KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

KUMASI

COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES

FACULTY OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES

Department of Clinical and Social Pharmacy

PREPARED AND SUBMITTED BY

MR ACHEAMPONG YAW ASANTE, 7526121

 A REPORT ON THE SIX-WEEK COMMUNITY PRACTICE TRAINING

The Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm D) Program is structured in such a way that students acquire both class
room knowledge and real life experience. First year students are therefore required to undergo a
minimum of 6 weeks introduction to Community Pharmacy Practice. This training is aimed at equipping
first year students with some basic skills and competency in dispensing and community pharmacy
practice. This training helps provide a first year Pharm D student with field experience. I undertook this
training at Laspa Pharmacy Limited located in Kejetia, Kumasi. My training hours were from 8:00am to
3:30pm every day except the weekends. God been so good and with the help of my preceptor, Mr.
Desmond Frimpong and other trained pharmaceutical staff I can say that I have achieved all my
objectives.

At the end of the 6 weeks, I was expected to be able to:

 Describe pharmaceutical care services provided in the Community Pharmacy.

 Accurately provide brand and generic names, therapeutic class, dosage forms, physical
appearance, auxiliary labels, and important counselling points for commonly dispensed
medications at the Pharmacy.
 Accurately, fill label and dispense OTC medications accurately and effectively under supervision.
 Document and maintain pharmacy records.
 Describe the procedures of inventory control and management.
 Describe his/her contribution to pharmaceutical/ patient care during the period.

The training I undertook throughout the six weeks was a great chance to help me acquire both
educational and professional knowledge. I would like to thank the Almighty God for making the training
a huge success. I always appreciate the opportunity I had to meet great individuals and professionals
who all contributed during my internship period.

Laspa Pharmacy Limited rendered a lot of services to the community .It is made up of both a retail and
wholesale section and also a section for running tests only. The staff consisted of eight individuals
(morning shift). These were the pharmacist, one medical counter assistant, two dispensing technicians,
one cashier, the manager, the accountant and two nurses. Their main service was the dispensing of
prescription but during my training period, a lot of people came in to buy over- the- counter drugs which
they dispensed logically based on their knowledge and their experience. The pharmacy was located near
the Kejetia market, as a result a lot of people came there daily. They mostly came for drugs after
prescription by doctors, others for OTC medications, condoms, contraceptives, etc. Other health related
services were also rendered like blood sugar, blood pressure, malaria, pregnancy test in the pharmacy to
help the community. The pharmacy also sold hygiene products like cresol brands, mouth washes,
shower gels and others.

As I commenced my training, I was first introduced to the software used for the dispensing of drugs.
Tally was the name of the software used, it had the names of all the available drugs and their respective
quantities and prices on it, with changes made to the quantities and prices immediately there is
restocking of drugs and a change in price of drugs. This software had a user friendly interface which
made it really easy to use. This software helped to maintain pharmacy records each day. After learning
how to use the software, I was then briefed on the various positions of the various drugs. At Laspa
Pharmacy Limited, the drugs were arranged according to their therapeutic class such as anti-
hypertensive, antibiotics, anti-malarial, anti-helminthic, blood tonics, cough syrups, contraceptives,
painkiller, etc. This helped in the easy and quick administration of drugs. I was then instructed to note
the genetic and brand names, dosage forms, physical appearance, drug interactions and some important
counselling points for the various drugs in the pharmacy. I was able to note majority of these
information within the first two weeks of my internship period.

In the next few weeks, I was introduced to a new perspective of interpreting prescriptions different from
what I learnt in school. I was made to interpret all sorts of prescriptions brought by clients into the
pharmacy. Using the knowledge of prescriptions learnt from school, I was able to interpret most of the
prescriptions but I was introduced to other kind of prescriptions which I didn’t know. For example,
abbreviations like Gutt, Oc, Syr, Tb and others were new to me. With the help of my supervisor, I am
now well informed about the various drugs prescriptions and can accurately interpret and administer
various drug prescriptions. After grasping the concept of dispensing, I was made to administer
medications for clients who wanted OTC drugs and their appropriate dosage with important counselling
points under the supervision of my preceptor for common diagnosis. I learnt how to label OTC drugs in
addition before dispensing. During my training period, I learnt about some common diagnosis and their
medications below:

COMMON DIAGNOSIS MEDICATIONS

Hypertension Nifedipine, Amlodipine

Diabetes Metformin, Glibenclamide
Upper Respiratory Tract Infection Azithromycin, Cefuroxime
Urinary Tract Infection Secnidazole, Ciprofloxacin
Arthritis Ibuprofen, Diclofenac
Malaria Arthemeter/Lumefantrine

Towards the end of my training, I was introduced to the concept of stock taking. There was a book
where out of stock medications were also recorded inside after every week. The list is then sent to the
wholesale for provision of drugs available at that time. The drugs are later supplied with the appropriate
invoices attached. The drugs provided and their respective quantities are then compared with the ones
on the invoice before the drugs are arranged on the shelves. Adjustments are then made on the
computer to match the number of the drugs added. These adjustments can only be done by the
accountant and the pharmacist since the software requires a password known only by these two people.
I participated in the stock-taking done at the pharmacy once. The name of the drugs, quantities
remaining and the expiry date was recorded. After that, all the necessary changes are made on the
software to correspond with the stock levels present at the moment.

When it came to maintaining pharmacy records, the software used was also fulfilling the function of
maintaining pharmacy records. After a drug purchase, a receipt of the drug purchase is made and
printed and handed over to the client to pay for the drug at the cashier. After payment, the drug is then
handed over to the client with the right counselling and accurate labelling to ensure the drug works to
its full effect. After the six-week period, under the supervision of my preceptor, I learnt the concept of
professionalism in Pharmacy. I always dressed neatly and appropriately, I always interacted well clients
and the staff of the pharmacy and this ensured efficient pharmaceutical services provision in the
pharmacy. My preceptor even confirmed my professionalism by giving me high marks on my preceptor
evaluation form. Although I am sure that I was highly professional, there were still cases of unsatisfied
and angry clients. But all the same, the whole training was very successful.

In conclusion, the six-week training was absolutely effective and highly educative. It was a really nice
experience which has equipped me with the basic skills and competency in community pharmacy
practice.

ACHEAMPONG YAW ASANTE

……………………………………………

7526121

PHARM D2