Mai University Hospital

Yesterday in the morning we visited Chiang Mai University hospital. We split up into three groups, where my group visited the inpatient ward. The floors were split up by male and female patients, and each floor had three wards. The above photo is a visual of the way the floors are set up!


The patients who were the sickest were placed in rooms closes to the nurses station. We went over a few patient cases and we saw where the patient's medications are stored and IVs are prepared by nurses.

In the afternoon we spent time with Thai pharmacy students discussing the differences in Thai hospital pharmacy and Thai community pharmacy. The students gave presentations on community pharmacy, primary care pharmacy, and hospital pharmacy. We then talked about things that we noticed were different in our community pharmacies as compared to their community pharmacies. The term community pharmacy is also much different to the United States and to Thailand. In Thailand, community pharmacists are able to dispense many medications such as antibiotics and blood pressure medications without prescriptions. This is something unheard of in the United States. We were able to ask each other questions about how these pharmacies function. One other major difference in healthcare how our insurance system is set up. Thailand offers universal coverage for all Thai citizens! It was an amazing opportunity to hear what these students thought of our community pharmacies and to hear first hand what it is like to work in a community pharmacy in Thailand.

Thanks,

Tiffany