The Role of the Pharmacist
The pharmacy profession is the practice of preparing, dispensing, and monitoring medications, which is an important part of healthcare. Pharmacists work in a variety of settings and are responsible for ensuring that patients receive the correct medications, at the right time, in the right dosage, and for the best outcomes. The pharmacy is a cross-disciplinary field, bringing together the health sciences with pharmaceutical science and natural science.
A central role of the pharmacist is to provide drug information and counseling to patients. This involves providing education on medication use and explaining the interaction between a patient’s different medications. It also includes helping patients manage the side effects of their medications and recommending preventative strategies.
It is a complex task and one that requires a high level of expertise to complete. The role of the pharmacist is evolving to include a number of new activities and responsibilities that go beyond simply preparing and dispensing drugs. For example, many pharmacies offer a service called home delivery. This involves delivering prescriptions to a patient’s home, often as a supplement to their regular visit to the pharmacy. This allows them to avoid the cost and hassle of going out of their way to pick up their medications.
Another emerging activity in pharmacy is the development of a discipline called pharmacogenomics, which is concerned with how genetic variations affect the body’s response to certain drugs. In the future, this could help to make more effective drugs and allow doctors to tailor prescriptions for individual patients.
It might seem that this evidence contradicts the idea that pharmacy is a knowledge-based profession, but it is necessary to look more closely at the ways in which knowledge is used by professionals. For example, a teacher has subject-specific knowledge of their subject, pedagogical knowledge about how to teach it, and a wealth of general practical experience that they can draw upon in everyday practice.
Pharmacists’ use of practical thinking is also apparent when they develop simple strategies that enable their patients to comply with their prescriptions. For example, a pharmacist might suggest that a patient uses an inhaler daily and give them a poster to remind them, or might encourage patients to store their medicines in the fridge. This type of knowledge is not easy to capture in a formal sense, but it is highly valuable when it is employed.
Pharmacy is a diverse and challenging profession, but it offers a wide range of opportunities for career progression. Most Americans live within five miles of a pharmacy and pharmacists are in demand across the U.S. In addition, the doctoral program for a pharmacy degree takes four years (full time), which is relatively short in comparison to other professions, and most states have licensure agreements that allow pharmacists to transfer between jurisdictions without further testing.
The pharmacy profession is the practice of preparing, dispensing, and monitoring medications, which is an important part of healthcare. Pharmacists work in a variety of settings and are responsible for ensuring that patients receive the correct medications, at the right time, in the right dosage, and for the best outcomes. The pharmacy is a cross-disciplinary field, bringing together the health sciences with pharmaceutical science and natural science. A central role of the pharmacist is to provide drug information and counseling to patients. This involves providing education on medication use and explaining the interaction between a patient’s different medications. It also includes helping patients manage the side effects of their medications and recommending preventative strategies. It is a complex task and one that requires a high level of expertise to complete. The role of the pharmacist is evolving to include a number of new activities and responsibilities that go beyond simply preparing and dispensing drugs. For example, many pharmacies offer a service called home delivery. This involves delivering prescriptions to a patient’s home, often as a supplement to their regular visit to the pharmacy. This allows them to avoid the cost and hassle of going out of their way to pick up their medications. Another emerging activity in pharmacy is the development of a discipline called pharmacogenomics, which is concerned with how genetic variations affect the body’s response to certain drugs. In the future, this could help to make more effective drugs and allow doctors to tailor prescriptions for individual patients. It might seem that this evidence contradicts the idea that pharmacy is a knowledge-based profession, but it is necessary to look more closely at the ways in which knowledge is used by professionals. For example, a teacher has subject-specific knowledge of their subject, pedagogical knowledge about how to teach it, and a wealth of general practical experience that they can draw upon in everyday practice. Pharmacists’ use of practical thinking is also apparent when they develop simple strategies that enable their patients to comply with their prescriptions. For example, a pharmacist might suggest that a patient uses an inhaler daily and give them a poster to remind them, or might encourage patients to store their medicines in the fridge. This type of knowledge is not easy to capture in a formal sense, but it is highly valuable when it is employed. Pharmacy is a diverse and challenging profession, but it offers a wide range of opportunities for career progression. Most Americans live within five miles of a pharmacy and pharmacists are in demand across the U.S. In addition, the doctoral program for a pharmacy degree takes four years (full time), which is relatively short in comparison to other professions, and most states have licensure agreements that allow pharmacists to transfer between jurisdictions without further testing.