My Diaries #1: Collaboration on Psychotropic Algorithms.

in #teammalaysia6 years ago

Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash. 

First Attempt

Good day! I think I am going to write some of my real life stories here on #Steemit. I am not worrying about my privacy here, but to put details of my life that I want to immortalise on this decentralised platform.

Profession

I am a health professional in one of the largest teaching hospitals in #Malaysia. I am also a depressed patient. However,  being part of my profession, I am being involved in a committee to draft and write a treatment algorithm for all the psychotropic medications in the hospital, under the purview of Psychiatric Department.

To-Do's

What is an algorithm? A set of rules that is being used in making decisions. A treatment algorithm is going to guide our doctors (probably even other health professionals in other institutions) in making informed decisions with our psychiatric patients (or carers), depending on multiple factors, including physiological responses, social impact and financial burdens. First of all, I am going to compile the statistics of psychotropic medications usage in my hospital. Medications usage usually directly linked to the patients' responses. By looking at movement statistics, I should be able to know the generally effective ways in treating certain illnesses. The general rule is, the more the medication being used, the more likely the medication will be the first choice for doctors in treating patients (illness-specific). Next, I need to figure out the treatment options for patients who failed to respond to the first line treatment. At this stage, doctors have to investigate the factors that lead to the first line treatment failure. Once the factor(s) being pinpointed, doctors are to be guided on the next option of treatment. Sometimes, there are special group of patients whom we need to tailor the treatment options. For example, teratogenic drugs are not advisable for pregnant and/or breastfeeding ladies; drugs that give severe adverse reactions might not be suitable for elderly patients etc.

Actions

So, before I go any further, I first need to come out with the statistics of medications usage. Selamat sejahtera, and stay tuned.