Chi! Chi! Chi!

Hello friends and family members in the states!

We have done so much in Thailand in a week that I don't even know where to begin. Our motto has been "Chi! Chi! Chi!" which means "Yes! Yes! Yes!" In Thai, meaning that we've been a very adventurous group. We do not know how to say no to eating odd foods like bird's nest (Google it), going to sky bars, meeting as many pharmacy students as possible, shopping in every market, Thai messages (especially the guys), or going to any new place (e.g. pharmacy schools, hospitals, temples, food stands, museums).

We have also learned a lot about the health care system here. There are several similarities and differences. I love that patients have universal coverage here, but that doesn't always mean that patients are able to receive serious procedures in a timely manner. I'm really surprised at how advanced the pharmacy profession is here. Pharmacists have the option of doing a clinical residency after their 6 year PharmD program, which is 4 years in length (in order to be comparable to a PhD). For instance, we met a fantastic clinical oncology pharmacist who showed us around the most impressive hospital I have ever seen, where they had a pharmacogenomics clinic that they utilize often.

As far as pharmacy curriculum, most schools offer 2 or 3 tracks, where students must usually pick a track during their first year. Usually, students pick between patient care or product development/pharmaceutics. This is very different from our programs, not only because most US schools do not utilize tracks, but also because our pharmacy schools do not offer so much exposure in drug development and pharmaceutical industry. Patient care seems to be the most popular option among patients but several students still pursue product development in order to work for a big company such as Pfizer or Merck. Unfortunately, students do not have the freedom to change their mind during the program, and if they want to switch tracks, they must drop out of the program and reapply to the college.

I've greatly enjoyed meeting all of the faculty and students at the universities and the professionals that have showed us around public and private hospitals. I've been very impressed with the healthcare and pharmacy settings so far, and I'm excited to see what else we see and learn!