Bonnie Hui, a level three student in the Pharm.D. program at the USC School of Pharmacy, participated in the International Pharmaceutical Students Federation exchange program this summer, working in a rural hospital in Ghana.

The program sends students around the world, providing them an opportunity to see how pharmacy is practiced in other countries and to be part of the system during their visits.

Hui’s work included counseling patients, dispensing medications and speaking about the rational use of drugs throughout the eastern part of the country as part of a health education campaign. The campaign was organized by the Ghana Pharmacy Student Association.

“We spoke to huge crowds at schools, churches and other venues,” Hui said. “We educated people on how to use drugs safety and correctly as well as on other important health issues.”

Hui, president of the American Pharmacy Student Alliance at USC, found that Ghana has a more restrictive scope of practice for pharmacists. This was a sharp contrast to Hui’s experience in the United States, where pharmacists are very involved in working with patients, actively helping them optimize therapeutic effectiveness and achieve health outcomes.

“This was an amazing opportunity,” Hui said. “Ghana is a welcoming country with great hope. This experience has made me a great advocate for the extension of pharmacist scope of practice. Pharmacists have so much to offer patients.”

Hui was struck at the high incidence of malaria, having never seen a case prior to this experience. In fact, the drugs most commonly prescribed during her work at the hospital were for the prevention or treatment of the disease.

She counseled patients on drugs that both treat and prevent malaria as well as other preventive measures to combat the sometimes fatal disease.

“The frequency of malaria is comparable to the flu in the U.S.,” Hui said. In fact, Hui had to help care for one of her traveling companions who contracted the disease.

At times, Hui found working with patients to be a challenge because of the language barrier. While many of the hospital’s staff and Ghana pharmacy students spoke English, about half of the patients only spoke the local dialect, Twi.

“I learned a little to get around. But I had to rely on translation help when counseling most patients,” Hui said.

She credits the experience with expanding her global view on health care practices. “Given L.A.’s international flavor, this cross-cultural experience has made me better able to work with patients from different countries,” she said.

Ellen Tasaka and Patrick Ho, two other School of Pharmacy students, also participated in the exchange program this summer. Both spent time in Taiwan.