What is the most important principle needed for pharmacy students training as critical care and emergency medicine pharmacists in Japan?

Abstract

Emergency medicine and critical care are defined as advanced and specialist fields for clinical experience for a pharmacy student in Japan. Active involvement of pharmacists in patient treatment in emergency medicine and intensive care units has been shown to lead to better clinical outcomes for critically ill patients. Critically ill and emergency patients experience ongoing changes in their organ function, hemodynamics, and pharmacokinetics, and it is therefore difficult to predict their condition. Emergency and critical care pharmacists must therefore keep assessing patients’ condition and if necessary, intervene aggressively. During their clinical experience, pharmacy students discuss the provision of pharmacy services in emergency medicine, and learn about the importance of evaluating pharmacy services. We teach pharmacy students the principles of working as a critical care pharmacist during their clinical experience in intensive care units. We encourage students to take responsibility for the drug treatment plans they develop. We also teach them to recognize each patient’s unique clinical concerns and problems, and develop ways to address these issues. To cultivate the next generation of pharmacist leaders, we encourage pharmacy students to focus on assessing patients and empowering them to deliver aggressive interventions where necessary.