The Trip So Far

Hi everyone!

We are currently on day 5 of our Thailand trip. I will say it's been a great but exhausting trip so far. I love that we've been able to do so much. Even though I've been here in Bangkok before. There has been plenty of sights that I missed during my first trip. The trip to Ayutthaya was was my favorite. It's the capitol of the Kingdom of Siam. The ruines were increadible. I'd highly recommend visiting this site when in Bangkok.

The pharmacy experiences have been my overall favorite so far. We went to Mahidol university, Siriraj hospital, and Chulalongkorn University so far. In these experiences, we learned about the pharmacy curriculum in Thailand and the integration of western and traditional Thai medicine. The integration of the two medicines was interesting to see. I like the idea because Thai traditional medicine allows patients to try non pharmacotherapy treatments first. I think we could learn something from that ideology because not every problem necessarily requires medication.

I also enjoyed my home health visit with the students from Chulalongkorn university. The interview process reminded me a lot of the CSA in patient assessment. I was even able to do a microfillament test on one of our patients! Pharmacists here have some unique problems here in Thailand. The neighborhood we went to for the home health visit had an average income of only 3000-4000 baht ($90-120) a month. For example, most people in this neighborhood didn't have refrigeration. They have to carry a cooler with ice to store the insulin. I feel like they have to be a little more creative when they dispense medications.

Any who I'll write again soon!

Scott