27/06/2018
Who are pharmacist and what their roles are
Pharmacists, also known as druggists or chemists, are healthcare professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use. Historically, the fundamental role of pharmacists as a healthcare practitioner was to distribute drugs to doctors for medication that had been prescribed to patients.
As interdisciplinary studies are developing, so the role of Pharmacists, they may also practice in a variety of other settings, including industry, wholesaling, research, academia, military, and government. You may also find pharmacist working as
• Clinical Pharmacy Specialist
• Consultant Pharmacist
• Drug Information Pharmacist
• Home Health Pharmacist
• Informatics Pharmacist
• Locum Pharmacist
• Managed Care Pharmacist
• Nuclear Pharmacist
Now day’s common pharmacist positions are that of a community pharmacist (also referred to as a retail pharmacist, first-line pharmacist) or a hospital pharmacist, where they act as a learned intermediary between a prescriber and a patient. Pharmacists are often the first point-of-contact for patients with health inquiries. Thus they have a significant role in assessing medication management in patients, and in referring patients to physicians.
In India Among many, some roles of pharmacist are:
• providing pharmaceutical information
• Providing patients with health monitoring and advice, including advice and treatment of, common ailments and disease states
• supervising pharmacy technicians and other staff
• oversight of dispensing medicines on prescription
• provision of non-prescription or over-the-counter drugs
• education and counseling for patients and other health care providers on optimal use of medicines (e.g., proper use, avoidance of overmedication)
• referrals to other health professionals if necessary
• Promoting public health by dissemination of health education.
One of the most important roles that pharmacists are currently taking on is one of pharmaceutical care. Pharmaceutical care involves taking direct responsibility for patients and their disease states, medications, and management of each to improve outcomes. Pharmaceutical care has many benefits that may include but are not limited to decreased medication errors, increased patient compliance in medication regimen, better chronic disease state management, strong pharmacist-patient relationship, and decreased long-term costs of medical care.
Arundeep singh