A pharmacist, also known as a chemist or a druggist, is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls, formulates, preserves, distributes medicines and advises and guides the public on the correct use of medicines to achieve maximum benefit, minimal side effects and to avoid drug interactions. They also serve as primary care providers in the community. 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 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.
The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) is a professional organisation of Australian pharmacists. PSA is the peak national body for pharmacists, representing all of the pharmacy profession in Australia, with approximately 18,000 members. PSA is the major provider of continuing professional development programmes for pharmacists in Australia. PSA also organises various pharmacy events including a national conference attended by over 1,200 delegates from around Australia and internationally. PSA publishes the Australian Pharmaceutical Formulary, the Australian Pharmacist journal, and various other pharmacy publications.
Ernest Mario is an American pharmaceutical industry executive and the recipient of the 2007 Remington Honor Medal awarded by the American Pharmacists Association.
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.
William Neil Charman is an Australian pharmaceutical scientist and pharmacist whose work has developed medical treatments in a range of areas, including a new drug for the treatment of malaria. He was also the founder and director of biomedical sciences company Acrux Ltd. He has published more than 320 scientific papers on his research and has received tens of millions of dollars in funding to further his work. Prior to embarking on a career in academic research, he worked for a number of pharmaceutical companies in the USA.
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 counsel patients about prescription and over-the-counter drugs or about health problems and wellness issues. A typical pharmacy would be in the commercial area of a community.
Sir Harry Jephcott, 1st Baronet was a British pharmaceutical industrialist.
Sister Mary Gabriel, whose birth name was Muriel Marie Barron, was a New Zealand religious sister and pharmacist.
William Hayes FRCPI FRS FRSE LLD was an Irish geneticist.
Sir David Jack was a Scottish pharmacologist and medicinal chemist who specialised in the development of drugs for treating asthma. He was head of research and development at Glaxo from 1978 until 1987.
Fred J. Boyd was an Australian pharmacist, qualified accountant and Radiographer, and the founding president of The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia.
Edward (Nikk) Joseph Phelan is a notable figure in the profession of pharmacy in Australia, highlighted by his winning The Evans Medal For Merit in 1969 for outstanding contribution to the practice of hospital pharmacy.
Mr. P. Lance Jeffs was an Australian pharmacist who won The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia Glaxo Medal of Merit in 1965. Mr Jeffs was a registered pharmaceutical chemist (Ph.C) and fellow of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia. At the time of his award, Mr Jeffs was the federal president of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia and the Chief Pharmacist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in South Australia. He later held the position of Chief Pharmacist at Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1968 for three years.
Mavis Grace Sweeney was an Australian hospital pharmacist who was awarded the Evans Medal for Merit in 1968. The Evans Medal of Merit recognised outstanding contributions to the profession of pharmacy.
Charles B Macgibbon played an important role in developing the hospital pharmacy profession in Australia. He was the Chief Pharmacist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital from 1938. At this time there were only 36 hospital pharmacists in the Victorian hospital system and there was virtually no collaboration between them. Charles realised that by joining together, hospital pharmacists in Victoria could strengthen the profession and contribute to better quality pharmacy services. Charles and Fred J. Boyd actively worked to create a society for hospital pharmacists. In 1941 he became the founding president of the Society of Hospital Pharmaceutical Chemists which was the forerunner to The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia. During Charles' time as president of the Society, he advocated strongly to ensure hospital appointed pharmacists and that patients had access to safe medicines.
Neil Wighton Naismith, PhC MPS FSHP AM, was an Australian pharmacist whose career in hospital pharmacy commenced in 1960. He served as Director of Pharmacy at The Royal Melbourne Hospital from 1967–1997.
The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) is a professional association. Membership mostly comprises hospital pharmacists, but is open to pharmacy technicians and pharmacy students. The organisation aims to support and provide professional development to its members and be an advocate for improved medicines management in policy and practice. The society also produces various publications, including the Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research (JPPR).
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.
