Actions, not words.
“The number of Faculties of Pharmacy in Turkey increased from 11 in the 2003-2004 academic year to 17 in 2012-2013, and to 42 in 2018-2019. With the official establishment of the Ondokuz Mayıs University Faculty of Pharmacy, this number rose to 50. According to Ministry of Health figures, although the annual number of graduates exceeds 1,600, the faculty-to-student ratio is declining and shows great variation across all faculties. According to the report titled ‘2023 Health Workforce Targets and Health Education’ published by the Ministry of Health, provided that current conditions remain constant, there will be an excess supply of approximately 9,000 pharmacists by the end of 2023. According to calculations, if no regulations are made regarding faculties—that is, if new faculties continue to open, quotas in existing ones are not reduced, and workforce planning is not taken into account—there will be a surplus of graduates and unemployed pharmacists in the near future. Expressing their views on the matter, pharmacists pointed out that urgent measures must be taken.”We read the lines above and similar ones every day in the press and on social media. However, in terms of resolving this issue, we unfortunately do not see tangible, concrete studies and proposals produced by relevant parties, primarily our Professional Organization, regarding developing and implementing projects to create new employment fields for pharmacists. Yet, I would like to draw attention to the provision regarding creating job opportunities for pharmacists, which is among the duties of our Professional Organization.TURKISH PHARMACISTS’ ASSOCIATION LAW Law Number: 6643 Date of Enactment: 25/1/1956 Published Official Gazette: Date: 2/2/1956 Issue: 9223 Published Code: Order: 3 Volume: 37 Page: 250
Article 4 – The duties of the Turkish Pharmacists’ Association are as follows:
f) To strive to protect public health, find the necessary employment fields that will bring its members to a certain level of welfare, protect the rights and interests of the profession and colleagues in the implementation of labor laws, social laws, and the provisions of legislation enacted based on them, and fairly organize any distribution of work…Now;
Precisely within this framework, I would like to share with you a news item that I believe many of us might have missed recently.
As is known, Lokman Hekim University Faculty of Pharmacy, which began its academic activities in the capital Ankara—the heart of Turkey—in the 2018-2019 academic year, continues its educational activities as a pioneer in healthcare education and an R&D-oriented university under the deanery of Prof. Dr. Belma Koçer Gümüşel and with its academic staff composed of our highly esteemed professors.
Lokman Hekim University Faculty of Pharmacy, spearheaded by Prof. Dr. Belma Koçer Gümüşel and Specialist Pharmacist Somer Helvacı,October 17 – November 21, 2020between the dates of which, for the first time online in our country, the “Sports Pharmacy Certificate Program” was organized, implementing an advanced certificate program based on the source materials of the ‘Drugs in Sport Certificate Program’ prepared by the International Olympic Committee Medical and Scientific Commission regarding the active role of pharmaceutical knowledge and expertise in athlete health.
The training program includes 5 modules, 48 hours of lectures, and 30 instructors from Turkey and abroad. As is the case in all specialized fields of pharmaceutical science, continuous professional collaborations with other healthcare disciplines are also indispensable in the field of Sports Pharmacy. In this program, the topic in which I was also involved was ‘’Magistral prescriptions specially formulated for athletes with dermatological problems’’also includes a presentation covering treatment options that will contribute to the preparation of …
Thanks to the interactive trainings delivered through presentations by expert instructors from various disciplines participating from Turkey and abroad, our pharmacist colleagues will have the opportunity to enhance and update their knowledge on the concepts of the Sports Pharmacy specialization.Sports Pharmacy is;the entirety of methods to contribute to the athlete healthcare system by integrating the theoretical and practical applications of pharmaceutical science into protective and preventive healthcare services for athletes.
With the competencies gained at the end of the program, our colleagues, throughAthlete Health Consultancy Services they can provide in their pharmacies, will be able to establish a common language with athletes and the individuals around them. Since Sports Pharmacy is an emerging specialization worldwide, it offers wide and promising career horizons. Enhancing and expanding your knowledge in this field today will pave the way for much more impactful roles in the near future.
The primary key topic regarding pharmacist employment is;
According to research conducted by the General Directorate of Sports (SGM) covering the period between July 1, 2011, and September 3, 2012, we learn that across Turkey, the number of athletes reached 2,211,649, and the number of sports clubs across 81 provinces reached 11,367. Undoubtedly, these figures have increased even further as of 2020.What Can a Pharmacist Specializing in Sports Pharmacy Do? -Offers athlete-focused consultancy services in accordance with the principles of rational drug use,
-Guides athletes to stay on the right side during the anti-doping process, assuming an educational role regarding unintentional/inadvertent doping,
-Raises their awareness to remain committed to values such as clean sport and the Olympic spirit,
-Increases the awareness of the athlete and their entourage in accordance with the principle of strict liability,
-Makes a difference by keeping track of up-to-date information on the safe and evidence-based use of food supplements/nutritional support products,
-Provides reliable consultancy services regarding medication use and ergogenic aid preferences in sports,
-Informs athletes about the use of soft orthopedic medical products that may be preferred for sports-related injuries,
-Closely follows the positive effects of various pharmacy specializations on athlete health and serves as a practitioner in these fields,
-Plans treatment options with minimal adverse effects for athletes by ensuring the compounding of custom-formulated magistral prescriptions.
Athlete health is undoubtedly crucial in increasing our country’s success in sports activities. While thanking Prof. Dr. Belma Koçer Gümüşel and Specialist Pharmacist Somer Helvacı for their valuable work on this subject, our professional organization should, based on the arguments above, meet with officials of the Ministry of Youth and Sports to emphasize the importance of having pharmacists in sports clubs for protecting and sustaining athlete health, and continue its efforts toward creating new employment areas.
Now is the time for action, not words…
Spec. Pharm. Ahmet Nezihi Pekcan
Pekcan Pharmacy – Konya
[email protected]
Tel: (332) 3520657http://www.majistralformul.com/
