What Does a Pharmacist Do?
Pharmacy is a profession that encompasses the preparation, dispensing, and distribution of medication. Pharmacists are trained in a wide range of sciences including chemistry, biology, physics, bacteriology, and physiology. They also receive extensive training in business skills including merchandising, accounting, computer technology, and pharmaceutical jurisprudence. Pharmacists are experts on drug therapy and primary health care professionals who optimize the use of medications to benefit patients.
The pharmacist has been an integral member of the healthcare team for over a century and is an important link between the patient and the physician. A number of studies have shown that when a pharmacist is involved in the management of a prescription, outcomes improve and costs decrease.
As more and more people turn to online pharmacies to obtain their medications, there is a need for consumers to understand what these sites offer. The most common services that are offered by these sites include verifying a prescription, providing counseling on how to take the medication, educating patients on side effects, and answering questions regarding the medication. These are all critical to the success of a patient on a new prescription and should be provided by every online pharmacy.
The history of pharmacy dates back to ancient Greece and Rome and the Middle Ages in Europe. Initially, physicians and apothecaries worked together to treat patients. Later, the Arabian influence in Europe resulted in the separation of responsibilities between the physician and apothecary, with the physician primarily treating the disease and the apothecary supplying the physician with herbs and raw materials from which to make medicines. The practice was eventually further cemented in America by Benjamin Franklin who appointed an apothecary to his Philadelphia hospital.
Today, there is a much wider selection of drugs available than ever before. Often, multiple medications are prescribed for one condition and pharmacists are responsible for helping the prescriber and the patient decide which medicine will produce the best results. Pharmacists are also tasked with ensuring that the patient is taking their medications properly and that the prescription does not interact with any other drugs they may be taking.
Despite the fact that pharmacists are tasked with a number of duties, their main role is still to prepare and distribute medication. This is the primary job function of a pharmacist, and it cannot be replaced by technology. The knowledge that a pharmacist uses to perform this job is complex and difficult to define. A chemist has both subject-specific knowledge of chemistry and pedagogical knowledge on how to teach the subject effectively. This knowledge is not easily transferred from one individual to another. The same is true of the knowledge that a pharmacist has accumulated over the years. This makes it difficult to determine whether or not pharmacy is a knowledge-based profession. Ultimately, the most valuable knowledge that a pharmacist has is his or her experience in the field. This is something that a chemist can never fully lose and should be cherished by all pharmacists.
Pharmacy is a profession that encompasses the preparation, dispensing, and distribution of medication. Pharmacists are trained in a wide range of sciences including chemistry, biology, physics, bacteriology, and physiology. They also receive extensive training in business skills including merchandising, accounting, computer technology, and pharmaceutical jurisprudence. Pharmacists are experts on drug therapy and primary health care professionals who optimize the use of medications to benefit patients. The pharmacist has been an integral member of the healthcare team for over a century and is an important link between the patient and the physician. A number of studies have shown that when a pharmacist is involved in the management of a prescription, outcomes improve and costs decrease. As more and more people turn to online pharmacies to obtain their medications, there is a need for consumers to understand what these sites offer. The most common services that are offered by these sites include verifying a prescription, providing counseling on how to take the medication, educating patients on side effects, and answering questions regarding the medication. These are all critical to the success of a patient on a new prescription and should be provided by every online pharmacy. The history of pharmacy dates back to ancient Greece and Rome and the Middle Ages in Europe. Initially, physicians and apothecaries worked together to treat patients. Later, the Arabian influence in Europe resulted in the separation of responsibilities between the physician and apothecary, with the physician primarily treating the disease and the apothecary supplying the physician with herbs and raw materials from which to make medicines. The practice was eventually further cemented in America by Benjamin Franklin who appointed an apothecary to his Philadelphia hospital. Today, there is a much wider selection of drugs available than ever before. Often, multiple medications are prescribed for one condition and pharmacists are responsible for helping the prescriber and the patient decide which medicine will produce the best results. Pharmacists are also tasked with ensuring that the patient is taking their medications properly and that the prescription does not interact with any other drugs they may be taking. Despite the fact that pharmacists are tasked with a number of duties, their main role is still to prepare and distribute medication. This is the primary job function of a pharmacist, and it cannot be replaced by technology. The knowledge that a pharmacist uses to perform this job is complex and difficult to define. A chemist has both subject-specific knowledge of chemistry and pedagogical knowledge on how to teach the subject effectively. This knowledge is not easily transferred from one individual to another. The same is true of the knowledge that a pharmacist has accumulated over the years. This makes it difficult to determine whether or not pharmacy is a knowledge-based profession. Ultimately, the most valuable knowledge that a pharmacist has is his or her experience in the field. This is something that a chemist can never fully lose and should be cherished by all pharmacists.