In November 2016, the Higher Diploma in Medical and Health Products Management programme has organised visits for 2 classes of Year 2 students on separate days to the Pharmacy Department of Alice Ho Mui Ling Nethersole Hospital in Tai Po. Mr. Kandy Lai, the Department Manager, gave a warm welcome to the students. Then, students were divided into 3 groups led by 3 pharmacists: one group observed the operation of the outpatient pharmaceutical services, one group visited the inpatient pharmaceutical services while the last group went to study the functioning of the outpatient pharmacy of Tai Po Hospital which is in close vicinity to Nethersole Hospital. After each activity, the pharmacists swapped their groups.
At the end of the day, students got a chance to know how prescriptions were processed and medicines were prepared before being delivered to wards or issued to patients. They appreciated how the drug dispensing systems upheld the importance of medication safety without sacrificing efficiency. Undoubtedly, this was an eye-opening learning experience for the students and they could also get a general idea of the operation of the Pharmacy Department of a public hospital.
