Wednesday 22 February 2012

Medical student patient - research your own drugs

What do I, as a medical student, do when pharmacy assistant lady advises me to get a different over the counter (OTC) medication because 1. it's cheaper, 2. the one I need (has been previously prescribed but OTC is easier than hassling GP) is out of stock, and 3. "it's what they use in hospital"?
I don't take pharmacy lady's word for it, I go away and do my own research! Partly because I know that my medication is also used in hospital - I've seen it on drug charts plenty of times. But rather than just read about it, I've got a student formulary of 179 drugs to write (yes, I counted), so why not combine the two. I've been writing up my own personal research into the medications I should or shouldn't take, as formulary for submission. Two birds, eh?!