A pharmacist, also known as a chemist or a druggist, is a healthcare professional who specializes in the preparation, dispensing, and management of medications to ensure safe and effective use, while also providing medication counseling and guidance to patients and healthcare providers. Also, pharmacists often serve as primary care providers in the community, and may offer 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 Doctor of Pharmacy is a professional doctorate in pharmacy. In some countries, it is a doctoral degree to practice the profession of pharmacy or to become a clinical pharmacist. In many countries, people with their Doctor of Pharmacy are allowed to practice independently and can prescribe drugs directly to patients. A PharmD program has significant experiential and/or clinical education components in introductory and advanced levels for the safe and effective use of drugs. Experiential education prepares graduates to be practice-ready, as they already have spent a significant amount of time training in areas of direct patient care and research.
Master's degrees in pharmacy comprise both postgraduate and integrated master's programs in pharmacy, the latter of which comprises both undergraduate and postgraduate coursework and typically takes four to five years to complete.
A Bachelor of Pharmacy is a graduate academic degree in the field of pharmacy. In many countries, this degree is a prerequisite for registration to practice as a pharmacist. Since both PharmB and PharmD are prerequisites to license in most western countries they're considered equivalent. In many western countries, the foreign graduates with BPharm, PharmB or BS Pharm practice similarly as PharmD graduates. It is analogous to MBBS vs. MD where MBBS is foreign equivalent of MD. It is training to understand the properties and impacts of medicines and developing the skills required to counsel patients about their use.
The University of Georgia College of Pharmacy is a college within the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia, United States.
The University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy is a college of pharmacy located in Lexington, Kentucky. In 2020, U.S. News & World Report recognized the UK College of Pharmacy as one of the nation's top ten pharmacy programs.
The University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center (AHC) is a collection of health colleges and institutions of the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio. It trains health care professionals and provides research and patient care. AHC has strong ties to UC Health, which includes the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and West Chester Hospital.
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 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 often an undergraduate or postgraduate pharmacy degree from a recognized university. In many countries, this involves a four- or five-year course to attain a bachelor of pharmacy or master of pharmacy degree.
The University of Florida College of Pharmacy is the pharmacy school of the University of Florida. The College of Pharmacy was founded in 1923 and is located on the university's Gainesville, Florida main campus. The college offers the entry-level Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree as the first professional degree for students entering the profession. The college offered a Working Professional Pharm.D. (WPPD) program for bachelor's-trained pharmacists already in practice with its last cohort of students enrolled in 2016. Additionally, various graduate degrees are offered. The professional program is fully accredited by the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education. Since 2011 the college has been offering online degree programs at the graduate level, such as the Forensic Science Program, Pharmaceutical Chemistry Program and Clinical Toxicology Program. In total the College of Pharmacy received over $32 million in total Research Revenues in 2021.
The University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy is the graduate pharmacy school of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1878, it offers Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees, as well as a residency training program. The school is one of the university's six schools of the health sciences and is ranked in the top 10 of pharmacy schools according to U.S. News & World Report.
The Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is a graduate-level pharmacy school at the University of California, San Diego, United States.
The Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy is a pharmacy school and an academic division of the University of Toronto. The faculty is located on the northwestern corner of College Street and University Avenue, placing it across from the Ontario Legislative Building and at the entrance to Queen's Park station. It is also situated 1–2 blocks away from four internationally renowned hospitals—The Hospital for Sick Children, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto General Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital. It is part of Toronto's Discovery District.
UIC College of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois Chicago is one of the oldest pharmacy schools in the US, and oldest unit of the University of Illinois system.
The University of Florida's (UF) online clinical toxicology distance education programs cater to working professionals, including physicians, nurses, physician assistants, first responders, and poison control center professionals. The programs focus on toxicants, drugs of abuse, drug analysis, and biotransformation, as well as the treatment of poisoned or overdosed patients. Classes are taught by internationally recognized faculty with expertise in clinical toxicology, medicine, pharmacy, and pharmacology.
Gireesh V. Gupchup is a health services researcher, and educational administrator. He currently serves as Vice President for Academic Innovation, Planning and Partnerships for Southern Illinois University. He previously served as Dean and Professor of the SIUE School of Pharmacy. His area of research encompasses developing, and evaluating pharmacy and health care services in underserved populations.
The USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is the pharmacy school of the University of Southern California, originally established in 1905 as USC College of Pharmacy. On November 17, 2022, the University of Southern California released an announcement stating that the school will be renamed the USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and will receive a $50 million endowment for student scholarships, faculty recruitment and integrating a university-wide research infrastructure related to biomedical innovation across USC’s University Park and Health Sciences campuses. The School is led by Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos.
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.
