CHALLENGE TO CLINICAL PHARMACY PRACTICE IN MALAYSIA

OBJECTIVE: To report on the current status and future trends of clinic al pharmacy practice in Malaysia. DATA SOURCES: Published conference r eports and journal articles. DATA EXTRACTION: Data on areas related to clinical pharmacy practice in Malaysian hospitals were gleaned from v arious publications. DATA SYNTHESIS: Malaysia is capable of Implementi ng clinical pharmacy services in hospitals and perhaps also in the com munity setting. The important factors in clinically oriented pharmacy practice include improvement of the drug-control process, development of physical and human resources, clinical pharmacy skills, and the tra ining of practicing pharmacists. A number of Malaysian pharmacists hav e already developed a unit-dose drug distribution system, patient coun seling, therapeutic drug monitoring, drug information, and total paren teral nutrition services. CONCLUSIONS: The pharmacy profession in Mala ysia has many challenges ahead and it is hoped that every practicing p harmacist will be highly committed to future professional needs so tha t clinical pharmacy practice in Malaysia becomes a reality.