4th MyPSA NPC 2024
MyPSA National Pharmacy Competition
The 4th MyPSA NPC 2024 is the first physical conducted National Pharmacy Competition since its establishment. IMU Pharmacy Students’ Association (IPSA), IMU University has organised two challenges for this competition, which are Piala Aishah Compounding Challenge (PA) and Pharmacy Quiz Challenge (QC), in collaboration with MAHSA University Pharmacy Students’ Society (MUPSS), MAHSA University who organised the Clinical Pharmacy Challenge (CC). The theme of “Ensuring Excellence: A National Pharmacy Challenge for Medication Safety from Prescription to Administration”, serves as the unifying thread that ties together the diverse aspects of the competition, providing a comprehensive platform for participants to engage, learn, and contribute to the advancement of pharmacy education and practice in Malaysia.
PIALA AISHAH COMPOUNDING CHALLENGE (PA):
PA is a practical hands-on competition that covers liquid, semi-solid and solid dosage forms of extemporaneous preparation. The participants were assessed with three distinctive rounds, each round included 1 extemporaneous preparation with varying levels of difficulty. All teams will participate in every round and they are required to compound all the formulations based on the prescriptions provided and complete the necessary documentations within 3 hours. It is hoped that this challenge can provide a platform for participants to demonstrate their level of competence in compounding skills.
Pharmacy Quiz Challenge (QC):
In this challenge, there were 3 rounds which were the preliminary round, semi-final round and final round. In the preliminary round, 50 Multiple-Choice-Questions (MCQs) that covered Physiology, Biochemistry, Immunology, Pharmaceutical Technology, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Analysis, Medicinal Chemistry, Pathology, Pharmacology, Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics, Sterile and Aseptic Techniques, Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice will be given to be completed within 1 hour and 15 minutes with negative marking applied. For the semi-final round, 2 teams competed with each other and each team was given 8 Oral Short Answer Questions (OSAQ) with varying difficulty to answer. The top 4 teams will proceed to the final round which is further divided into two rounds. Final Round 1 was 8 Oral Short Answer Questions (OSAQ) and subsequently to the Final Round 2 which was 2 Oral Short Answer Questions (OSAQ) but in difficult mode.
Clinical Pharmacy Challenge (CC):
The questions provided cover the topics of Pharmacology, Clinical Pharmacy, Applied Pharmacotherapeutics and Clinical Pharmacokinetics.
The Clinical Pharmacy Challenge consisted of three (3) main rounds: in Qualifying Round 1, there were 20 Multiple-Choice-Questions (MCQs) and 3 Short Answer Questions (SAQs) written test within 1 hour and 15 minutes.
In Qualifying Round 2, the teams were faced with Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE). The OSCE consisted of three different stations making up a stream: (1) Prescription Screening, (b) Medication or Device Counselling and (c) Ward Simulation. Each station was marked by the respective examiners and judges.
For the Final Round, a total of four teams were each given a case study for presentation. After 1 hour of preparation, each team will have 20 minutes of presentation and 10 minutes of Q&A session which was evaluated by professional judges.
The opening ceremony was mainly organised by the organising committee of IPSA. The 4th MyPSA NPC 2024 was officiated with the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The Piala Aishah Compounding Challenge was held on 17th May 2024. Each team consists of 2 participants. Four judges were invited to evaluate all 3 rounds of the competition. On the event day, all participants adhered to the dress code of the laboratory of IMU University. They are separated into two labs and each team with one working bench to minimise the disruption among teams. The briefing was conducted before entering the laboratory to ensure all participants clearly understood the flow of the challenge.
The top 3 winners for CC were IMU University, Taylor’s University Team B and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
The Pharmacy Quiz Challenge was held on 17th May for the Preliminary Round and 18th May for the Semi-Final and Final Round. Each group consists of four participants. Six judges were invited to evaluate the semi-final and final rounds of the competition. On the event day, all teams were assigned accordingly to 4 rooms by drawing lots, with each room having 2 teams and monitored by two judges and one moderator. The respective judges will evaluate semi-final and final rounds.
The top 3 teams for QC were Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Team A, IMU University and Taylor’s University Team B.
The Clinical Pharmacy Challenge was held on 18th May for Qualifying Round 1 and 19th May for Qualifying Round 2 & Final Round. Each team constitutes three participants and one reserve participant. 6 professional judges were invited to assess participants in all three rounds of challenges to ensure the integrity of the competition.
Qualifying Round 1 was a paper-based competition while Qualifying Round 2 which was designated as OSCE was conducted in stations. The final round was held at the main hall and participants were required to present their case study in front of judges and audiences.
The top 3 winners for CC were IMU University, Taylor’s University Team B and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
The closing ceremony was mainly in charge of the organising committee of MuPSS. The grand champion for the 4th MyPSA National Pharmacy Competition (NPC) 2024 is the IMU Pharmacy Students’ Association (IPSA)!
