 |
| Occupation |
| Names |
Pharmacist, Chemist, Doctor of Pharmacy, Druggist, Apothecary or simply Doctor |
|
Occupation type
|
Professional |
|
Activity sectors
|
health care, health sciences, chemical sciences |
| Description |
| Competencies |
The ethics, art and science of medicine, analytical skills, critical thinking |
|
Education required
|
Doctor of Pharmacy, Master of Pharmacy, Bachelor of Pharmacy |
|
Related jobs
|
Doctor, pharmacy technician, toxicologist, chemist, pharmacy assistant, other medical specialists |
Pharmacy is the science and technique of preparing and dispensing
drugs. It is a
health profession that links
health sciences with
chemical sciences and aims to ensure the safe and effective use of
pharmaceutical drugs.
The scope of pharmacy practice includes more traditional roles such
as compounding and dispensing medications, and it also includes more
modern services related to
health care, including clinical services, reviewing medications for safety and efficacy, and providing drug information.
Pharmacists,
therefore, are the experts on drug therapy and are the primary health
professionals who optimize use of medication for the benefit of the
patients.
An establishment in which pharmacy (in the first sense) is practiced is called a
pharmacy (this term is more common in the United States) or a
chemist's (which is more common in Great Britain). In the United States and Canada,
drugstores commonly sell drugs, as well as miscellaneous items such as confectionery,
cosmetics,
office supplies, and
magazines and occasionally refreshments and groceries.
The word
pharmacy is derived from its root word
pharma which was a term used since the 15th–17th centuries. However, the original Greek roots from
pharmakos
imply sorcery or even poison. In addition to pharma responsibilities,
the pharma offered general medical advice and a range of services that
are now performed solely by other specialist practitioners, such as
surgery and
midwifery.
The pharma (as it was referred to) often operated through a retail shop
which, in addition to ingredients for medicines, sold tobacco and
patent medicines. Often the place that did this was called an
apothecary
and several languages have this as the dominant term, though their
practices are more akin to a modern pharmacy, in English the term
apothecary would today be seen as outdated or only approproriate if
herbal remedies were on offer to a large extent. The pharmas also used
many other herbs not listed. The Greek word
Pharmakeia (
Greek:
φαρμακεία) derives from
pharmakon (
φάρμακον), meaning "drug", "medicine" (or "poison").
[1][n 1]
In its investigation of herbal and chemical ingredients, the work of
the pharma may be regarded as a precursor of the modern sciences of
chemistry and
pharmacology, prior to the formulation of the scientific method.
