• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.288-302
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• 2022

Objective: Community pharmacists are frontline health care providers, but have been considered as underutilized professionals on a daily basis. The purpose of this scoping review was to identify information about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on community pharmacy services and to evaluate new services that could be applicable. Methods: We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE for studies published up to January 10, 2020. Search terms consisted of keywords relevant to this review, including "COVID-19", "community pharmacy", and "community pharmacist". This review targeted studies of pharmacist services provided by community pharmacies in OECD member countries during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Results: Twenty-seven studies were included in this review. Changes in community pharmacist services due to the COVID-19 pandemic were broadly classified into four categories. First, as the face-to-face services became challenging, various non-face-to-face services were being tried. Second, community pharmacists directly participated in the services to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Third, community pharmacists made efforts to support continuity of care for patients who experienced difficulties due to the reduced professional care as health and medical resources are concentrated in response to COVID-19. Fourth, community pharmacist services were emerging, targeting patients suffering from greater health inequality during the pandemic. Patients expressed high demand and satisfaction for the service of the community pharmacist, and pharmacists reported self-efficacy and professional pride. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, various community pharmacist services have been tried and received positive evaluations from patients in several OECD countries.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.71-79
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• 2014

Objectives of this study are to investigate transition history of pharmacist license examination in Korea and to compare three suggestions for new examination system proposed by National Health Personnel Licensing Examination Board, Korean Association of Pharmacy Education, and Korean Pharmaceutical Association. Future task to help the examination system meet global standard is also discussed. Regulations on the examination system were retrieved from the sources posted in Ministry of Government Legislation homepage. Efforts devoted by the three organizations to make amendment on the regulations were collected from reports, official documents, minutes, and handout materials issued by the organizations. Ministry of Health and Welfare made amendment on the examination system in 2013 by rearranging the existing natural science-based eleven subjects to two subjects along with addition of a new subject named clinical-practical pharmacy. Unfortunately, however, the amendment stipulates that the new subject should include manufacturing and quality control of pharmaceuticals as part of contents in the examination. It is strongly urged that the contents of the examination should focus on professional competency as pharmacist in clinical situation. Future task to make revision on this issue is warranted to help new pharmacist enable to provide pharmaceutical care service to patients.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.230-240
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• 2002

Background : The purpose of this study was to develop, implement and evaluate the pharmacist intervention program designed to identify and correctly adjust the dosage of $H_2$-receptor antagonists ($H_2RA$) in renally impaired patients and promote timely conversion of $H_2RA$ from IV to PO therapy. Methods : The study population consisted of renally impaired patients who received $H_2RA$ therapy from April 9 to May 8, 2001 at Hallym Medical Center. Each morning a specifically developed software program identified patients with serum creatinine (Scr) greater than 1.2 mg/dl or age greater than 65 years. The pharmacist, then screened the pharmacy profiles of the identified patients to determine if the patient was on $H_2RA$. For these patients on $H_2RA$ with renal impairement the creatinine clearance (CrCl) was calculated using Cockroft & Gault equation. The pharmacist determined the proper dosage for each identified patients based on the calculated CrCl and the oral dosage that would be appropriate for whom IV therapy was no longer indicated. Result : A total of 149 cases (101 patients) were monitored during the study period. The dosage was inappropriately prescribed for renal function in 61 of 149 cases (41%), and of those, pharmacist made recommendations for 58 cases of which 33 cases (57%) were accepted by the physicians. The administration route of H2RA was inappropriately used as IV in 22 of 53 cases (42%), and pharmacist made recommendations for those 22 cases of which 15 cases (68%) were accepted. Conclusion : Monitoring of patients with renal dysfunction by a pharmacist improved the dosing of $H_2RA$ and a dosing program of patients with renal impairment would be of benefit to other clinicians and institutions seeking to optimize patient care.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.76-84
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the patient education provided by the pharmacist for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy in the hospital. One time patient medication teaching including verbal instruction and written materials were provided by a pharmacist for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy on the first or second day of hospitalization. After providing medication teaching by a pharmacist a written survey was performed in order to measure the patient's satisfaction with the medication teaching and to evaluate the effectiveness of the patient medication teaching. This one-time patient medication teaching by a pharmacist was provided for 44 solid and hematological cancer patients (23 male, 21 female). The results of 27 written surveys completed by the cancer patients revealed that almost all cancer patients $(96.3\%)$ felt that medication teaching is a must in order to understand and accept the chemotherapy by cancer patients. In addition, almost all patients $(92.6\%)$ stated that they were extremely satisfied with the medication teaching provided by the pharmacist. The levels of understandings on the chemotherapy.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.89-101
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• 2017

Objectives : This study was done to suggest appropriate number and time of dispensing herbal medicine for each Korean pharmacist. Methods : For this study, we visited one herbal dispensary institution which was considered as one of the biggest herbal dispensary preparing the largest number of prescription. We observed the work in the dispensary and recorded time for preparing prescriptions of 5 Korean Pharmacists. And we also recorded time for preparing prescriptions with toxic medicinal herbs of each Korean Pharmacist. Investigation has been done for 3 weeks, from 11, Jan. to 4, Feb. in 2016. Results : The whole dispensed prescription number of 5 Korean Pharmacists during 3 weeks were 899. These prescriptions include toxic medicinal herbs and general prescriptions. Ratio of prescriptions including toxic medicinal herbs was 38.4% while general prescriptions was 61.6%. Average direct dispensing time for herbal prescription of Korean pharmacists were 6.2 minutes. Applied personal allowances, appropriate number for dispensing in each day was 22.7. With allowances rate in general workplace, appropriate number for preparing was 20.5. According to ILO allowances regulation, appropriate number for preparing was 18.8. Conclusions : Suggested number of dispensing herbal medicine per day for each Korean pharmacist was 20.5. Applying this would be beneficial for development of Korean medicine circumstances.

• 한국임상약학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.12a
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• pp.167-167
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• 2007

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.119-126
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• 2017

Background: As the demands of pharmacist's role and quality performance have increased, the verification of pharmacist's ability has been required. In this study, we aimed to select appropriate items for assessment of pharmacist's knowledge, attitude and performance. Methods: Based on the pharmacist job analysis, we selected duties and tasks in consideration of applying pharmacy practical examination through brainstorming of internal researchers and group discussion with experts. Survey was conducted to evaluate the tasks according to the criteria detailed below: Realistic, Understandable, Measurable, Behavioral and Achievable (RUMBA). The subjects included professors at colleges of pharmacy and instructors of institutional or community pharmacy settings. Results: Nine duties including 41 tasks were drawn for the survey through primary internal researchers. Of the 90 respondents, 95.6% were professors or preceptors who was engaged in practical training, and 62.2% had more than five years of practical experience. As a result of survey and discussion with expert panel, selected seven duties were selected as followings: 'Patient (customer) reception', 'Drug preparation and distribution', 'Patient care', 'Administration', 'Patient counseling', 'Non-prescription medication counseling', and 'Provision of drug information'. The final 20 tasks from seven duties were chosen to assess skills that a pharmacist should be able to perform. Conclusion: This is the first study to select the items that can be included in pharmacist practical examination in the future, based on the RUMBA criteria. As a next step, it is necessary to study how to implement these items.

• Journal of Korean Society of Health-System Pharmacists
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.441-452
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• 2018

Background : The prevalence of the chronic metabolic disease is increasing due to the aging society. Therefore, Korean Society of Health-system Pharmacists (KSHP) has a specialty pharmacist system to improve the professionalism of pharmacists. The purpose of this study is to suggest the difference between specialty pharmacist and non-specialty pharmacist with regards to their knowledge, delivery of information on medication, service provision, and job satisfaction. Methods : An online survey research was conducted for hospital pharmacists. The reliability of the questionnaire items was presented using Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ test. The t-test or ANOVA analysis was used for evaluating differences in continuous variables. Results : A total of 171 pharmacists responded to the questionnaire, and 87.7% of the respondents were aged less than 30 years (76.6%) and four-year graduates (86.0%). Typically, 108 (63.2%) were candidates for the pharmacist's specialty certificate, and the remaining 63 (36.8%) were not enrolled. Considering the field of specialty with overlapping, the total number of certificated patients was 140 (26.3% of the total of 532 in 2016). The results of the reliability analysis of the specific questionnaire showed that the Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ value was over 0.78. There was no significant difference in customer directionality between the two groups. However, there was a significant difference (p<0.05) with respect to overall knowledge about the treatment process, drug efficacy, and side effects, information about medicines and adverse drug reactions, and in providing appropriate information to medical staff including patients and physicians. Conclusions : The pharmacist with specialization showed a positive result of self-evaluation of items such as knowledge about drugs, communication of information on medications, and service provision, compared to other pharmacists, and the result was in correlation with the numbers of specialization. There was no difference in job satisfaction related to working environment. Henceforth, it is hypothesized that there is a necessity for continuous improvement in the working environment to suit the purpose of the pharmacy specialist system.

• International Journal of Heart Failure
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2024

Heart failure (HF) stands as a prevalent chronic ailment, imposing a substantial burden on global healthcare systems due to recurrent hospitalizations, intricate management, persistent symptoms, and polypharmacy challenges. The augmentation of patient safety and treatment efficacy across various care stages, facilitated by a multidisciplinary HF team inclusive of a clinical pharmacist, emerges as paramount. Evidence underscores that the collaborative engagement of a physician and a clinical pharmacist engenders proficient and secure management, forestalling avoidable adversities stemming from drug reactions and prescription inaccuracies. This synergistic approach tailors treatments optimally to individual patients. Post-discharge, the vulnerability of HF patients to re-hospitalization looms large, historically holding sway as the foremost cause of 30-day readmissions. Diverse strategies have been instituted to fortify patient well-being, leading to the formulation of specialized transitional care programs that shepherd patients effectively from hospital to outpatient settings. These initiatives have demonstrably curtailed readmission rates. This review outlines a spectrum of roles assumed by clinical pharmacists within the healthcare cohort, spanning inpatient care, transitional phases, and outpatient services. Moreover, it traverses a compendium of studies spotlighting the affirmative impact instigated by integrating clinical pharmacists into these fields.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2015

A newly-structured Korean pharmacist license exam has been launched in 2015, reflecting upon the changes in the pharmacy curriculum from a 4 year program to a 6 year program in 2009. In order to provide new ideas to ensure that the new exam is one of the most effective pharmacist evaluations that have taken place thus far, this study was done to compare the pharmacy exams in Korea and Canada. One of the major differences noted between the two countries' exams is that along with paper based MCQ portion of the exam, Canada's exam also includes a performance-based section, known as OSCE, which the Korean Pharmacy Exam (KPE) does not have. Furthermore, with the MCQ portion of the exam, the Canadian exam asks about 300 questions, with 450 minutes of test time allocated and taken during a period of two consecutive days, the KPE asks 350 questions, with 325 minutes of test time allocated in one day. Although, similarly, many of the questions in both exams place emphasis on clinical or patient care, Canada's exam puts significantly more emphasis (50.5% of exam questions) on these types of questions than Korea (29.7% of exam questions). However, this percentage does not reflect the exact weight placed for the specific areas of knowledge it requires to answer these questions, since the types of questions asked in this section in Canada could be placed in another section on the KPE. Canada's exam also has more questions (10% +150 questions for BC) on the topics of law and ethics compared to the KPE (5.7%). The reason for this may be that the Canadian society puts emphasis on the legal and ethical duties of pharmacists as a leader. However, since each country is unique in their social, economical, and cultural points of view, comparing the KPE to the Canadian licensing exam and applying these differences to the new KPE may not be appropriate. One last thing to consider is that, as WHO/FIP mentioned, in good pharmacy practice, continually updating and developing an appropriate pharmacy exam with consideration of societal changes, is key to success in developing the scope of practice for current and future pharmacists.