抄録
Pharmacists are now being expected to play an increasingly active role in clinical practice but this role has yet to be fully realized. At Kyoto Katsura Hospital, efforts are being made to produce pharmacists who are skilled in maintaining the quality of palliative care for cancer patients through a system which provides clinical training in this area. In the present study, we evaluated the activities of pharmacists trained under our cancer medical care system on their abilities in the care of cancer patients, adopting a qualitative approach. Pharmacists were given repeated training in the following aspects of medical care for cancer : 1) Communication with the patient, 2) Understanding of the patient's condition, 3) Assessment of situation and plan of action, 4) Presentation and discussion, 5) Performing ward rounds, and 6) Execution of plans and evaluation of their effectiveness.
We next selected individual cases for the purpose of examining the medical care system. Four major observations were made from the results : 1) Pharmacists visited their patients every day, 2) Pharmacists who had taken the training were providing active support in prescribing medication for cancer patients, 3) Pharmacists were also providing support in prescribing medication in other areas and 4) The cancer medical care system was useful in the training of new pharmacists. In conclusion, if pharmacists can enhance their clinical knowledge through such training, they will be able to provide medication support from the pharmacology viewpoint in various other fields besides cancer.
