Ok, I know that I'm a final year pharmacy student who's going to start practicing next year.

And since I'm "supposed" to be intellectual (note the word supposed), people actually expect me to blog on pharmacy-related issues, i.e. how Malaysia should start following the latest research on therapeutics and not some study done don't-know-how-many-donkey-years-ago and improve the health of the citizens and health economics to boot (healthy people = more working people = more tax = rich nation; but must make people healthy in a cheap a way as possible).

Or maybe make some witty comments on the slow acceptance of doctors towards pharmacists who can dispense (since we actually are trained for that) and all that.

But somehow... I feel disengaged from the profession (at least the clinical and hospital side of it) at the moment. Maybe it's because I haven't been on much clinical placements (aside from that 1 week in Seremban Hospital and 1 week rotting in the dispensary in Hospital Bentong) or haven't really been exposed to the working environment much?

It doesn't really help either that my research project is more focused on cardiovascular pharmacology, which like most of the other projects here in Scotland is more towards research i.e. I can't really see the relation between it and being a pharmacist. It's very unlikely for a doctor or a patient to suddenly ask me to explain the mechanics of calcium signalling in the heart and how it leads to them suffering a heart failure right? But don't get me wrong, I like my research project and I hope to see myself furthering my studies someday (hope being the key word - lol).

The only thing which reminds of the role of a hospital pharmacist now is all those pharm care presentations we have every week which are interesting in their own right, especially those of the home students as it is cool to note the different health care systems.

And yet I seem more interested in inconsequential stuff like anime or which European country to visit next etc. I know I need to set my priorities - the 6 years in government service is calling out to me. LOLZ.

That's why I'm thankful for blogs like Dispensing with Sanity, Malaysian Pharmacist, Pharmland (not really a blog, just somewhere for me to search for more pharm-related blogs) to keep me grounded (see my sidebar for the links).

Without these blogs, I will tend to lose perspective and be just another non-thinking professional (when I start working) whose role in life is to work, go home, work, go home etc merely to earn a living.

Thanks for highlighting all the issues that pharmacists will face, thanks for fighting for all our rights even as some of us (seem to) remain apathetic to the progress (but rest assured we're, ok, at least I am, rooting for you guys although I don't seem to show it), thanks for reminding us that we're all humans, we're working with humans and we're serving humans - all of which are prone to error and will hence face problems - but we're never alone on this as illustrated by these blogs - since others will also face similar problems.

And mostly thanks for bringing us all down to reality. Life as a pharmacist is not easy; we just need to remember why we're set on becoming one - that's all.

On a side note, I can just imagine all my idealism getting squashed to the ground on the first day of work - but at least I'll be prepared. LOLZ.