Reflections A North Carolina Pharmacist in the Middle East
efit to working in the Middle East, although this advantage is shrinking with budget tightening Lisa F. Brennan throughout that region. I was able to pay off my student loans within 2 years. But more importantly, I wanted to explore this area that Abstract unfortunately has come to engender fear in many Americans Globally, clinical pharmacy prac- after the experience of 9/11, the tice is advancing. This article Gulf Wars, and more recently, describes the working experi- the horrors of Syria and the refuence of a North Carolina phar- gee crisis that war has created. macist in two countries in the As Mark Twain said, “Travel is Middle East, Saudi Arabia and fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). narrowmindedness, and many Both commonalities and chal- of our people need it sorely on lenges are emphasized, with a these accounts.”1 reflection on the personal value Pharmacy Practice of cross-cultural practice. Introduction “The Middle East” for many people conjures up images of camels, sand dunes, flowing robes and women with veiled faces. For others, it is synonymous with oil and fantastic wealth. Yet, a third more sinister image is the face of terrorism. But the region has undergone tremendous growth in the past several decades, reaching for equality in all aspects of life including healthcare. I was able to observe their system firsthand in my recent sojourn as a clinical pharmacist in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, UAE. Why Do It? There is a strong financial ben52
ing, run an anticoagulation clinic, and are expanding their practice just as pharmacists in the US are doing. Many of the same health issues took priority as well. Diabetes and its complications constituted a large proportion of the reason for hospitalization for many of the patients admitted to our medicine service. According to the WHO country profiles for 2016, the prevalence of diabetes is 63% higher in Saudi Arabia at 14.4% vs. 9.1% for the US.2,3 Ischemic heart disease was the leading cause of death in 2012 in both Saudi Arabia and the USA.4,5 It was eerily simple to transfer my practice to this hospital.
Saudi Arabia In Saudi Arabia, I served as an internal medicine clinical pharmacist in King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh from June 2012 to June 2014. This is a 1200-bed teaching hospital affiliated with both medical and pharmacy schools in the King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. The hospital has an ASHP-accredited PGY1 pharmacy practice residency and a well-trained clinical staff. My first surprise was in the similarity of practice with what I had experienced in the United States. Team rounding occurred daily, starting in the emergency department, and then progressing to the medical wards. Pharmacists manage vancomycin and other pharmacokinetic dos-
Abu Dhabi I moved to Abu Dhabi in July 2014 to July 2016 to become part of the team opening the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi (CCAD) hospital, which opened in May 2015. This was a unique opportunity to build the relationships and culture of the hospital from the ground up. Under the leadership of Osama Tabbara, RPh, BCNSP, the pharmacy team established the most professional and dedicated department I have ever had the pleasure to work with, building the reputation for the best department in the hospital. The pharmacy practice at CCAD mirrors the models here in the US with pharmacists as integral team members in all aspects of patient care, such as
