That's a Wrap!

Hello All!  This APPE rotation has been the experience of a lifetime, not only for my personal life but also for my career.  It has opened my eyes to the many ways pharmacists can help treat their patients in a medical way as well as in an emotional way.  Seeing how traditional medicines can help a patient along with Western treatments to make to overall patient better, not just their disease state was an amazing thing.  Many times during my experiences in the US I have shied away from herbal treatments, but now I see that doing a little research to ensure quality and preventing adverse reactions many patients can benefit from alternative therapies.  I am glad to have been given the opportunity to see all these places and been allowed to tour many hospitals and meet their patients.  Even though we could not directly communicate with each other I felt that each patient knew that by allowing us to visit with them we were improving the next generation of healthcare practitioners.  Not only were they helping us take our knowledge back to the US but they were helping the 6^th year pharmacy students from Thailand.  Having the time to discuss the differences in our schooling and the rotation experiences we had was great, along with learning that if they want to have a residency they may have to go for an additional four years where as ours in only a year or two.  I was very surprised in how almost everything in a pharmacy is in English, but it makes sense with how many medications are developed in the US and other English speaking countries.  The only difference I could see was that the government supplies many medications and they have reproduced them with different names for marketing purposes to make them affordable for the universal healthcare program.  Without out this APPE I would not have been very open to a discussion with a patient for herbal medications but I think in my future I will advocate for patients that want to incorporate it in their care.  I am so thankful for my parents to support my decision to apply for this rotation and thankful to my friends that made this trip the best memory of pharmacy school.  See you soon America! 

อขอบคุณ or as we say Thank you,

Miranda