“I have definitely gained a different perspective on healthcare”
25-year-old Liv Toft-Nielsen recently completed an internship at the National Pharmacy in Nuuk. During her stay, she helped dispense medicine, unpack ship deliveries and order medicine for small settlements. Pharmadanmark supported Liv’s trip, which taught her a great deal about both the role of pharmacists and the healthcare system in Greenland. “I have also brought home a sense of gratitude,” she says.
When Liv Toft-Nielsen was choosing her degree programme, she did not actually know much about studying pharmacy. What she did know was that she wanted to study something related to the human body and a field that allowed room for in-depth learning.
She started exploring which programmes might suit her, and when she came across pharmacy, she had no doubts.
“The degree combines many of the subjects I find exciting. Both a lot of knowledge about the human body and how it functions, but also how the sick body functions (or does not function),” says Liv.
“I also think it is pretty cool that, in addition to learning a lot about how medicine works and helps cure diseases, you also get to try developing medicines yourself.”
Today, Liv is studying for her Master’s degree in Pharmacy at the University of Copenhagen. She loves the programme, particularly because of the strong sense of community, the many student associations and the great social environment.
Liv has also become very fond of studying pharmacy because it is so hands-on. There are many hours spent in the laboratory, and that creates a completely different type of learning than simply reading everything in a book, she points out.
Internship in Greenland
Recently, Liv has gained even more hands-on experience. As part of her pharmacy internship, she spent 14 days at the National Pharmacy in Nuuk, Greenland.
“I have a friend who went to Greenland on secondment last year, and she had a really great experience, so I became very fascinated and curious about Greenland,” says Liv and continues:
“I also thought that if I was going away for an internship, I might as well try something completely different that I probably would not have the chance to experience at another time. I wrote an email to the National Pharmacy in Greenland and asked whether it would be possible to visit them, and fortunately they said yes.”
What was your role in Greenland?
“In Greenland, the National Pharmacy is located within the hospital, so I both joined the wards to review and dispense medicine to patients, and worked at the counter serving customers who were not admitted to hospital but simply needed to collect their medicine,” says Liv and continues:
“In addition, the National Pharmacy handles all medicine orders, both for hospital departments and for citizens collecting medicine from the pharmacy. They also manage orders for small settlements and for other hospitals across Greenland. I took part in both ship orders, which involve large quantities of medicine, and air deliveries, which are smaller but often more urgent.”
An internship day in Greenland
During her internship at the National Pharmacy in Nuuk, Liv carried out a wide range of tasks.
Some tasks were very similar to what she had already experienced in Denmark, while others were entirely new and very different.
Here, Liv explains some of the tasks she worked on in Greenland.
Picking stock: Every morning, products were stocked at the counter, much like in a Danish pharmacy. However, the products were not delivered by wholesalers but collected directly from the storage room.
Ship orders: Large medicine orders were prepared for a supply ship arriving every 14 days. This was where large quantities were ordered, as shipping is more reliable regarding temperature fluctuations and significantly cheaper than air freight.
Counter service: Staff dispensed medicine to citizens in Nuuk as well as hospital patients. In Greenland, there is no obligation to provide counselling at the counter, as this is handled by doctors. Patients also do not pay for their medicine. Therefore, it felt slightly unusual to “just” hand over the medicine.
Medicine service: This involved visiting medicine rooms in hospital wards to check whether they had sufficient supplies and whether expiry dates were still valid.
Unpacking ship deliveries: Large deliveries arriving every 14 days had to be unpacked and registered before being placed correctly in storage. Careful attention to expiry dates was important.
Orders for small settlements: Orders from citizens in remote settlements were received by email. The medicines were registered, booked onto ships and packed for transport.
Morphine accounts: Records of morphine dispensing were reviewed. Every time morphine was dispensed, the quantity and CPR number were written by hand in a folder. These records were later checked against stock levels to ensure everything matched.
Free time: I experienced many things outside the pharmacy after work. I joined a running club, a creative club and pub quizzes. I also explored Greenland’s beautiful nature, including boat trips through the fjords and hikes up 'Lille Malene' and through 'Paradisdalen'.
What are you bringing home from your internship in Greenland?
“I have definitely gained a different perspective on healthcare and on how important it is to have medicine easily accessible,” says Liv.
“I have also brought home a sense of gratitude. In Denmark, many customers become frustrated if their medicine is unavailable, even though it can usually be ordered for the next day. If medicine is missing in Greenland, you cannot simply get it the following day. It may take several days or even weeks. In Denmark, we also have the luxury of choosing which brand of medicine we want to buy. That luxury does not exist in Greenland.”
Before travelling to Greenland, Liv already knew that the healthcare system and the way pharmacies operate there would differ from Denmark. However, she was surprised by just how significant the differences were.
“The selection of medicines is generally very limited because the medicines are carefully selected based on shelf life and resilience to temperature fluctuations. To a very large extent, it is the weather and nature that determine whether people in Greenland can receive their medicine,” Liv explains and continues:
“If there is a storm or heavy ice, medicine cannot arrive on time, and emergency solutions are needed. For example, staff may open a larger package of medicine and ration it between customers until the next ship arrives with supplies. I personally helped repackage ibuprofen into bags of 30 tablets because only packs of 100 were available in stock.”
When Liv is asked whether she would recommend that others travel to Greenland for an internship, her answer is clear: absolutely.
“I think it has been such an amazing experience to discover Greenland and see how different a healthcare system can be, even though Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is a trip I will never forget,” says Liv.
Financial support from Pharmadanmark
Pharmadanmark supported Liv’s trip to Greenland financially.
“The support from Pharmadanmark meant that I could travel with peace of mind and a more relaxed approach because the financial aspect of the trip was less of a concern. I was therefore able to enjoy the experience much more – thanks to the support from Pharmadanmark,” says Liv.
Pharmadanmark provides sponsorships for activities, projects and initiatives that contribute to developing the professional and social lives of our members.