Day 1 Roles of Pharmacist in Public Health
By:
Tan Yi Khai (Sr1ScD)
On 20 June 2019, students from both Sr1ScC and Sr1ScD attended a scientific workshop led by Dr Gan Sook Yee, a senior lecturer from the School of Pharmacy, International Medical University (IMU). The day workshop consisted of two laboratory activities; the first one was to expose students to pharmacy, microbiology and another to pharmaceutical chemistry (a branch of chemistry that deals with drug design and synthesis).
The emcee of the day gave a very short speech as a welcome note to Dr Gan Sook Yee, Dr Dinash, Dr Mayuren and their team. The school’s Deputy Principal, Madam Chong Siew Fah presented some souvenirs to our guest speakers as a token of appreciation. A group photo had been taken before Dr Mayuren began the talk of about 20 minutes and activities planned for the scientific experiments.
Brief introduction by Dr Mayuren
Two of the classes were then separated into two laboratories which are the chemistry lab and the general science lab. One of the laboratory activities is about microbiology and antibiotic susceptibility. Students managed to isolate single bacteria colony from commercial probiotic (Yakult) by using aseptic technique streaking method, learned about the technique used to determine antimicrobial resistance and later be able to appreciate the proper use of antibiotics. One of the lecturers gave a brief introduction on the procedure before handing over the materials to the students. Two oil immersion microscopes were brought over by IMU that have allowed our students to observe the morphology of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
The second laboratory activity was mainly on drug formulation, which was preparation of cream. Dr Mayuren gave a briefing on the hands-on activity. Students had been given a chance to make a cream by themselves. IMU provided us with aqueous cream, bentonite powder, ointment tiles, ointment knives, mortar and pestle for making the aqueous cream.
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The day workshop ended when the school bell rang at 3 in the afternoon. During the interview, many of my questions raised were given replies right away. Dr Gan Sook Yee and her team praised the students for having shown great interest and curiosity. They also pointed out that our students gave a lot of respect to them and they have the right attitude to learn. They have further encouraged the students to continue working for what they aim for.
Interviewing Dr Gan and the team