Here is another long but necessary 'epistle' on the ongoing struggle in the health sector.

Did you know that over 80 percent of health conditions are treated with drugs and other pharmaceutical products? It is a well known fact by all health professionals that medications play a significant role in patients care.

Are you aware that there are over 25,000 prescription products available in the World today compared to 650 prescription products available in 1960’s? According to United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), there are over 25,000 registered prescription products as of June, 2014.
Did you know that over 50 percent of patients with chronic illnesses are non-compliant with their medications?
Are you aware that lack of compliance by patients, drug interactions, drug misuse, drug abuse, failing interaction in the health services and prescription errors contributed to over 80 per cent of treatment failures? In a research conducted by Farup PG et al, the cumulative of these factors contributed 84 percent to treatment failure.
Did you know that in Nigeria there are over 10,000 Nigerians to one pharmacist far above World Health Organization recommendation of one pharmacist to a 1000 of the population? According to Mrs Gloria Ebumere, the Acting Registrar of Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, there are 16,970 registered Pharmacists as of May 2012 (Punch Newspaper).
Are you aware that in over 30 states of the United States, physicians enter into agreements with pharmacists to jointly manage patients’ drug therapy?
Did you know that the ONLY health care professional that has comprehensive, exclusive and expert knowledge about drugs, cosmetics and other pharmaceutical products are pharmacists? Are you aware that one of the most trusted, accessible and reliable professionals (not just in the health care sector but in all professions) in the World are Pharmacists? In an annual poll conducted by Gallup In 2013, pharmacists placed second among the professions listed, with 75% of respondents expressing a high or very high opinion of their honesty and ethical standards. Pharmacists retain a spot in the top 3 for the tenth consecutive year.

Who are Pharmacists? According to Wikipedia, Pharmacists are health care professionals, who practice in pharmacy, the field of health science focusing on the safe and effective medication use. A pharmacist is a member of the health care team directly involved in patient care. Pharmacists undergo university-level education to understand biochemical mechanisms of the action of drugs, drug uses, and therapeutic roles, side effects, potent drug interactions and monitoring parameters. This is mated to anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology. Pharmacists interpret and communicate this specialized knowledge to patients, medical practitioners and other health care providers. Pharmacists are involved in every aspect of the preparation and use of medicines, from research and development to eventual supply to a patient. In a nutshell, pharmacists are drug experts.

Who are Consultant Pharmacists? According to America Society of Consultant Pharmacists, a Consultant Pharmacist is a Pharmacist who is paid to provide expert advice on the use of medication by individuals or within institutions, or on the provision of pharmacy services to the institution. Consultant Pharmacists ensure that their patients’ medication is the most appropriate, most effective, most cost-effective, the safest possible, and are used correctly. They are saddled with the responsibility to identify, resolve and prevent medication-related problems. They accomplish this through a comprehensive consultation that provides a thorough, one-on-one review of all your medications;prescription, over-the-counter, herbal and nutritional. A Consultant Pharmacist has studied and acquired extensive knowledge and experience in observing and properly assessing the health of patient, advocating healthy living practices and diseases prevention for patients, identifying medication-related problems that can cause, aggravate or contribute to common patient problems, making it easier for patient to take their medications properly by labeling, packaging and organizing prescription drugs better and understanding the role of care giver, the financial challenges that patients can face, and the importance of choosing appropriate care.

IMPROVING YOUR QUALITY OF LIFE
In addendum to possessing skills specifically tailored to individual patient’s need, Consultant Pharmacists have a different perspective from most Doctors to dispense medication for a patient. A consultant Pharmacist would first look if the symptoms might itself be a side effect of a current medication.

For clarity purpose, what does the above statement imply; Does your medication make you drowsy? Do you feel anxious, confused or depressed? Do you sleep poorly at night? Is your thinking foggy? Are you having a severe headache? Do you have dry cough?
All of the above symptoms may be pretty related to taking your medications. For example, a high blood pressure patient taking Agiontensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitors (ACEI) like Ramipril, Lisinopril or Enalapril to mention a few may have dry cough as a side effect. A consultant Pharmacist will evaluate the overall picture of how your medication is affecting your quality of life. This will make a huge difference for you and your loved ones. Consequently, it generally affects the well-being of the society.
In addition, to the above services, a consultant Pharmacist helps to identify and reduce medication related problems such as drug interactions and side effects with his extensive knowledge in Structural Activity Relationship (SAR) and pharmacology. A typical example is when you take your paracetamol with alcohol. Paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen chemical structure contained a benzyl ring with NHCOCHʒ and OH at the Para positions. In other words, it is a phenolic group (alcoholic group), which when used with any other type of alcohol increases the work load of the liver, therefore causing increased liver metabolism which can subsequently lead to liver diseases. Consultant Pharmacists help to eliminate unnecessary medication due to poly pharmacy, simplify the system of taking medication therefore eliminating complex medication, reduce medications cost, serve as your advocate with your Doctor to ensure the use of most appropriate medications, promote wellness and help in identifying untreated problems.
For hundreds of millions of people across the world, especially in America with chronic illnesses, Consultant Pharmacists play a vital role in ensuring optimal drug therapy thereby improving patients’ quality of life. In their role as medication therapy experts, consultant pharmacists take responsibility for their patients medication-related needs, they ensure that they receive the optimal care.

AN ATMOSPHERE OF MISCONCEPTION!
Let me also use this medium to clear the air on those people who believe that 80 per cent of people who eventually studied pharmacy failed to gain admission to study medicine. Consultant Pharmacist and the current President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Pharmacist Olumide Akintayo gave an insightful and factual response in an interview with Punch Newspaper on October 26, 2013, “The fourth estate of the realm (The Press) has a sacred responsibility to report and put issues in their right perspective. Your question is an obvious fall-out of deliberate propaganda orchestrated by some stakeholders in healthcare. At the First Doctors Summit in Asaba, Prof. Wole Atoyebi, a past President of the Nigerian Medical Association submitted that part of the problems in health care was that people who could not gain admission for medicine settled for other courses in health care and now want to enjoy the benefit of what they could not attain as students. Graciously they allowed me to participate at that session and in the full glare of the over 1,000 delegates from across the country, I submitted that the entry point for pharmacy was higher in the great University of Ife (now OAU) than any other course in the university system. Ife is the best rated in this country and despite all hiccups, it is still highly rated both in the Commonwealth and Africa.
I openly challenged the delegates at the conference like I am still doing even now to controvert evidence that the entry point for pharmacy is not one of the top five in any Nigerian university that it is offered. In my days, the entry point for direct entry students was a minimum of 12 points in physics, chemistry and biology. You may want to find out, no student is admitted into a pharmacy faculty except pharmacy is the course of first choice. So, the chance of opting for pharmacy if you cannot study medicine does not even arise most times. As prelim students in Ife, when pharmacy students take courses in mathematics and excel because you are not allowed to carry over, medical students took courses in sociology and economics because they were failing mathematics in numbers.
These are verifiable facts. Do find out what it takes to study pharmacy in our universities and I can boldly confirm to you that the rigour is second to none. Just find out from any neutral person who passed through a university where pharmacy is offered. This is why a pharmacist who is worth his salt cannot be consumed by a persecution complex or siege mentality. Why else do you think pharmacists excel in all sectors? Go to the telecoms and check out the number of pharmacists who are at the top echelon at MTN, Airtel, Glo and Etisalat. In banking, pharmacists are directors and vice presidents and so on. Do find out how many pharmacists are in charge of oil and gas companies in Nigeria.”

NIGERIANS HEALTH ARE IN THEIR HANDS
I firmly believe with every fibre of my being that discerning Nigerians of all ages, tribes and regions who are keen about improved quality of life for all Nigerians regardless of the geographical location will key in to the necessity of having consultant Pharmacists in Nigerian hospitals. Barrister Tosin Ayo, in his wisdom gave us a better clue on the meaning of consultancy when he wrote, “The word ‘Consultant’ is derived from the Latin word: ‘consultare’ meaning “to discuss”. A consultant is thus a professional who has a wide knowledge of a subject matter and who provides professional and expert advice in a particular area such as security (electronic or physical), management, accountancy, law, human resources, marketing, public relations, finance, health, media practice and journalism, engineering, science or any of many other specialised fields.
From the foregoing definition, it means any health professional can be a Consultant in his/her own field so long as the medical doctors are not only also made Consultants but remain the traditional Administrative heads of medical institutions.” There is wisdom in the words of Albert Einstein when he opined, “In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.”

Pharm. Sesan Kareem is a young Nigerian Pharmacist and Author. He writes from Lagos.

Pls educate them...

''The title “CONSULTANT” in a hospital setting describes the relationship between the Specialist Medical Doctor and his patient. It will be a source of confusion if the title is applied to any other health worker who statutorily does not own patient. NMA, therefore, declares with unmitigated emphasis that if “non-doctor consultants” are appointed, it will lead to chaos and anarchy in the health sector. This should not happen.''

Above is the specific demand of the NMA. Methinks it is not an unreasonable assertion.

Yes 'consultant' is used in other sectors but as far as health is concerned it is used in a specific way and to change that use will likely be detrimental and cause confusion.

The buck needs to stop at someone who will own and shoulder responsibility for the patient. We have not unreasonably chosen this 'someone' to be a senior experienced doctor.

Other terminologies such as specialist nurse/pharmacist or nurse practitioners or advanced practitioner should be used. I know in the UK there are consultant nurses/pharmacists but we are far away from where they were when they introduced the concept.

They should all reach a compromise for the sake of the oaths they all took. Everyone should respect himself and stay within his job description. None of them is unimportant and none of the members of the team should consider another as such.

simple answer is that a consultant pharmacist is a pharmacist who is paid to provide expert advice on the use of medications by individuals or within institutions, or on the provision of pharmacy services to institutions.
The phrase "consultant pharmacist," coined by George F. Archambault who is referred to as the "founding father" of consultant pharmacy, originated in the nursing home environment when a group of innovative pharmacists focused on improving the use of medications in these facilities.
Consultant Pharmacists are now practicing in a wide variety of other settings, including subacute care and assisted living facilities, psychiatric hospitals, hospice programs, and in home and community-based care -- wherever seniors reside. Consultant Pharmacists are defined by their common commitment to enhance the quality of care for all older persons through the appropriate use of medication and promotion of healthy aging.
https://www.ascp.com/articles/what-consultant-pharmacist

The op should stop confusing the public ,the term consultant in hospital settings is for doctors who has passed through the residency training.
Outside hospital settings u can be consultant anything, consutalt pharmacist in America refers to people who render there services for homes, as u can read from the article above

1k001: ''The title “CONSULTANT” in a hospital setting describes the relationship between the Specialist Medical Doctor and his patient. It will be a source of confusion if the title is applied to any other health worker who statutorily does not own patient. NMA, therefore, declares with unmitigated emphasis that if “non-doctor consultants” are appointed, it will lead to chaos and anarchy in the health sector. This should not happen.''

Okay, I graduate from a pharmacy school, undergo the compulsory internship and NYSC. Then I got a job in a teaching hospital. While at that, I applied to the West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacy for a specialty in say Paediatrics or CVD. I spend 6 years undergoing the process and graduate from the college.

I noticed you medical doctors are emphasizing the nursing home thing, that's misplaced thinking. The advent of consultant pharmacy started in nursing home, yes! But the roles of consultant pharmacists have since expanded.

You said this urself:

Consultant Pharmacists are now practicing in a
wide variety of other settings, including subacute
care and assisted living facilities, psychiatric
hospitals, hospice programs, and in home and
community-based care --

Go to YouTube and see what obtains, and let me clear another misconception you guys have held on tightly to.

Been a consultant pharmacist doesn't destroy the doctor-patient link. The doctor everywhere is the owner of the patient, as u like to say it. It only makes pharmacist more knowledgeable and be a force in his specialty. Never have I seen or heard that a consultant pharmacist changed a prescription, never! It's not allowed. You guys never even bothered to ask what the synergistic effect takes place. The practice is to confer recommendations on the prescription(myt be change in dose or suggest a more effective drug or delete an unnecessary drug, or correct drug interactions, suggest alternative therapy and lot of other things) with good reason and document the intervention. I tell you what? A doctor must therefore be cocksure of his prescription b4 the pharmacist comes to scrutinize. Those documented interventions are even more dangerous for the arrogant doctors cos if anything worse happens to the patient and the consultant pharmacist decides to publish his recommendation that wasn't taken by the doctor, he could lose his job or even his license.

Meanwhile, it's feel different when a doctor seeks an opinion from a consultant pharmacist, other than an ordinary pharmacist who just dispenses.

That's the reality of things. Our doctors want to boss everything, now tell me how this is unnecessary and won't help patient care.

First to comment................
Dedicated it to Mallam Shekarau 4 using his good office to call-off the long ASUP strike. Thank God

hydeka:
Pharm. Sesan Kareem is a young Nigerian Pharmacist and Author. He writes from Lagos.

When did pharmacist become a title?. You are Mr Sesan Kareem.

If you say that consultant pharmacists don't work in hospitals, what will you say about the consultant nurses, med lab scientists and physiotherapists? They don't work in hospitals too?


Stop the propaganda pls!


I mean, this doctors already rate one of the highest in the world when it comes to wrong diagnosis, wrong prescriptions and iatrogenic disorders which is better called doctor-induced disorders. Others health professionals are done with that and want to improve their practice and what do we have? A nationwide strike. Uninformed set of people!

Check out the statistics given on this thread, you'll be shocked.

www.nairaland.com/1809323/when-doctors-go-strike-death

The really reason they all want to become consultant is because they want to become Chief MEDICAL Director of Teaching of Hospitals. That can never happen

bigass:

When did pharmacist become a title?. You are Mr Sesan Kareem.

Sorry to burst your bubble, it's actually a title. Why not tell an Engineer who spent 5 years in school his title is Mr? Dumb doctors sha! Vamoose jor!

the basic reason for Nigeran Doctors persistent strike is salary increase and for the public to remember they still exists,because with conttinous civilisation of the Nigerian society doctors are now seen as just another proffession rather than the gods they used to be regarded as. They only try to euphemise the reasons for their strike by including other flimsy demands.
Plus the concept of everyone trying to study medicine but not getting the much score to get admitted to study medicine has always been absurd and will continue to be. Not everyone wants to spend the rest of their lives withtin the walls of hosptals staring constantly at sick and dying people even though he saves some...so i think doctors should get over themselves and do the Job they are not absolutely good at.

Hhh

In other news, The CMD of LUTH Mrs Cassey Agreh, A consultant Nurse, has fired all the Gynecologist in LUTH for insubordination and incompetence owing to refusal of the gynecologists to reply the query she issued them 2 weeks ago. Medical news headlines in few years time

Make all nurses consultants and CMDs We will love it.

The candid truth still remin a pharmacist or oda paramedicals can not head the Health team...since dey r not on strike let dem take care of d patient in d ward and prove me wrong n oda beloved nigerians. Shikena!

Lovely! God bless!

I think d doctors r right, u can't ve two captains in one ship. Creating a consultant pharmacist ll cause confusion. A pharmacist is under d doctor in health care delivery n so it shld b n dt is y its only doctors dt can b CMD, comm for health, minister of health etc
My tots

bigass:

to the bolded, There is No college called like that in existence currently and none like that anywhere in the world

You see? When I call you uninformed I'm actually correct. The industrial court passed the law establishing that college years. It's located at Yaba and I heard Prof Erhun established a branch at OAUth at Ife.


Just to let you know, dispensing is the traditional role of pharmacists. If you get, That's what we used to do. Pharmacists in other countries have moved forward, we also have the right to. Dispensing nowadays is done by pharmacy technicians and robots. In the UK, pharmacists are into MTM(Medication Therapy Management).



This is not to remove the roles of pharmacists in the communities and industries, their roles haven't changed. So if you don't have any useful contributions, just move on to the next thread!

adeoladrg:

Sorry to burst your bubble, it's actually a title. Why not tell an Engineer who spent 5 years in school his title is Mr? Dumb doctors sha! Vamoose jor!

Olodo. Have you ever filled a form where there is option of Pharm. or Engr in it. Travel out and see for yourself Engineers carries the title Mr Not Engr

ogawisdom: I think d doctors r right, u can't ve two captains in one ship. Creating a consultant pharmacist ll cause confusion. A pharmacist is under d doctor in health care delivery n so it shld b n dt is y its only doctors dt can b CMD, comm for health, minister of health etc
My tots

And why hasn't it caused confusion in the other climes?

The quest for relevance! I have been to a whole LGA where there is no doctor let alone talk of a pharmacist. All am saying is how many people bother to know your area of specialization?

just big grammar Jo

adeoladrg:

Okay, I graduate from a pharmacy school, undergo the compulsory internship and NYSC. Then I got a job in a teaching hospital. While at that, I applied to the West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacy for a specialty in say Paediatrics or CVD. I spend 6 years undergoing the process and graduate from the college.

I noticed you medical doctors are emphasizing the nursing home thing, that's misplaced thinking. The advent of consultant pharmacy started in nursing home, yes! But the roles of consultant pharmacists have since expanded.

You said this urself:

Consultant Pharmacists are now practicing in a
wide variety of other settings, including subacute
care and assisted living facilities, psychiatric
hospitals, hospice programs, and in home and
community-based care --

Go to YouTube and see what obtains, and let me clear another misconception you guys have held on tightly to.

Been a consultant pharmacist doesn't destroy the doctor-patient link. The doctor everywhere is the owner of the patient, as u like to say it. It only makes pharmacist more knowledgeable and be a force in his specialty. Never have I seen or heard that a consultant pharmacist changed a prescription, never! It's not allowed. You guys never even bothered to ask what the synergistic effect takes place. The practice is to confer recommendations on the prescription(myt be change in dose or suggest a more effective drug or delete an unnecessary drug, or correct drug interactions, suggest alternative therapy and lot of other things) with good reason and document the intervention. I tell you what? A doctor must therefore be cocksure of his prescription b4 the pharmacist comes to scrutinize. Those documented interventions are even more dangerous for the arrogant doctors cos if anything worse happens to the patient and the consultant pharmacist decides to publish his recommendation that wasn't taken by the doctor, he could lose his job or even his license.

Meanwhile, it's feel different when a doctor seeks an opinion from a consultant pharmacist, other than an ordinary pharmacist who just dispenses.

That's the reality of things. Our doctors want to boss everything, now tell me how this is unnecessary and won't help patient care.

Yes.....you should be a Consultant.
But in the Nigerian setting, it's a whole kettle of fish and YES, a Consultant Pharmacist has changed the prescription of a Medical Consultant.
What's are the other 20 states in US still waitng fe

Anytime I hear cases that can't be cured in Nigerian hospitals, I v that feeling that it's because of mis-diagnosis.
Last Bullet
Too many poor service delivery in every sector in Nigeria.
So many lives wasted due to mis-diagnosis, in-ability to confide with a good doctor or pharmacist.
Chai!

Won't be surprised if the cleaners too write out a long necessary epistle' just to prove that they can also be consultant cleaners. for sky's sake people are dying!

adeoladrg:

Okay, I graduate from a pharmacy school, undergo the compulsory internship and NYSC. Then I got a job in a teaching hospital. While at that, I applied to the West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacy for a specialty in say Paediatrics or CVD. I spend 6 years undergoing the process and graduate from the college.

I noticed you medical doctors are emphasizing the nursing home thing, that's misplaced thinking. The advent of consultant pharmacy started in nursing home, yes! But the roles of consultant pharmacists have since expanded.

You said this urself:

Consultant Pharmacists are now practicing in a
wide variety of other settings, including subacute
care and assisted living facilities, psychiatric
hospitals, hospice programs, and in home and
community-based care --

Go to YouTube and see what obtains, and let me clear another misconception you guys have held on tightly to.

Been a consultant pharmacist doesn't destroy the doctor-patient link. The doctor everywhere is the owner of the patient, as u like to say it. It only makes pharmacist more knowledgeable and be a force in his specialty. Never have I seen or heard that a consultant pharmacist changed a prescription, never! It's not allowed. You guys never even bothered to ask what the synergistic effect takes place. The practice is to confer recommendations on the prescription(myt be change in dose or suggest a more effective drug or delete an unnecessary drug, or correct drug interactions, suggest alternative therapy and lot of other things) with good reason and document the intervention. I tell you what? A doctor must therefore be cocksure of his prescription b4 the pharmacist comes to scrutinize. Those documented interventions are even more dangerous for the arrogant doctors cos if anything worse happens to the patient and the consultant pharmacist decides to publish his recommendation that wasn't taken by the doctor, he could lose his job or even his license.

Meanwhile, it's feel different when a doctor seeks an opinion from a consultant pharmacist, other than an ordinary pharmacist who just dispenses.

That's the reality of things. Our doctors want to boss everything, now tell me how this is unnecessary and won't help patient care.

I have read tru ur argument; it is lucid, cogent n convincing; n if I say u anything short of an intellectual, den I'll be doing d general public a grave injustice...
But yet; u rightly wrote something up there; U unequivvocally agreed, dat "d doctor statutorily owns d patient" n its d prerogative of the doctor to invite any specialist to review or co -manage d patient as d case mmay be; now under dat same premise. : Don't U think, u should raise diust or stir up any battle (whether legal or otherwise) If dat same Doctor (who owns d patient) choose not to allow dat program, or incorperate any other consultant, cus he strongly believes it 'll do no good 4 his patient.?

I wonder what kind of spirit that has descended on Nigerian pharmacist of this days. can't imagine an Indian pharmacist thinking this way struggling with doctors in the hospital where their main role is actually a dispenser?
it was initially a title fight pharm wazobia, now they want to be Dr pharm so and so, of late consultant pharm Dr..........
You guys should get busy and focus on drug manufacturing and research.
we are still waiting for oral insulin hmmm.

i is here

speckless: I wonder what kind of spirit that has descended on Nigerian pharmacist of this days. can't imagine an Indian pharmacist thinking this way struggling with doctors in the hospital where their main role is actually a dispenser?
it was initially a title fight pharm wazobia, now they want to be Dr pharm so and so, of late consultant pharm Dr..........
You guys should get busy and focus on drug manufacturing and research.
we are still waiting for oral insulin hmmm.

This is not my area of specialisation.if una wan talk of bolts n spanner,I dey.Though,d thread is educating.

who keeps moving these things to frontpage, we are tired of hearing abt doctors vs johesu . na only una dey dis country, make we hear abeg.