Singapore

Loh Chin Siew, Pharmacist

Area of work: Drug and Poison Information pharmacist at the Singapore Drug & Poison Information Centre at the Singapore General Hospital

Background

I graduated with a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) from the National University of Singapore in 2003. After completing a 9-month pre-registration pupillage in Singapore General Hospital, I started work at the Drug and Poison Information Centre.

The Drug and Poison Information centre in Singapore was established in April 2004 to provide lifesaving services to the citizens of Singapore 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Its mission is to provide accessible high quality drug and poison emergency treatment advice in a timely manner, and serves as the primary resource for poison education, prevention and treatment advisory in Singapore. Information is provided to healthcare professionals, industries and members of the public.

Describe your daily work routine

My main job scope is to provide drug and poison information through the phone. This is done throughout the day. After office hours, a pharmacist will be on standby to answer calls. I also maintain the drug and poison enquiry database. All enquires are entered into the database. This serves to document calls and to enable research to be done. Statistics derived from the database are useful as they help us see where poison prevention activities can be focused.

Drug information activities includes research to answer enquires on drug identification, choice of drug therapy, drug dosing and adjustments in children, the elderly, and patients with impaired renal or hepatic function, drug allergy, drug safety in pregnancy and breast-feeding, drug interactions with other drugs, food and traditional medicine, intravenous compatibilities, and side effects and adverse reactions of drugs, traditional medicine and health supplements.

Research work takes great significance where I work. Together with my colleagues, we conduct research on poisonings and poison statistics. We also do case reports and write-ups of interesting cases for publication in medical journals and medical bulletins.

Education of the public in the areas of poisoning prevention and first aid, as well as education of healthcare professionals in the areas of clinical toxicology, poisoning epidemiology, poisoning prevention, toxicology diagnosis and care is also done. Publicity of the centre’s hotline is done via brochures and leaflets placed at hospitals and community pharmacies, public education talks, relevant articles in local magazines, and our website (http://dpic.sgh.com.sg). A mini-sticker with the centre’s hotline number was also created for people to paste onto their telephones. These activities help to raise awareness of poisoning, as well as let people know that they can call the centre whenever they need help.

As a pharmacy preceptor, I also mentor pre-registration pharmacists, who rotate with us for 4 weeks as part of their pupillage training programme. I conduct tutorials, journal clubs and new drug presentations with them.

What are the greatest difficulties that you encounter in your work environment?

The challenge is the difficulty of employing new staff. More staff will ease the workload of the present pharmacists, as well as enable more to be done for the centre (e.g. research).

What is the greatest motivation in your profession?

The greatest motivation is to help people deal with managing real and potential poisonings in Singapore. Not all poisonings are serious, and much worry and heartache can be avoided as we reassure and provide advice to callers. It is heartwarming to see how some callers appreciate our service.

Another motivation is to fulfill the challenge of setting up the first successful Drug and Poison Information Centre in Singapore. This is a challenge as it is the first time that something like this is being done in Singapore. Healthcare professionals and the public are not aware that such a service can help saves lives. However, this is something new and we are working to raise awareness of poisoning and poison prevention.

Providing accurate and timely drug information