Hi all,

Regarding the technical difficulties in accessing the previous link provided, the file has been uploaded onto a new web-hosting server.
You may access it here.

We’re very sorry for any inconvenience caused! ):
We also seek your understanding in the matter. Most free file-hosting sites have restricted bandwidth allocation–getting a premium account with unlimited access would cost. And it wouldn’t be good to charge our fellow students for that, so we’re looking into free alternatives.

If you have any suggestions or further feedback, do contact us at mrt.nusps@gmail.com!
Polite and constructive feedback is greatly appreciated!

Thank you very much for your patience!

Yours sincerely,
Belinda & the 49th Media Resource Team
(Woops, Circle-Line construction was delayed by unforeseen circumstances too)

Dear fellow Pharmers,

Here’s the latest issue of ELIXIR!
In this issue, read all about events such as

1. Freshmen Orientation Camp & Week
Did you hear about how FOC ended prematurely because of H1N1? Still, most would agree that the fun and friendships made during the camp were worth the 7-day quarantine.
Read all about how the freshies were warmly introduced to the Pharmily.

2. RAG & FLAG
We fought hard and long to keep Rag an event of ours. And we definitely didn’t disappoint! See the photos of our spectacular presentation that easily rivalled the other competing faculties.

3. IPSF, YEP and others
Our events aren’t all just kept here, in school. Read more about our students who have gone or are going overseas, and their experiences.

We’ve also included lots of other juicy tidbits related to Pharmacy. For instance, do you know what the NUSPS logo stands for? Or how long it takes for a new drug to enter the market?

Why not take a read to find out!

So do take a short break from your studying and look through Elixir to unwind! )

Click on the image to access the newsletter!
This opens the document in a new browser window.

Alternatively, you may also download the file from here. We advise you to do this instead of viewing the online version as this file host has a larger bandwidth. Apologies for any inconvenience caused!

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With Warmest Regards,
Belinda & the 49th Media Resource Team
NUS Pharmaceutical Society

(We bring you news faster than the construction of the Kent Ridge MRT station. Really.)

Dear fellow Pharmers,

The NUS Career Centre has organized a series of recruitment talks to enable undergraduates to get to know more about the various organizations. The following talks may be of interest to you:

1.
Organization: National Healthcare Group (NHG)
Date: Thursday (22nd October 2009)
Time: 6.30pm
Venue: LT15

2.
Organization: National University Health System
Date: Friday (23rd October 2009)
Time: 6.30pm
Venue: LT15

Do take note of the following information:

DRESS CODE
For the GUYS, please wear business shirts and pants. For the LADIES, please wear blouses and skirts/pants.

Please note that students who wear singlets, crew-neck T-Shirts, jeans, shorts, burmudas and slippers will be denied entry to these talks.
Remember, first impression counts!

REGISTRATION
1. If you are interested in attending any of the Graduate Recruitment Opportunities listed in this schedule, please go to?this site to register.

2. Registration is done by clicking on the date and title of the talk, click on new item, complete the registration form, then save and close the item.

3. Your name will only be reflected on the registration list if you register by 2pm of the day of the Recruitment Talk, unless otherwise stated.

4. If you are unable to attend the talk, do delete your name from the registration page.

Warmest Regards,
Sung Wei Xiu
Academic Director
49th Executive Committee
NUS Pharmaceutical Society

Review on the Straits Time Article:
Tame doctors’ greed and protect patients (30 Sept 2009)

There has been much buzz on the newspapers recently about doctors who have been negligent in their prescriptions. Although stiff penalties have been imposed by the Health Ministry, there are still a good number of doctors who fall into the web of greed. These unethical acts pose threats not only to the reputation of the doctors, but also to the lives of their patients.

In the past five years, 23 doctors have been hauled before the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) and penalized for dispensing sleeping pills indiscriminately. Subutex drugs, meant for curbing heroin abuse, were also freely dispensed to patients?however the drugs ended up being abused.

Several people such as Madam Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC) and Salma Khalik (Straits Times Health Correspondent) have suggested the separation of prescription from sale. Pharmacists, trained to check doctors? prescription, would help maintain patient safety by ensuring that the appropriate drugs are dispensed to the patients.

It has been agreed that it would be highly inconvenient for patients to go down to a pharmacy after consulting a doctor to get their medication, compared to the one-stop service patients are exposed to locally. However, this may not be applicable to drugs such as sleeping pills or obesity drugs. These drugs are not needed urgently by patients, but still can be easily abused if doctors are lax in prescribing them.
The Straits Time report also suggests that there could be an identifying of pharmacy-only drugs or the registering of patients who are prescribed such drugs, to prevent doctor-hopping.

The current dispensing system has been kept by the Health Ministry in order to ensure the convenience of patients. However, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan has suggested that doctors provide patients with a clearly written prescription, and then leave the patient to decide where to obtain his medication.

Another good way of preventing greed by doctors while keeping the current system of practice would be to enforce transparency in bills from private clinics that itemize the costs of consultation, tests and drugs.

Review by: Selina Lim & Belinda Tan (Year 1)

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What do you think? Discuss your views here.
Time to apply what we have learnt in PR1103!

Dear Pharmers,

Have you ever think about competing with the other students from the medical societies in sporting games? Do you find that there needs to be more friendly competitions between the various student societies? Now here’s your chance!

The 61st Medical Society has warmly extended invitations to all the 4 major Allied-Health student societies (Pharmacy, Dentistry, Nursing and Duke-NUS) to take part in their Annual Intra-Year Games. We are invited to take part in the following friendly games:

Floorball (Men & Women) – 25 October (Sunday), 11 am – 7 pm
Venue: MPSH 6, NUS Sports and Recreation Centre
- 5 on court, no goalie, men shoot with board obscuring goal cage. 2 halves of 7 mins.

Captain’s Ball (Mixed) – 7 November (Saturday), 9 am – 1 pm
Venue: Outdoor Multipurpose Courts, NUS Sports and Recreation Centre
- 6 on court, at least 2 from either gender.

As such, I hope to see students from across all 4 years to come and participate in these games. There will be 2 teams of floorball (men & women) as well as 1 team of captain’s ball.?Please express your interest by registering with the Welfare Head, Cindy at xinyimeimei89@yahoo.com. The registration will end on 21st October (coming wednesday). I look forward to your arduous support for this event and feel free to?contact me at nuspspres@gmail.com for any queries. Thank you!

–
Warmest regards,
Tan Wei Zhe Edwin
President
49th Executive Committee
NUS Pharmaceutical Society

Dear All,

Greetings! Health Expeditions International is an newly established NGO set up by students, for students with the aim of empowering volunteers to plan, lead and execute humanitarian expeditions.

Past expeditions include Project Khon Kaen (Thailand), with future projects in Thaliand, China and Africa under study. We have also built up a healthy database of contacts and are working actively to expand this for future expeditions, so exciting times lie ahead!

Join our mailing list here where you’ll be able to receive updates on HealthEx’s developments, sign up and lead expeditions, as well as access our resources for planning expeditions. You can also join us on Facebook.

Please feel free to email us at enquiries@healthexinternational.org for any queries! I’m looking forward to working with you to shape our world through humanitarian projects

–
Gabriel Cher | Membership Officer | Healthcare Expeditions International
www.healthexinternational.org

Dear Students,

Volunteer fund collectors are needed for the victims of Typhoon Ketsana and Padang Earthquake.
In support of these disaster-relief efforts by Singapore Red Cross, NUS Student Union (NUSSU) and Graduate Students’ Society (GSS) are raising funds within the NUS campus for two weeks. Booths will be set up at places with high human traffic in NUS to collect donations from the NUS community. The fundraising will be conducted in NUS from Monday, 19th to Friday, 23rd October, 11am to 3pm every day.
How can you help?

You can help by manning booths and reaching out to the NUS community to donate generously to the cause.

There are 2 timeslots, 10.30am-1pm and 12.30pm-3pm.

The booths will be set up at the following locations:

1. Engineering Canteen
2. Engineering LT6
3. Science LT27
4. Science Foyer LT26
5. Central Library Walkway
6. Central Forum
7. Business Canteen
8. Arts Walkway
9. Arts Canteen

Please register?here by Friday 16 Oct, 10am.

For further clarifications and enquiries, feel free to email us at help.asian.disaster.victims@gmail.com. Your efforts will be meaningful to those affected by the recent disasters and we would greatly appreciate your help and support.

On behalf of NUSSU/GSS
Sincerely,
Thank You.

Hey everyone,

The IPSF (International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation) newletters are out!

Please read on to be updated about what your pharmacy counterparts are doing worldwide. Newsletter #67 is on patient counseling related events while #68 is on Students Exchange Programme, of which our very own Patient Counseling Event is being featured in #67. If you’re interested in any of these events, this is a very good chance to know more about them!

Happy reading!

Warmest Regards,
Valerie Ng
Vice President
IPSF Contact Person
49th Executive Committee
NUS Pharmaceutical Society

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Click on the images to access the newsletters (:

Student Exchange Programme Edition

Professional Development Edition