Pharmacy Overview

[Ron Smith]

Pharmacy is the art of preparing and dispensing drugs. It is a health
profession concerned with the discovery, development, production, and
distribution of drugs. Drugs are substances (other than devices) used
to diagnose, prevent, cure, or relieve the symptoms of disease.
Pharmacy is concerned with the manufacture, formulation, quality
control, and dispensing of medicaments used to treat disease. The
majority of modern medicaments consist of tablets, capsules, and
injections, all produced under stringent conditions.

The scope of pharmacy practice includes more traditional roles such as
compounding and dispensing medications, and it also includes more
modern services related to patient care, including clinical services,
reviewing medications for safety and efficacy, and providing drug
information.

Pharmacists earn a qualifying degree, prepare and dispense prescribed
medications. They formerly mixed and measured drug products from raw
materials according to doctors' prescriptions. They are still
responsible for formulating, storing, and providing correct dosages of
medicines. They also advise patients on the use of both prescription
and over-the-counter drugs. Pharmacists therefore, are the experts on
drug therapy and are the primary health professionals who optimize
medication use to provide patients with positive health outcomes.

The field of Pharmacy can generally be divided into four primary
disciplines:
(1) Pharmaceutics
(2) Medicinal chemistry and Pharmacognosy
(3) Pharmacy Practice
(4) Pharmacology

There are many areas of pharmacy practice which are specified below.
Community pharmacies usually consist of a retail storefront with a
dispensary where medications are stored and dispensed.

Hospital pharmacy differ considerably from community pharmacies.
Because of the complexity of medications including specific
indications, effectiveness of treatment regimens, safety of
medications and patient compliance issues many pharmacists practicing
in hospitals gain more education and training after pharmacy school
through a pharmacy practice residency.

Clinical pharmacists provide direct patient care services that
optimizes the use of medication and promotes health, wellness, and
disease prevention.
Compounding Pharmacy is the practice of preparing drugs in new forms.
Compounding pharmacies specialize in compounding.
Consultant pharmacy practice focuses more on medication regimen review
than on actual dispensing of drugs. Consultant pharmacists most
typically work in nursing homes.
Many of these pharmacies are similar to community pharmacies, and in
fact, many of them are actually operated by brick-and-mortar community
pharmacies that serve consumers online and those that walk in their
door.
Veterinary pharmacies stock different varieties and different
strengths of medications to fulfill the pharmaceutical needs of
animals.
Nuclear pharmacy focuses on preparing radioactive materials for
diagnostic tests and for treating certain diseases.
Pharmacy informatics is the combination of pharmacy practice science
and applied information science. The future of pharmacy is very
bright. In the coming decades, pharmacists are expected to become more
integral within the health care system. Rather than simply dispensing
medication, pharmacists will be paid for their patient care skills.

You can also see this site: http://pharmaceuticalweekly.com/