Sirindhorn Hospital

Today we visited Sirindhorn Hospital in Bangkok. It is a government hospital with about 345 beds. This hospital provides western medicine as well as Thai traditional medicine for the patients. Patients do not have to pay for their hospital visit, as long as they are registered to this specific hospital. However if they are not registered, then the patient has to pay. We learned about the role of the pharmacists here and had a tour of the inpatient and outpatient pharmacies, as well as the medical supplies and storage area. It was interesting to notice how the pharmacists here are mostly female with only one male pharmacist. This is a similar trend to the United States. We also had a great discussion today with the hospital pharmacists about the similarities and differences between pharmacies in the U.S. vs. Thailand. For example, patients in Thailand must see a doctor every visit before getting a refill of their medication, in case of any changes. Also, the hospital and pharmacy are all in one location to make it easier for the patient and it is more of a one stop service. We ended the day learning about their emergency response and got a tour of the emergency department and an ambulance. We also toured their traditional medicine department which includes services such as acupuncture, cupping, and Thai massage.