Faculty of Pharmacy UGM graduated as many as 178 new pharmacists on Saturday (30/9) at Grha Sabha Pramana UGM. There were 160 pharmacists or 90% of the total new pharmacists are graduated with cum laude predicate and 27 of them achieved GPA of 4.00. Dean of Faculty of Pharmacy UGM, Prof. Dr. Agung Endro Nugroho delivered his congratulation towards the new pharmacists and he hopes they can be able to well perform their profession in the society. “You are entering the new stage as a pharmacist. Do not forget that you are alumni of UGM, therefore keep being synergized with the alma mater,” said Agung.
Agung said Faculty of Pharmacy keep preparing new pharmacists who are competent and professional. They even strengthen the soft skills and leadership of the new pharmacists. “This year, we have reoriented our curriculum for strengthening soft skills and leadership,” he added.
In addition, Agung said Faculty of Pharmacy also has a program to speed up the waiting period for the graduates to get a job. “We hope the waiting period for getting a job can be as short as possible,” said Agung.
The National Pharmacy Committee (Indonesian acronym: KFN), Dr.s Bambang Triworo, Apt., Sp. FRS. Said the new pharmacists will add the number of the current pharmacists in Indonesia which is around 65 thousand people. His party keeps developing the pharmacists’ competencies through competency test which is held on an ongoing basis because every pharmacist who performs pharmacy practice should have a pharmacist license.
One of the roles of the pharmacist in anticipating the threat of global health which is widespread of antimicrobial resistance in the human and animal bodies. It is multi-sectoral, thus its countermeasures have to be done comprehensively. “Pharmacists take a role in increasing the awareness of antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial is expected to be used wisely for animal and human,” said Bambang.
One of the roles that can be done by pharmacists is not giving antibiotics without doctor recipe. “Education towards the society is supposed to be well done. Evaluation and the introduction of antimicrobials have to be strengthened,” he added.
On the other hand, the Head of Regional Management of Indonesian Pharmacists Association Yogyakarta, Wimbuh Dumadi, S.Si., Apt. said pharmacist is one of the medical workforces in Indonesia and they take a role in controlling the widespread of illegal drugs that currently become the issue in the society. “One of the tasks of the pharmacist is controlling the quality of pharmacy to control the widespread of illegal drugs,” said Wimbuh.