Capturing the International Diversity of Pharmacists at Sidra Medical and Research Center and their Integration into the Qatar Community
Authors: Patel Anish , Paiva Maria , Alnifaidy Hazar 
Published: July 2019

Introduction

Sidra Medical and Research Center (SMRC) is a green field ultramodern academic tertiary care hospital, which will bring a new model of integrated patient care to the women and children of Qatar, the Gulf region, and beyond. This model is based on North American standards and practices. SMRC encompasses three essential missions: world-class patient care, medical education, and biomedical research. To deliver this model and achieve these missions, experienced healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, have been recruited from across the world.

SMRC's Department of Pharmacy has been working on multiple projects to help facilitate the opening of the hospital and outpatient clinic (OPC). Additionally, it has integrated pharmacists into the healthcare community of Qatar to forge partnerships with academic and healthcare facilities and gain understanding of the needs and culture of the population it will serve.

Objectives

1. To describe the demographics and skillsets of pharmacists at SMRC.

2. To describe the integration of SMRC pharmacists into the Qatar community.

3. To highlight pharmacists’ involvement in the design, build, and commissioning of a green field ultramodern academic tertiary care center.

Methods

Participants were identified from a department staffing database. Department members that did not possess a pharmacy degree were excluded from the study. A web-based survey was created, piloted, and validated. Demographic parameters, education, and work related activities were captured. Participation was anonymous and voluntary. Ethics approval was not required for this abstract.

Results

SMRC currently employees 16 pharmacists, 15 out of 16 (94%) pharmacists responded to the survey with demographics and their respective engagements in the Qatar community. The majority of these pharmacists (66.7%) hold a doctorate of pharmacy degree, 27% hold a master degree in pharmacy, and the remaining pharmacists hold a bachelor degree of pharmacy. Over 50% of SMRC pharmacists were educated in the United States of America, 20% were educated in Canada, 20% in the United Kingdom, and the remainder educated in Egypt. All pharmacists attained their education in countries where they were national citizens. Prior to relocation in Qatar, all but two pharmacists practiced in the same country in which they received their pharmacy education.

Over 50% of pharmacists fall into 31–40 year age range, 20% fall within 41–50 years of age, and two pharmacists are in the 20–30 year age bracket and one is above 50 years of age. The majority (60%) of pharmacists have been practicing for more than 10 years, and 33% have been practicing between five and ten years. Eighty percent of pharmacists hail from academic tertiary care hospitals and the remaining pharmacists hail from a variety of settings, including community/regional town/rural hospitals, outpatient or ambulatory care settings, and non-clinical (academia, administration, or informatics). Fifty three percent of pharmacists have now integrated into inpatient care at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) facilities. Pharmacists share their expertise with a variety of specialties including critical care, general pediatrics, internal medicine, infectious diseases, and neonatal intensive care. Activities include interdisciplinary patient-care rounds, delivering educational in-services, and providing input on pharmacy-related workflows. Over 26% are involved in non-clinical SMRC community projects such as teaching at Qatar University and building the computer physician order entry system in collaboration with HMC facilities. Two pharmacists are integrated into the outpatient/ambulatory care of HMC, where they help alleviate capacity demands whilst gaining an insight into dispensary logistics that could impact the workflow planned for SMRC. Two pharmacists are not practicing clinically; however they have facilitated in the planning and implementation of clinical and community projects. Three pharmacists were not integrated in the community as their expertise is required full-time at SMRC to complete project work.

In addition to integrating into the Qatar community, pharmacists remain committed to achieving the vision and mission of SMRC. Project work includes building a drugs formulary, creating hospital workflows, modifying treatment order sets, developing treatment guidelines, and establishing avenues for pharmacist-led research. Health informatics and clinical pharmacists have been utilized in the design, build and test of an e-prescribing system suitable for both adult and pediatric (including neonatal) populations.

Conclusion

SMRC pharmacists hail from diverse educational and practice environments. Their diversity and their wealth of experience has been extensively and successfully integrated within the SMRC organization and community of Qatar. Through this integration, significant contributions have been made to the country's health and education, leading to improved patient care.