May 20th, Friday
Today, was our 2nd day at the hospital. We rode the tuk-tuks there. These are super fun to ride in although it can be dangerous considering the way Cambodians drive. (Although there are traffic signs/laws in place, you will often see people going against traffic and driving super close to each other.) Anyways, in the Sihanouk hospital, I was in the main pharmacy with two other pharmacy students, Rachel and Dan. We learned about the pharmacy work flow process. It was quite interesting to learn that there was an actual messenger that would drop off printed labels to the pharmacy from the Community Medical Center (CMC), which is another hospital across the street. He would then pick it up to deliver it back to the pharmacists at CMC to dispense. In addition, we learned that everyone in the pharmacy is a pharmacist so there are no pharmacy technicians. They are in school for 5 years. There are only 2 pharmacy schools; one is taught in English, and the other in French. In the pharmacy, there is also a separate section of the pharmacy that had medications for only HIV/AIDS patients since that is prevalent in Cambodia.
After lunch, the pharmacy worked on a little project. Dr. Franks listed some common medications, for which the pharmacy students created a list of counseling points and important information that pharmacists should know. When we were done with that, we returned back to the hotel and had some time to ourselves before dinner. I used that time to catch up on emails letting my family and friends know what I’ve been up to here in Phnom Penh.
For dinner, about half of the group went to a place called Java. It was a trendy and relaxing place. They had mostly American food. I ordered a hot pastrami panini, which was pretty freaking good. I also had a strawberry milkshake that was made w/ 3 scoops of ice cream! Also the best milkshake ever! After dinner, I also had my first massage ever. It was weird at first and I didn’t really know what I was doing. But it ended up being pretty good. I definitely enjoyed it, especially considering it was only $5 for a half hour! Can’t beat that price in USA. hehe.
Well, I have definitely enjoyed my time here so far and am looking forward to our next adventure in Cambodia!
– Pamela Wong
PharmD Candidate, 2013