Pharmacists, also known as chemists or druggists, are health professionals who instruct and advise patients on the safe and effective use of medicines and their possible side effects, as they deal with the composition, effects, mechanism of action and proper use of drugs. Using knowledge of the mechanism of action of drugs, the pharmacist understands how they should be used to achieve maximum benefit, minimal side effects and to avoid drug interactions. Pharmacists undergo university or graduate-level education to understand the biochemical mechanisms and actions of drugs, drug uses, therapeutic roles, side effects, potential drug interactions, and monitoring parameters. This is mated to anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology. Pharmacists interpret and communicate this specialized knowledge to patients, physicians, and other health care providers.
Pharmacy is the clinical health science that links medical science with chemistry and it is charged with the discovery, production, disposal, safe and effective use, and control of medications and drugs. The practice of pharmacy requires excellent knowledge of drugs, their mechanism of action, side effects, interactions, mobility and toxicity. At the same time, it requires knowledge of treatment and understanding of the pathological process. Some specialties of pharmacists, such as that of clinical pharmacists, require other skills, e.g. knowledge about the acquisition and evaluation of physical and laboratory data.
A pharmacy technician is a title-protected, licensed health care provider who performs pharmacy-related functions, working collaboratively with a licensed pharmacist. Pharmacy technicians work in a variety of locations, but can also work for long-term care facilities, pharmaceutical manufacturers, third-party insurance companies, computer software companies, or in government or teaching. Job accountabilities include dispensing prescription drugs and other medical devices to patients and instructing on their use. They may also perform administrative duties in pharmaceutical practice, such as reviewing prescription requests with doctor's offices and insurance companies to ensure correct medications are provided and payment is received. Pharmacy technicians often take on the role of Compounding Supervisor, overseeing day to day sterile and non-sterile dose preparation while meeting standards required by regulatory bodies.
An independent pharmacy is a retail pharmacy that is not directly affiliated with any chain of pharmacies and is not owned by a publicly traded company. Independent pharmacies are pharmacist-owned, privately held businesses in varying practice settings. They include single-store operations, pharmacist-owned multiple store locations, franchise, compounding, long-term care (LTC), specialty, and supermarket pharmacy operation. Independent pharmacy owners generally have more flexibility to build personalized customer relationships and they strive to differentiate their services from big-chain corporations.
American Society of Health-System Pharmacists is a professional organization that represents pharmacists who serve as patient care providers in acute and ambulatory care settings. The organization's 45,000 members include pharmacists, student pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians. ASHP maintains a national database on U.S. drug shortages that is published on their website.
The Appalachian College of Pharmacy (ACP), formerly known as the University of Appalachia, College of Pharmacy, is a private doctoral pharmacy school located in Oakwood, Virginia. The school, established in 2003, is Virginia's only three-year accelerated Doctor of Pharmacy program. ACP's mission is to improve the health outcomes of rural and underserved communities, particularly those in Central Appalachia, through education, service, and scholarship.
Clinical pharmacy is the branch of pharmacy in which clinical pharmacists provide direct patient care that optimizes the use of medication and promotes health, wellness, and disease prevention. Clinical pharmacists care for patients in all health care settings but the clinical pharmacy movement initially began inside hospitals and clinics. Clinical pharmacists often work in collaboration with physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and other healthcare professionals. Clinical pharmacists can enter into a formal collaborative practice agreement with another healthcare provider, generally one or more physicians, that allows pharmacists to prescribe medications and order laboratory tests.
The Campbell University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences is an American pharmacy school founded in 1985 by Dean Ronald Maddox and located in Buies Creek, North Carolina. The College is one of seven schools that compose Campbell University. In 2009, the school's name was changed to Campbell University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
The basic requirement for pharmacists to be considered for registration is an undergraduate or postgraduate pharmacy degree from a recognized university. In many countries, this involves a four- or five-year course to attain a master of pharmacy degree (MPharm). In the United States of America, students graduating after January 1, 2003, must complete a doctor of pharmacy degree to become a licensed pharmacist. This same requirement has been coming into place in other countries such as Canada and France.
A pharmacy is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacist oversees the fulfillment of medical prescriptions and is available to give advice on their offerings of over-the-counter drugs. A typical pharmacy would be in the commercial area of a community.
UIC College of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois Chicago is one of the oldest pharmacy schools in the country, and oldest unit of the University of Illinois system. Established in 1859, the College is consistently ranked in the national top 10 for both pharmacy education and in pharmaceutical research, and is renowned for its seamless integration of educational, pharmacy services, and research programs. With outstanding research and clinical faculty, which are one of the largest in the country, UIC has some of the longest-standing and most sought-after pharmacy residency, fellowship, and graduate programs in the world. With a network of over 10,000 alumni, graduates of the UIC College of Pharmacy are leaders in pharmacy practice, pharmaceutical industry, and academia across the US and abroad.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is the body responsible for the independent regulation of the pharmacy profession within England, Scotland and Wales, responsible for the regulation of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy premises. It was created, along with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, in September 2010 when the previous Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain was split so that representative and regulatory functions of the pharmacy profession could be separated.
Psychiatric pharmacy, also known as mental health pharmacy, is the area of clinical pharmacy specializing in the treatment of people with psychiatric illnesses through the use of psychotropic medications. It is a branch of neuropsychiatric pharmacy, which includes neurologic pharmacy. Areas where psychiatric pharmacists are found most abundantly are in chemical dependency, developmental disabilities, long-term care facilities, adherence clinics, mental health clinics, and within the prison system. However, psychiatry and neurology are not the only areas where psychiatric pharmacists require comprehensive knowledge. They must also be proficient in clinical problem solving, interprofessionalism, and communication with understanding and empathy for the patient population they serve, as they are a sensitive group.
AMCP is a professional organization representing the interests of pharmacists who practice in managed care settings. It publishes the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy.
The College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists (CPNP) is a professional organization representing pharmacists and other healthcare professionals in the specialty areas of psychiatric and neurologic pharmacy practice within the United States. It is the only such organization representing the interests of neuropsychiatric pharmacists in the United States. In an effort to help connect patients with psychiatric pharmacists, CPNP maintains "The Mental Health Pharmacy Directory," an online search engine that includes more than 850 mental health pharmacies. As of December 2015, CPNP is a member of the Coalition on Psychiatric Emergencies (COPE) and is the only professional pharmacy organization represented on the coalition. In January 2017, CPNP was elected to membership status on the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners (JCPP). CPNP is the only Board of Pharmacy Specialties accredited provider of BCPP recertification products.
A collaborative practice agreement (CPA) is a legal document in the United States that establishes a legal relationship between clinical pharmacists and collaborating physicians that allows for pharmacists to participate in collaborative drug therapy management (CDTM).
A clinical pharmaceutical scientist is a licensed, practicing pharmacist who also functions as an independent researcher in the pharmaceutical sciences. Clinical pharmaceutical scientists are a type of clinician scientist, analogous to physician-scientists.
Mary Munson Runge was the first female, the first African American, and the first employee community pharmacist to be elected president of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA).
The pharmacy management system, also known as the pharmacy information system, is a system that stores data and enables functionality that organizes and maintains the medication use process within pharmacies.
