A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who specializes in the preparation, dispensing, and management of medications. A pharmacist provides pharmaceutical advice and guidance, often serving as a primary care provider in the community, and offering other services, such as health screenings and immunizations.
Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links health sciences with pharmaceutical sciences and natural sciences. The professional practice is becoming more clinically oriented as most of the drugs are now manufactured by pharmaceutical industries. Based on the setting, pharmacy practice is either classified as community or institutional pharmacy. Providing direct patient care in the community of institutional pharmacies is considered clinical pharmacy.
A pharmacy technician performs pharmacy-related functions. Training, certification, licensing, and actual practice of pharmacy technicians varies not only worldwide but in some countries regionally as well as by employer.
A consultant pharmacist is a pharmacist who works as a consultant providing expert advice on clinical pharmacy, academic pharmacy or practice, public health pharmacy, industrial pharmacy, community pharmacy or practice, pharmaceutical analysis etc., regarding the safe use and production of medications or on the provision of pharmaceutical services to medical institutions, hospitals, universities, research institutions, medical practices and individual patients.
A Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) or Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS) or Medical Technologist (MT) performs diagnostic testing of blood and body fluids in clinical laboratories. The scope of a medical laboratory scientist's work begins with the receipt of patient or client specimens and finishes with the delivery of test results to physicians and other healthcare providers. The utility of clinical diagnostic testing relies squarely on the validity of test methodology. To this end, much of the work done by medical laboratory scientists involves ensuring specimen quality, interpreting test results, data-logging, testing control products, performing calibration, maintenance, validation, and troubleshooting of instrumentation as well as performing statistical analyses to verify the accuracy and repeatability of testing. Medical laboratory scientists may also assist healthcare providers with test selection and specimen collection and are responsible for prompt verbal delivery of critical lab results. Medical Laboratory Scientists in healthcare settings also play an important role in clinical diagnosis. An estimated 70% of medical decisions are based on laboratory test results and MLS contributions affect 95% of a health system's costs.
The Commission for Certification in Geriatric Pharmacy (CCGP) is a non-profit organization which has established a voluntary professional certification program for pharmacists. Pharmacists must pass a written examination to become certified and must re-certify every five years. Candidates are expected to be knowledgeable about principles of geriatric pharmacotherapy and the provision of pharmaceutical care to the elderly.
American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) is a professional organization that represents pharmacists who serve as patient care providers in hospitals, health systems, ambulatory clinics, and other healthcare settings. The organization's nearly 60,000 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 American Pharmacists Association, founded in 1852, is the first-established professional society of pharmacists in the United States. The association consists of more than 62,000 practicing pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, student pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and others interested in the profession. Nearly all U.S. pharmacy specialty organizations were originally a section or part of this association.
R. Tim Webster, SCD was a founder and long-time executive director of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP). He was born October 9, 1946, in Martins Ferry, Ohio and lived in St. Clairsville, Ohio until he graduated from high school. He received his degree in pharmacy from Ohio State University (OSU) in 1969 and then dedicated his entire career to promoting quality pharmaceutical care to the elderly. Prior to his 27-year tenure as executive director of the ASCP, he was involved in regulatory affairs relating to long-term care in both the public and private sector. He died of cancer on July 6, 2003.
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.
Pharmacy residency is education a pharmacist can pursue beyond the degree required for licensing as a pharmacist. A pharmacy residency program allows for the implementation of skill set and knowledge acquired in pharmacy school through interaction with the public either in a hospital setting or community practice. The program is done over a span of about 2yrs after graduation from pharmacy school and licensure as a pharmacist. Pharmacy residency helps improve the resume of a pharmacist so as to increase chances of obtaining employment outside community practice. A 2022 review suggested that there is sufficient evidence that residency develops key competencies for junior pharmacists.
The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), formerly known as the American Society of Clinical Pathologists is a professional association based in Chicago, Illinois encompassing 130,000 pathologists and laboratory professionals.
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.
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.
Amina Bala Zakari was the former Acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Nigerian electoral body. Her appointment took effect from the directive of the President Muhammadu Buhari following the expiration of the tenure of her predecessor, Attahiru Jega on 30 July 2015.
The American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists (AAPP) is a professional organization representing pharmacists and other health care professionals in the specialized areas of psychiatric and neurologic pharmacy practice within the United States. AAPP maintains "The Mental Health Pharmacy Directory", an online search engine that includes more than 850 mental health pharmacies.
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).
The Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners (JCPP) is the largest professional delegation representing the interests of pharmacists within the United States. JCPP represents 13 professional associations in the field of pharmacy, developing consensus policy directives for the profession. It is well known for the 2014 development of "The Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process," which provides broad, consensus guidelines for how clinical pharmacists should practice.
Geraldine Michelle Moses, is an Australian doctor of clinical pharmacy, a consultant pharmacist, and an Adjunct Associate Professor of clinical pharmacy at the University of Queensland. She is a Senior Clinical Pharmacist at Mater Pharmacy Services in Brisbane.
