Work is fun!

So just in case anyone thinks it is all fun, or that I am just have lazy dog day afternoons, I thought I would share with you some of the activities of the past week:

--Met with DUR workshop faculty planning group to plan (Yupadee, Yupapan, Aurawan, Niyada, some students) --Worked on workshop handouts and articles --Attended Chula Social Research graduate program student seminar, collected co-trimoxazole samples for Dr. Sheth's project (graduate students volunteered to shop pharmacies). --Attended viewing of “Children of the Dark” film at Foreign Correspondents Club. This film was produced in Japan and is a docudrama about child exploitation in Thailand - due to the sensitive content the film was banned from the Bangkok International Film Festival this year. See http://facthai.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/children-of-the-dark-ban-at-bkkiff-thai-film-journal/ for more information. --Met with Tim from Kenya – he is neighbor at my apartment building Vidhayanives and wants to study peace and conflict resolution in the US --Met with Prof. Niyada and Bruce Ravesloot from Raks Thai (Care Thailand) to discuss antibiotic resistance --Assembled outline of potential collaborative research topics and set up meeting to discuss with Drs. Niyada, Vithaya and Yupadee but meeting got cancelled. Prof. Niyada and I decided to pursue HIV/AIDS in the elderly, a growing concern. --Spent Friday at Thammasat University lecturing medical students (3 hours) on pharmacoepidemiology (thank you, Dr. Weiss!!); also observed a class that used clinical case format --Was asked to prepare and deliver talk on P3 program to the Thai Pharmacy Council on Sunday – this talk was very well received and was part of their report and recommendations. Dr. Rodriguez de Bittner and Dr. Lee - thank you for sharing the slides - the group leader was enamored with the program and has already created a 'Thai version' of P3 - but they want to call it P4 - the 4th 'P' is for 'Poor.'!! They may contact you. BUT...most all of these meetings/events are accompanied by Thai food!

Naresuan University

It was a great day at Naresuan University last week. Naresuan University is located in Phitsanulok, Thailand, about a 40 minute flight from Bangkok. The University was named after King Naresuan the Great. It was established as a public university in 1990. I was the 'Plenary Speaker' for the launch of their Center on Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research - see the 3rd page of the press release (1st pages are in Thai)

http://www.pha.nu.ac.th/NewsSystem/newspad_E/uploads/682DB_conf.pdf Prof. Nathorn, the Center Director, is a PharmD graduate of University of Wisconsin and received his PhD in Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy from the University of Washington.

Thank you again, family, for the lovely flowers! You can see how they beautify my apartment!!!

Puppies and dogs around Chulalongkorn University - just for fun!

Thai Suburbia

My friend Aurawan took me to meet her family - sister, brother-in-law and niece - who live in a new home located in a gated community outside of Bangkok. Aurawan's sister was thrilled that I took pictures of her beautiful home! The home, surroundings and neighborhood were a sharp contrast to the areas of Bangkok that I work and live.

Buddhist Holiday

Monday was a Buddhist holiday, and like many of our holidays, people celebrate in their own ways. I spent the day at a UNESCO sponsored conference on gender issues in Asian countries. One interesting presentation was a qualitative study on the economic and social impacts of street vendor businesses on women-owned vendor businesses in Thailand. Ok, not directly related to medication use, but for me, to learn about broader issues of a culture and society is important for putting one's own field of work into context. Later the same day, I had a great dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant with the Kulsomboon family. Then we went to a Wat (Buddhist temple) and participated in the holiday celebration. On the way home we ran into a Chinese opera on the street - very impressive!!! The atmosphere reminds me of the summer outdoor movies in Little Italy, Baltimore. But this was a live production. And all of that in one day!

Very busy!

It's been a while since I blogged - just no time! We've been busy meeting with the Thai FDA, teaching classes, planning a workshop and trips to various universities - Naresuan and Thammassat to start. I also had dinner with a group of physicians of the Rural Doctors Society who were attending the Prince Mahidol conference. Spurred by changes in the Universal Coverage program, there is added interest in the role of community pharmacists in the health care system. My understanding is that previously, prescriptions and services from community pharmacies were not covered under the Universal Coverage scheme and now they are - patients under this coverage scheme have the option to obtain their prescriptions from community pharmacies rather than waiting in long queues at hospital outpatient pharmacies and clinics. And, pharmacists here may dispense many drugs without a prescription (that are prescription in the US), and they are seen as a provider for minor ailments. So,there is much opportunity for community pharmacists to play a greater role in ambulatory care. Hence, initiation of a new project, the 'Quality Drug Store Project.' I will have to share with them the work that has been done with the P3 program!