- Name: Dr. Ngari Francis Muchiri
- Nationality: Kenyan
- Age: 28
- Do you have someone special in your life?😛 -Yes. We are not yet married.
- Favourite food: Fish
- University Attended: JKUAT
- Year of graduation: 2016
- One thing you love to do: Singing
- One thing we don’t know about you – I’m a recording artist. My stage name is Sir Francis.
- Do you love being a pharmacist? Yes, with passion
- Places worked – Neema Pharmacy, Regal Pharmaceuticals, Embu level 5 Hospital, Peterose Pharmacy (currently)
- Tell us more about MTM? What does it entail?- MTM is a service or group of services aimed at optimizing individual patient therapeutic goals, with or without provision of drug products. Touches mostly on chronic diseases.
- Is there any advanced training required to offer MTM services? If yes, how long does it take? -You need to be a registered pharmacist . Then you register with MTM Kenya for the course. Theory is quite short. I did it for about a month then research carries the better part of MTM. I’m yet to be done with research part. I already embraced the fact that a pharmacist is a lifelong learner.
- How do you collaborate with doctors and other health care professionals? – I have MTM forms and my pharmaceutical care cards which have all my details in them. If for instance I get a case of polypharmacy, drug interactions or contraindicated drugs in one of my patients prescription, then I switch from being a dispenser to MTM consultant where;
a. Create a rapport with the patient
b. Create patient awareness abt MTM and why it’s of paramount importance to them
c. Start filling MTM forms
d. The most important part is the MPL and MAP
e. Then finally I send the patient with the copy to the respective hospital or clinic where they were treated. I remain with a photocopy of their forms for record keeping. I also issue them with my pharmaceutical card
f. All this I do at affordable prices depending on the patients condition. I havent standardized the charges yet - Is the general population receptive to MTM? What’s your flow of clients? Do you handle clients with chronic conditions? Acute conditions? Or both? – They are very positive about it. There are a few challenges because the public doesn’t really understand the role of pharmacists in health systems. Most of them view us as shopkeepers which is not the case. On a good day I can deal with over 30 patients per day from all over Embu. Most of which are referrals from the patients I have treated and managed succesfully. I handle both but where I work from there are some chronic diseases that need collaboration with other medics like M.Os, C.Os. MTM pharmtechs play a role in enrolling patients, creating awareness, record keeping.
- Where do you offer your MTM services? Do you have a physical location? – Embu NORTH, Manyatta.
- Would you say you have been successful in this venture? What can you attribute to your success or lack thereof? – I can’t really say I have already attained all my goals and success in this venture. There needs to be more MTM pharmacists and pharmtechs for us to regain our former glory in this profession. This is all about my passion for the profession. I always do 6hrs of reading and researching everyday. Actually it has become part of me ever since I was denied a chance to do my masters in clinical pharmacy
- Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years? – MD/ Owner of my own big Hospital which I think I’ll call Sir Francis Group of Hospitals
- What has been your biggest struggle in the Pharmacy field? – I found the profession already dead. With so many quacks and businessmen wanting to run it, it hasn’t been a walk on the beach. Convincing patients that you are more than just a shopkeeper and precribers always tainting our names, it takes more than a brave heart to go against these odds.
- How do you think you have positively contributed to the Pharmacy field? – I haven’t so far started making big moves at the large pharmacy profession. That chance is coming once we have registered CPAOK (Community Pharmacy Association of Kenya). That time I’ll not only have ideas to propel the profession towards a brighter future but the necessary resources.
- If you are to change one thing about the profession, what would it be? – I would like MTM to be part of pharmacy undergraduate degree course
- Advice to other pharmacists. – Fellow pharmacists, this is not the time to fight against each other or other health professionals like I have noted with alot of concern in many pharmacists groups. It’s time we get together and claim our lost glory. I’m sure you have already seen drug ATMs in S.Africa. If we don’t switch from product oriented to service oriented practice like MTM we will soon be phased out.
I so love this. Thanks alot!!
Dr francis this is incredible