The Future of Pharmacy References

Introduction

As a fan of the Yu-Gi-Oh! card trading anime, I sometimes play the mobile game. Despite boasting a supposedly luxurious card collection, I frequently lose duels against other players.

• Initially, I blamed these losses on bad luck, but defeat after defeat in the mobile game, despite a deck brimming with supposedly powerful cards, forced me to re-evaluate the real reason for my failures.
• The truth is, no player ever sets out to lose. Everyone aims to create the best possible combos for victory.

This concept applies to life as well. We often get stuck in our own ways of thinking, neglecting the strategic prowess and critical thinking of others.

• Therefore, to stay ahead of the curve, we must first acknowledge our opponents and competitors as worthy adversaries with equal or even greater strengths.

The Rising Trend: Online, Up-to-Date, and Accessible

For years, I have strongly advocated for more frequent updates to pharmacy references.

• The existing system, with updates only every few years, simply is not sufficient. Medical treatments evolve rapidly, and changes can sometimes happen overnight.
• This shift towards online resources exemplifies a global movement in pharmacy to ensure up-to-date information reaches healthcare professionals.
• Starting in 2024, NICE will no longer be funding and supplying free printed BNF and BNFC copies to eligible groups. Instead, they are advocating for the use of the BNF Publications app to ensure access to up-to-date content.

Thankfully, positive change is finally happening within government pharmacy platforms at Malaysia. I was pleasantly surprised to see great ideas turning into realities.

• Online continuous medical education (CME) initiatives, such as the Coffee Talk series, are now offered to all pharmacists in government hospitals and clinics.
• Additionally, official online resources are finally being developed, replacing outdated resources with user-friendly platforms. The MyFormulary app and the National Antimicrobial Guideline website are prime examples.

Following this trend, we can expect more essential pharmacy references – like dilution protocols and counselling guidelines – to be made available online and eventually consolidated into a comprehensive resource, similar to the UMMC pharmacy portal.

• Behind the scenes, there is undoubtedly a lot of unseen effort driving these timely updates.

I look forward to the day that the official resource will render my current blog obsolete.

• After all, maintaining the blog has become too time- and effort-consuming.
• Providing healthcare education should be best handled by professionals with more expertise.

Summary

The world is constantly changing, and sometimes, changes happen at times and in ways we least expect.

• To illustrate, recent articles suggest the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip will be significantly more expensive, potentially driving up flagship phone prices.
• This price hike could push consumers towards high-end midrange phones, which offer excellent performance for everyday tasks and social media browsing – perfectly suited for many users who do not require top-of-the-line specs.

Even though moving resources online is a great way to ensure up-to-date content, I sometimes miss having them readily available offline.