A year ago, I embarked on my PRP journey as a government clinic pharmacist full of hope and motivation to be the best version of myself, to serve the people, and complete my PRP ship. As mentioned by Sally in the previous article, I would talk about what a Provisionally Registered Pharmacist does at a government clinic. As usual, we do have a logbook as per our requirements to be a Fully Registered Pharmacist. 

My experience as a PRP in Government Clinic

I completed my one-year PRP training in Klinik Kesihatan Kajang, one of the many government clinics in the district of Hulu Langat. My training started in the Outpatient pharmacy department as we do not have an In-patient pharmacy since we do not admit patients in our clinic. In the beginning, it was a bit of a culture shock to me to see how many patients a day do we serve in the clinic. On a very very busy day, we could dispense medications to up to 1000 patients! It was definitely overwhelming at the beginning since you are starting out new and tend to make mistakes that are immediately corrected by your peers and preceptors. The need to show that you are learning and adapting quickly can also be overwhelming so I tend to always go into the routine of reminding myself that I need to take it slow, take a breather and it is okay to make mistakes. We are all in fact humans. There are definitely ups and downs during PRP-ship. Moreover, we also get a sneak peak on how hospital PRP’s go through their journey. It’s a part of our logbook that we need to go for Hospital Attachment for 3 months, mine was in Hospital Kajang. I was attached to In-patient pharmacy for 8 weeks where I learnt how hospitals supplied their medications to each ward, supplying Dangerous Drugs (DD) and counselling sessions with patients in the wards. Next, I was attached to Ward Pharmacy, in other words “Clinicals” for 4 weeks. It was the most challenging yet rewarding 4 weeks that I’ve ever had to endure throughout my whole year of being a PRP. I definitely picked up a lot of skills such as time management, how to make my coffee stronger and how to juggle studying and case preparations. 

PRP during the COVID-19 Pandemic

I entered the workforce as soon as they lifted the restrictions from MCO 1.0. It was definitely interesting to work during the pandemic as you need to be in PPE and follow SOPs to make sure to keep the patients and yourself safe. To be honest, the fear of contracting COVID whilst on the job was there but nevertheless, I was happy to perform to complete my training as COVID-19 was in the talks about how it was going to be the societal norm for everybody. 

My tips and tricks for the new PRP’s.

Don’t be afraid to always ask questions. Even when you vaguely know something, there’s a guarantee that you are missing a couple of things. I understand that asking questions to supervisors, there’s a fear that you might get shot down and berated. But don’t worry there are always people like your FRP’s or other senior pharmacists that could help. Always be prepared for each attachment, such as reading up on guidelines or checking up to see if there’s anything that needs to be done before the attachment with your supervisor. Last but not least, always put your best foot forward at work. 

This article is contributed by Revethi (current Pharmacist in government clinic).

The opinions expressed in the article are the writers’ own and do not reflect the view of MPS YPC.