The appropriateness of sampling times and indications for monitoring of serum drug concentrations for the purpose of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) were evaluated at three hospitals on the east coast of Malaysia. Appropriateness criteria for indication and sampling were adapted from previously published criteria and with input from local TDM pharmacists. Six drugs were chosen, namely gentamicin, digoxin, carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, and valproic acid. A total of 265 TDM requests were evaluated. Appropriateness of the indication for TDM ranged from 77.4% to 82%, while that for sampling ranged from 34.2% to 62.1%. There were no significant differences between the three hospitals in both categories of appropriateness. Among different drug groups, the percentage of appropriate indication was found to be highest with antiepileptic drugs. Antiepileptic drugs, however, had the lowest rate of appropriate sampling. Overall, findings from the three hospitals showed very encouraging results with almost 80% of the requests considered as appropriately indicated. However, the percentage of appropriateness of sampling was lower, and thus may require further investigation.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among pharmacy students to determine
factors influencing their choice of work place and to evaluate whether a one-year
hospital pre-registration training programme had any effect on these choices.
Questionnaires were distributed to graduating students at the School of
Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. The questionnaires were again
sent to the same group of students by post at the end of their pre-registration
training year. The response rate during the follow-up stage was 46%. Results
indicated that students in the survey were more interested in independent and chain
community pharmacies compared to other practice settings. Students’ choices of
first place of practice appeared to be influenced by both intrinsic and extrinsic job
factors. Our findings did not show major changes in students’ preferences for
practice sites before and after the hospital pre-registration period. This information
is expected to be useful for pharmacy employers.