UA College of Pharmacy Students: Thailand 2015!

Next Wednesday, 8 students (Daniel, Rick, Ashley, Chris, Supranee, Mika, Farah and Mai) and I will be traveling to Thailand for our 2nd University of Arizona summer study abroad trip.  As some of you know, last summer 14 students and  went to Japan, and based on the success of that trip and requests by students, we decided to venture to Thailand this summer.  Two of the students, Rich and Ashley went to Japan last summer, so the trip to Thailand will allow them to compare their experiences in 2 different Asian countries. One of the students joining us, Mai, is actually a student of mine at Kobe Gakuin University in Japan and one of our hosts last summer in Japan, so she will be an honorary UA student for 12 days.

Ot time is Thailand, mostly spent in Bangkok, will be about half pharmacy related experiences and half cultural and social (see schedule below). I feel that the students cultural and social experiences is at least as important as the professional experiences, and the relationships that develop between the UA students and students in the host country can be life-changing.

Why Thailand?  Well, the easy answer is that I personally and the UA College of Pharmacy institutionally has a strong, long-term relationship with Thailand.  UA COP was a charter member of the US-Thai Pharmacy Consortium, and I currently serve as the Co-Chair (with my Thai friend and colleague Dr. Surakit Nathisuan) of the Consortium.  Several UACOP students complete 6 week rotations in Thailand, and several pharmacy residents in our UA-affiliated programs are from Thailand.  I have been fortunate to be able to travel to Thailand several times--this will be my third trip this year.  Professionally, pharmacy education and practice is different in many ways than in the US, and of course Thai culture is very different than American culture.

While the students who went to Japan last summer became accustomed to greeting people by bowing and saying konnichiwa, in Thailand they will learn to wai (see Ronald McD in Bangkok above) and say suwadeeka. 

We will be hosted by 3 different pharmacy schools--Mahidol, Chulalongkorn and Huachiew Chalerprakiet Universities in and around Bangkok.  The help of my faculty colleagues at these schools--Drs. Surakit, Usa, Top and Gade is much appreciated.

Dr, Surakit from Mahidol University at left

Dr. Krittin (Top) in middle)

Our schedule:

Date	Time	Location	Activities
August 6 (THU)		Bangkok	Arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport Airline UA (ANA) Flight no: 7971 Departure time:18:25 (from Tokyo Narita) Arrival time:  22.55 pm
August 7 (FRI)	08.00 – 12.00	Bangkok	Free time
	13.30 – 16.00		Pick-up @ hotel lobby at 13.30 by MU van Meet Dean Chuthamanee Suthisisang Briefing of Thai Pharmacy Practice & Education System Faculty tour & student meeting Location: R309, Rajarat Bldg., Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University (http://www.pharmacy.mahidol.ac.th/eng/)
August 8 (SAT)	08.30 – 17.00		Visit to Grand Palace (http://www.bangkok.com/attraction-palace/grand-palace.htm), Wat Pho (http://www.watpho.com/index.php?lang=en), Teakwood Palace (http://bangkokforvisitors.com/vimanmek/), Ananta Samakom Throne Hall, & Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn, http://www.bangkok.com/attraction-temple/wat-arun.htm) Lunch @ The Deck, Arun Residence
	17.00 – 20.00		Dinner & Shopping time
August 9 (SUN)	08.30 – 18.00	Ayutthaya (80km north of Bangkok) http://thailandforvisitors.com /central/ayuthaya/	Ayutthaya (UNESCO World Heritage Site) Bang Pa-In Summer Palace Elephant Riding Boat Tour
August 10 (Mon)	09.00 – 16.30 19:00	Bangkok	Hospital Visit @ Siriraj Hospital Thai Traditional Medicine School & Hospital Museum @ Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University Vertigo Bar (http://www.banyantree.com/en/ap-thailand-bangkok/vertigo-and-moon-bar)
August 11 (TUE)	07:00 09:00 10:00 12:00 13:30 17:00	Samutprakarn (suburb of Bangkok)	Visit to Faculty of Pharmacy, Huachiew Chalermprakiet University (http://www.hcu.ac.th/branch.php?id=5&title =Faculty%20of%20Pharmacy) Leave Ibis Hotel Meet with Dean, faculty Tour of Faculty of Pharmacy Lunch Visit Bangpor Hospital Dinner BangPoo Seaside Park
August 12 (WED) (Mother’s Day)	09.00 – 12.00	Bangkok	Community Pharmacy visit with Dr. Katha Bunditanukul at Ruen Ya Drug Store
	13.30 – 17.00		Free time
August 13 (THU) August 13 (THU) cont'd	09.00 – 10.00 10:00-11:00 11:00-12:00 13:00-16:00	Bangkok	Visit to Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Chulalongkorn University (http://www.pharm.chula.ac.th/en/) Students visit Osotsala Pharmacy (operated by CU Faculty) Students visit herbal museum (Dr. Katz 9-11 faculty discussions on Problem-Based Learning and Bedside Teaching) Discussion with CU students about US and Thai Pharmacy education Visit King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital
August 14 (FRI)	09.00 – 16.00	Bangkok	Visit Ruen Ya Pharmacy--home health care and screening activity
August 15 (SAT)	09.00 – 18.00	Nakorn Pathom (56km west of Bangkok) http://www.lonelyplanet.com/ thailand/bangkok/nakhon-pathom	Floating Market Sam Pran Riverside (Thai Cultural Show) Phra Pathom Chedi (the tallest Stupa in the world)
August 16 (SUN)		Bangkok	Shopping @ Chatuchak Weekend Market (http://www.bangkok.com/shopping-market/popular-markets.htm)
August 17 (MON)		Bangkok	Jim Thompson House (http://www.jimthompsonhouse.com/) MBK Shopping Center (http://www.mbk-center.co.th/en/home/index.php)
August 18 (TUE)			Flight back to the USA Airline ANA Flight no: 806 Departure time: 06:50 (to Tokyo Narita) Arrival time (NRT):  15:00 pm

Getting to Thailand is a pretty long trip--our route is Tucson-San Francisco-Tokyo-Bangkok. As you can see, it will be a busy trip, but we want to pack in as much as possible. One of the UA students on the trip, Supranee happens to be Thai, and by coincidence her aunt, Jonglak is a tour guide in Bangkok.  Jonglak will be helping us with transportation which can be challenging in Bangkok.

I have asked the students on the trip to share their thoughts and experiences before, during and after.I hope you will follow their adventures, and feel free to comment and share your thoughts, impressions and own experiences.

Grand Palace, Bangkok

Now faculty member Dr. Lisa Goldstone on Thailand rotation as 4th year student

oh my Thailand!

Sitting in front of my suitcase where lot of stuff are been spreading around thinking "one of my dreams will come true in less than 10days"---Visiting Thailand and drinking fresh mango juice always has been on my to do list. In addition, this time, not only am I visiting there to have fun but also I'm learning and having lots of experiences! 

I'm Mai Yokota, a pharmacy student in Japan, also one of the Japanese students of Dr. Katz and a friend of Rick and Ashley. 

Really appreciate in advance that I got such a wonderful opportunity. 

Here's what I'm looking forward to learn during the trip. 

• How pharmacy is practiced 

I've learned the difference between the US and Japan. I'd like to know what thai pharmacy do and how pharmacy students learn in school.

• Herbal medicine( or traditional medicine)

Heard herbal medicine is popular for some people there. We also use Chinese herbal medicine, kampo, so I'm interested in what kind of herbs they use. 

• Health insurance system in Thailand. 

• culture, food, people, and religion. 

Since I'm living in Japan, one of the asian countries, Thailand and Japan have a few things in common but Thailand seems very different. I'd love to know and understand Thailand as much as possible.

I'm crazy about traveling and exploreing new things, places and people. 

What I always like to do is being in the culture and feeling the country with entire my body, senses and spirits. 

I'll say goodbye to Sushi, hot springs and bowing and say hello to thai culture! 

very excited at unpredictable adventure in Thailand with my favorite professor, Dr. Katz, wonderful friends of mine, Rick and Ashley, and other students who I'm really looking forward to meet!

Mai