COMMUNITY PHARMACY AND MANAGEMENT – PRACTICAL

Course Code: ER20-22P

75 Hours (3 Hours/week)

Scope: The course is designed to train the students and improve professional skills to provide various pharmaceuticalcare services in community pharmacy.

Course Objectives: This course will train the students in the following

1. Professional handling and filling prescriptions

2. Patient counselling on diseases and minor ailments

3. Patient counselling on prescription and / or non-prescription medicines

4. Preparation of counselling materials such as patient information leaflets

5. Performing basic health screening tests

Course Outcomes: Upon successful completion of this course, the students will be able to

1. Handle and fill prescriptions in a professional manner

2. Counsel patients on various diseases and minor ailments

3. Counsel patients on prescription and or non-prescription medicines

4. Design and prepare patient information leaflets

5. Perform basic health screening tests


Practicals

Note: The following practicals shall be carried out in the model community pharmacy with appropriate simulated scenarios and materials. Students shall be trained through role plays wherever necessary. The activities of the students shall be assessed / evaluated using a structured objective assessment form.

  1. Handling of prescriptions with professional standards, reviewing prescriptions, checking for legal compliance and completeness (minimum 5)

  2. Identification of drug-drug interactions in the prescription and follow-up actions (minimum 2)

  3. Preparation of dispensing labels and auxiliary labels for the prescribed medications (minimum 5)

  4. Providing the following health screening services for monitoring patients / detecting new patients (one experiment for each activity)

Blood Pressure Recording, Capillary Blood Glucose Monitoring, Lung function assessment using Peak Flow Meter and incentive spirometer, recording capillary oxygen level using Pulse Oximeter, BMI measurement

  1. Providing counselling to simulated patients for the following chronic diseases / disorders including education on the use of devices such as insulin pen, inhalers, spacers, nebulizers, etc. where appropriate (one experiment for each disease)

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Primary Hypertension, Asthma, Hyperlipidaemia, Rheumatoid Arthritis

  1. Providing counselling to simulated patients for the following minor ailments (any three)

Headache, GI disturbances (Nausea, Vomiting, Dyspepsia, diarrhea, constipation), Worm infestations, Pyrexia, Upper Respiratory Tract infections, Skin infections, Oral and dental disorders.

  1. Appropriate handling of dummy dosage forms with correct administration techniques - oral liquids with measuring cup/cap/dropper, Eye Drops, Inhalers, Nasal drops, Insulin pen, nebulizers, different types of tablets, patches, enemas, suppositories

  2. Use of Community Pharmacy Software and digital health tools



Assignments

The students shall be asked to submit written assignments on the following topics (One assignment per student per sessional period. i.e., a minimum of THREE assignments per student)

  1. SOPs for various activities in Community Pharmacy (as discussed in Theory and Practical)

  2. List out the various abbreviations, short forms used in prescriptions and their interpretation

  3. Patient Information Leaflet for a given chronic disease / disorder

  4. Patient Information Leaflet for prescription / non-prescription medicines

  5. Preparation of window / shelf display materials for the model community pharmacy

  6. Overview of Software available for retail pharmacy management including billing, inventory, etc.

  7. Dosage / Medication Reminder Aids

  8. Overview on the operations and marketing strategies of various online pharmacies

  9. Overview on the common fixed dose combinations

  10. Overview on the medications requiring special storage conditions

  11. Role of Community Pharmacists in preventing Antimicrobial Resistance

  12. Jan Aushadhi and other Generic Medicine initiatives in India

  13. Global Overview of Online Pharmacies

  14. Community Pharmacy Practice Standards: Global Vs. Indian Scenario

  15. Overview of pharmacy associations in India


Field Visit:


The students shall be taken in groups to visit community pharmacies and medicine distributors to understand and witness the professional activities of the community pharmacists, and supply chain logistics. Individual reports from each student on their learning experience from the field visit shall be submitted.