Introduction
The Ministry of Health’s Pharmacy and Supplies Services department is divided into the Pharmaceutical Control and the Pharmaceutical Suppliers sections. These sections operate concurrently within the ministry. Thus, this analytical paper presents a comprehensive practicum observation report of the two sections.
Observation
The Ministry of Health’s Pharmacy and Supplies Services department has two sections, that are the Pharmaceutical Control and the Pharmaceutical Suppliers. The two sections run concurrently for 8 hours every shift and operate 5 days a week. The Pharmaceutical Control section is fully computerized with all records managed through the intranet system, which is very efficient. Reflectively, the system has made record keeping very reliable and the section personnel are in a position to access any data just by a click of a button. Besides the computerized system, there are the drug information service, drug testing, and the pharmacy-based TPN service (Ministry of Health, 2014).
Being in the Pharmacy and Supplies Services department, I observed that its personnel was very informed of the practice accreditation standards and were generally effective in dispensing different duties. The practice accreditation standards were pinned on the departmental blackboards in bold font and were easily visible. These accreditation standards are summarized below.
Practice Management
The Pharmacy and Supplies Services department is professionally managed are based on the pillars of efficiency, ethics, and integrity. Reflectively, the department is headed by a director and a deputy director. The director was very clear in stating that the departmental personnel must observe the ministry’s ethics policy. The policy acts were the blueprint for the straight relationship between the personnel and the healthcare sector. As a result, the elements of confidentiality, compassion, and due care were properly addressed by the personnel when handling the patients. Besides, the pharmacists were generally honest and acted with integrity, as was confirmed by the deputy director’s performance review report (Ministry of Health, 2014).
Drug awareness education
There is an extensive education plan in the department to equip the personnel on the best practices in pharmaceutics. As opined by the departmental head of the employee welfare unit, the Pharmacy and Supplies Services department has made sure that the responsibility of patient education is handled by all the personnel, irrespective of the section of attachment (Ministry of Health, 2014).
Besides, the pharmacists in the department are empowered to supply all the relevant educational materials to store keepers to boost the awareness and danger of mishandling drugs (Al Dhawi, West, Spinelli, and Gompf, 2007). In addition, there is a specialized pharmacist to be consulted with in the private and public health sectors. The pharmacist has the responsibility of clarifying any medical principles and side effects of different drugs prescribed to health care providers (Ministry of Health, 2014).
Patient care services
The Pharmacy and Supplies Services department practice widensand oversees long term services focused on improving the use of drugs within the UAE. There are several booklets and leaflets on drug education at the Pharmacy and Supplies Services department. As a result, the pharmacists within this department have the advantage of using the information in these leaflets to substantiate any risks or benefits of a drug therapy to patients. Besides, the department has food-drug interaction booklets which are written in Arabic and English for the general public use (Ministry of Health, 2014).
Results
The Pharmacy and Supplies Services department is one of the largest departments in terms of space and number of personnel within the Ministry of Health. The department has created standard practices for drug and poison testing and use within the public and private health sectors. Among the most helpful observations I made in this department after spending five days in the Pharmaceutical Control and the Pharmaceutical Suppliers sections include the monthly educational ministry pharmacy newsletter and the continuous drug testing program.The ministry’s monthly UAE Pharmacy Newsletter contains the standards for drug and poison tests, drug alerts, unfavourable drug reactions reporting, and medication reconciliation campaigns (Ministry of Health, 2014).
Conclusion
The Pharmacy and Supplies Services department has installed competent and reliable monitoring system in the form of a computer program to ensure efficiency in service delivery to the general public. Throughout the period in the Pharmacy and Supplies Services department, I observed that the personnel in this department were very informed of the practice accreditation standards and were generally effective in dispensing different duties. Public safety and education form the main elements of the monthly performance indicators in the Pharmaceutical Control and the Pharmaceutical Suppliers sections. The senior staff members in the pharmacy department use the KPI tables to evaluate the work theme (Ministry of Health, 2014).
The Pharmacy and Supplies Services department has managed to maintain the standards set by the Ministry of Health for the various departments. The Pharmacy and Supplies Services department is professionally managed within the pillars of efficiency, ethics, and integrity (Ministry of Health, 2014). The pharmacists in this department have the advantage of using the information in these leaflets to substantiate any risks or benefits of a drug therapy to patients. The ministry’s monthly UAE Pharmacy Newsletter contains the standards for drug and poison tests, drug alerts, and unfavourable drug reactions reporting.
Recommendations
In order to further improve on efficiency, it is imperative for the Pharmacy and Supplies Services department to develop a comprehensive personnel rotation plan within the two sections at the end of every year. For instance, the Pharmaceutical Control section team should move to the Pharmaceutical Suppliers section. If the department embraces this recommendation, it will have the most experienced and well motivated personnel within a year after implementation (Weiss, 2011). Reflectively, the pharmacists will gain a lot of in-job experience in both sections and would easily fill any void in either of the sections when the need arises (Edmunds and Mathew, 2009). Besides, the pharmacists will become all round employees since they will learn the different activities and procedures that are unique to the Pharmaceutical Control and the Pharmaceutical Suppliers sections respectively.
Reference List
Al Dhawi, A., West, D., Spinelli, R., & Gompf, T 2007, “The challenge of sustaining Healthcare in Dubai,” Health Review, vol. 26. no. 1, pp. 19-30.
Edmunds, M., & Mathew, M 2009, Pharmacology for the Primary Care Provider, Mosby Elsevier, Alabama.
Ministry of Health 2014, Pharmacy and supplies services, Web.
Weiss, W 2011, “Building morale, motivating, and empowering employees”, SupervisionJournal, vol. 72. no. 9, pp. 23-26.
Departmentof Continuing Medical Education Report
Outline
Introduction: This analytical paper presents a comprehensive practicum observation report of the department of continuing medical education within the Ministry of Health in UAE.
- Observation
- Results
- Conclusion
- Recommendations
Department of Continuing Medical Education Report
Introduction
The department of Continuing Medical Education within the Ministry of Health consists of different training activities which are aimed at developing the professional potential of medical personnel. This analytical paper presents a comprehensive practicum observation report of the department of continuing medical education within the Ministry of Health in UAE.
Observation
Among the main activities within the department of Continuing Medical Education is training of potential medical personnel on the latest skills in the health service delivery. There are several rules governing the department in the training module and clear expectations from the medical personnel. The rules define professionalism, knowledge and performance practices, which should be internalised by persons undergoing various forms of training for better service provision to patients. The department also oversees development and implementation of private and public sanitation and health (Ministry of Health, 2014).
There are several service chatter notice boards defining the mandate. The notices on the boards are written in Arabic and English. Furthermore, the departmental head has the mandate of overseeing the educational programs and their effectiveness. The department has computerized all records which are managed through the intranet system, which is very efficient. Reflectively, the system has made record keeping very reliable. The organization structure of the Continuing Medical Education department is comprised of a director followed by a deputy director. Below the deputy director, there are the heads of dependence education, training and development, and graduate studies and software sections (Ministry of Health, 2014). Throughout the period at the department, I observed that the personnel in this department were very informed and were generally effective in dispensing different duties. These duties are summarized below.
Education plans
The department of Continuing Medical Education is mandated with the duty of developing education plans which are used in the training of technicians and other workers in the public and private healthcare sectors. Spending three days in this department, I have observed that the personnel within the dependence education, training and development, and graduate studies and software sections were constantly holding meetings to evaluate plans for improving their effectiveness. For instance, the departmental head under the software and graduate studies section presented a training blueprint to be adopted by the health sector to facilitate acceptance of cost effective medical service provision among the medical personnel. Through a consultative forum, the other sections approved the plan (Ministry of Health, 2014).
Supervision duties
Specifically, the training and development section have the role of supervising the various programs in their implementation stages. After spending six hours in the training and development section, I observed that the process of supervising the implementation of different programs in health facilities is overseen by the deputy director. I got a rare opportunity to accompany the deputy director and his team during a visit to the Al Rahba Hospital to see the new efficiency monitoring system introduced in the year 2011 (Ministry of Health, 2014).
Organization logistics
The dependence education section is mandated with the responsibility of organizing different conferences, workshops and educational forums on behalf of the Ministry of Health. Most of the personnel in this section consist of administrators and clerks who have experience in event organizations. I observed that the events within the Ministry of Health are periodically audited by external parties. Besides, all the leaflets for the major events are written in English and Arabic languages (Ministry of Health, 2014).
Results
The department of Continuing Medical Education is one of the largest departments in terms of personnel in the Ministry of Health. The department consists of such sections like dependence education section, training and development, and graduate studies and software. Each section has specific duties assigned to it. However, every duty must be carried out by the departmental heads and the senior director. Among the most helpful observations I made during the six day internship was that all health education programs and accreditation standards were designed, developed, and implemented by the various sections within the Continuing Medical Education department. Specifically, the dependence education, training and development, graduate studies and software sections offer the oversight role in successful implementation of any proposed program in the public and private health sectors (Ministry of Health, 2014).
Conclusion
The Continuing Medical Education department within the Ministry of Health has competent personnel and substantial expertise in health educational program planning, implementation, and evaluation. The elements of quality and relevance form the key for the success of the programs, workshops, and accreditation standards in the private and public health sectors in the UAE. Patient welfare and quality healthcare provisions form the pillars of operation within this department. The events in the Ministry of Health are accommodated in the annual budget and are periodically audited by external parties.
There are several rules within the department governing the training module and clear expectations from the medical personnel. The rules define professionalism, knowledge, and performance practices which should be internalised by persons undergoing various forms of training to better service provision to patients. Throughout the three days in this department, I observed that the personnel within the dependence education, training and development, graduate studies and software sections were constantly holding meetings to evaluate plans for improvement of the services they provide.
Recommendations
Since the department of Continuing Medication Education requires top notch expertise in line with the current global medical practice, empowerment and leadership styles could be used strategically to increase job satisfaction and subsequent performance. If employees feel satisfied, it is expected that the customers would also get satisfied. Training would further analyse the effects of empowering employees on customers’ satisfaction and service quality and establish a quantifiable correlation (El-Jardali, Jamal, Abdallah, and Kassak, 2007). Magnitude of change is quantum as large changes involve culture, structure and strategy. Besides, the department may remodel its training modules and programs to match the current global medical practice trends (Biswas, 2011).
Reference List
Biswas, S 2011, “Commitment, involvement, and satisfaction as predictors of employee performance,” South Asian Journal of Management, vol. 18 no. 2, pp. 92-107
El-Jardali, F., Jamal, D., Abdallah, A., & Kassak, K 2007, “Human resources for health planning and management in the Eastern Mediterranean region: Facts, gaps and forward thinking for research and policy,” Human Resources for Health, vol. 5, no. 9, pp. 23-97.
Ministry of Health 2014, Continuous medical education, Web.