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Pharmacy is the profession of compounding and dispensing medication. More recently, the term has come to include other services related to patient care including clinical practice, medication review, drug information, etc. Some of these new roles are now mandated by law in various legislatures. Pharmacists, therefore, are the primary health professionals who optimise medication management to produce positive health-outcomes.The symbols most commonly associated with pharmacy are the mortar and pestle and the ℞ ( recipere) character. Pharmacy organisations often employ other elements such as the Bowl of Hygeia , conical measures, and snakes in their logos. Other symbols are common in different countries such as the green Greek cross in France, and the Gaper in The Netherlands.
1 Disciplines
The field of Pharmacy can generally be divided into three main disciplines.
- Pharmacy practice
- Pharmaceutical chemistry (often Medicinal chemistryMedicinal Chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacy involved with designing and developing pharmaceutical drugs. Medicinal chemistry involves the identification, synthesis and development of new chemical entities s)
- PharmaceuticsPharmaceutics is the discipline of pharmacy which deals with all facets of the process of turning a new chemical entity (NCE) into a medication able to be safely and effectively used by patients in the community. Branches of pharmaceutics include: pharmac
The boundaries between these disciplines and indeed with other sciences, such as biochemistry, are not always clear-cut; and often collaborative teams from various disciplines research together.
PharmacologyPharmacology (Greek: pharmacon is drug, and logos''is science) is the study of how chemical substances interfere with living systems. If these substances have medicinal properties, they are referred to as pharmaceuticals . The field encompasses drug compo is sometimes considered a fourth discipline of pharmacy. Although pharmacology is essential to the study of pharmacy, it is not specific to pharmacy. Therefore it is usually considered to be a field of the broader scienceFor the scientific journal named Science see Science (journal). Science is both a process of gaining knowledge, and the organized body of knowledge gained by this process. The scientific process is the systematic acquisition of new knowledge about a systes.
2 Pharmacists
PharmacistPharmacists are health professionals who practice pharmacy. Pharmacists are highly-trained and skilled healthcare professionals who perform various roles to ensure optimal health outcomes for their patients. Pharmacists typically take an order for medicins are highly-trained and skilled healthcare professionals who perform various roles to ensure optimal health outcomes for their patients. Pharmacists are also often small-businessA small business may be defined as a business with a small number of employees. The legal definition of "small" often varies by country and industry, but is generally under 100 employees. These businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partner owners, owning the pharmacy in which they practise. This unique dichotomyA dichotomy is a division into two non-overlapping or mutually exclusive, jointly exhaustive, parts. They are often contrasting and spoken of as "opposites". The term comes from dichotomos (divided): dich- ([in] two) temnein (to cut). In biology, a dichot is often the subject of debate within the profession - in part due to the perception of pharmacists as "common shopkeepers" by many in the community.
Pharmacists as a profession are dealt with on a separate pagePharmacists are health professionals who practice pharmacy. Pharmacists are highly-trained and skilled healthcare professionals who perform various roles to ensure optimal health outcomes for their patients. Pharmacists typically take an order for medicin.
