A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in order to dispense them safely to the public and to provide consultancy services. A pharmacist also often serves as a primary care provider in the community and offers services, such as health screenings and immunizations.
Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health professionals and allied health fields. Medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, midwifery, nursing, optometry, audiology, psychology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, athletic training, and other health professions all constitute health care. The term includes work done in providing primary care, secondary care, tertiary care, and public health.
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 including but not limited to filling out prescription medications. Training, certification, licensing, and actual practice of pharmacy technicians varies not only worldwide but in some countries regionally as well as by employer.
The International Pharmaceutical Federation or Fédération Internationale Pharmaceutique, abbreviated as FIP, is a non-governmental organization (NGO) with official relations with the World Health Organization. It is the global body representing over four million pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists and pharmaceutical educators through 158 national organisations, academic institutional members and individual members.
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.
The Pakistan Pharmacists Association (PPA) is the national professional body of pharmacists and pharmacy students in Pakistan. Founded by Dr. Naim Anwar Muzzafar, its mission is to promote and expand the profession of pharmacy and the role of pharmacists. The association is dedicated to improving public health and patient care by enhancing professional development of the pharmacists along with Pharmacy Council of Pakistan.
Health administration, healthcare administration, healthcare management or hospitalmanagement is the field relating to leadership, management, and administration of public health systems, health care systems, hospitals, and hospital networks in all the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors.
College of Pharmacy is part of the University of Arizona, a public university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. It is the only pharmacy school at a public Arizona university and one of four health professions colleges at the Arizona Health Sciences Center campus. The college is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.
The World Plumbing Council (WPC) is an international organization of plumbing associations and plumbing industry participants. There are currently over 200 WPC members from more than 30 countries around the world.
Healthcare in Finland consists of a highly decentralized three-level publicly funded healthcare system and a much smaller private sector. Although the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has the highest decision-making authority, specific healthcare precincts are responsible for providing healthcare to their residents as of 2023.
The International Pharmaceutical Students' Federation (IPSF) is a non-governmental, non-political and non-religious organisation that represents pharmaceutical students, pharmacy students and recent graduates from all over the world. It was founded in 1949 and it is the oldest faculty-based student organisation. IPSF represents over 500,000 individuals in more than 100 countries with 127 different representative pharmacy student member organisations.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia is a national employer's organisation representing pharmacy owners in Australia. Еstablished in 1927 as the Federated Pharmaceutical Services Guild of Australia, it is registered under the Fair Work Act 2009 as an employer organisation and as a Registered Training Organisation.
The Australian Pharmaceutical Advisory Council (APAC), active between 1996 and 2006, was "a consultative forum that brought together stakeholders from the medical, nursing and pharmacy professions, as well as industry, consumers and government, to advise the Australian Government Minister for Health and Ageing on medicines policy". In 1996 APAC contributed to the Industry Commission inquiry into the pharmaceutical industry. Over subsequent years the Council developed Australia's National Medicines Policy (NMP), and published several guidelines on medication management. Secretariat support for APAC was provided by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing - National Medicines Policy Strategies Section.
The International Hospital Federation (IHF) is an independent, not-for-profit, non-governmental organization based in Bernex, Switzerland. The IHF is a global membership association for hospital management that assists leaders of healthcare organizations and facilities in improving the standard, quality, and level of service delivery to improve the healthcare outcomes of people all over the world. The IHF provides a platform for the global healthcare community to share knowledge, ideas, and experiences, as well as identify international partnerships and collaboration opportunities. The IHF also represents the voice of hospitals and health systems on the global stage in initiatives, research, and joint statements with other global institutions and NGOs. Furthermore, the IHF established the Geneva Sustainability Centre in 2022 in response to the need for hospitals and healthcare services to address climate change.
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.
Nadia Bukhari is a British pharmacist of Pakistani origin living in London, United Kingdom. In 2018, she was awarded the status of Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) making her the youngest female fellow under the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain; an honor bestowed to those who have achieved excellence and distinction in their pharmacy career. In addition, she is the first Muslim female and British Pakistani to be a board member of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy for England, UK.
Australia The Pharmacy Guild of Australia
Canada Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada
Denmark Danmarks Apotekerforening (Danish Pharmacies Association)
Germany Federal Union of German Associations of Pharmacists (ABDA)
Ireland Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU)
Israel Israel Pharmacists Association
New Zealand The Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand
Portugal Associação Nacional das Farmácias (National Association of Pharmacies)
Spain Consejo General de Colegios Oficiales de Farmacéuticos (General Council of Official Colleges of Pharmacists)
United Kingdom National Pharmacy Association (NPA)
United States National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA)
