The future of
pharmacy profession will not depend merely on dispensing of medication, but it
will have the duties such as providing relevant drug information and
drug therapy recommendations to the patients. Likewise, the
future pharmacist or a modern hospital pharmacist may have core knowledge about
all kinds of medications, including their adverse effects,
interactions, proper dosing and monitoring parameters, according to Dr Sunil
Kumar Jain, chief pharmacist, AIIMS-Hospital, New Delhi and
vice-president
IPA, Delhi Branch.
He was speaking
on “current scenario in pharmaceutical education and research” while addressing
the national seminar at Hindu College of Pharmacy, Sonepat
(Haryana). The event was jointly organized by the Association of Pharmacy
Teachers of India, Haryana Branch and Indian
Pharmaceutical
Association, Delhi Branch.
Very shortly the
responsibilities of the pharmacist may change into a different level as he
understands the risks inherent in the medication management
process and is able to identify areas of weakness. He will be fit enough to
create or redesign the systems to improve the risk areas with his advanced
professional skills and knowledge. The pharmacists can manage and improve drug
therapy and quality of life for all sorts of patients, especially for
geriatric patients. He can provide a variety of small but important services to
the geriatric patients while taking prescription medication, Dr SK Jain said.
According to him
a modern pharmacist will be familiar with electronic media, computer knowledge
and counselling & communication skills. He should be able to
provide patient oriented services which start from obtaining patients’
medication history, to feed back from the patient after discharge. There will be a vital
triangular relationship among pharmacists, doctors and patients that may help
improve patients' use of medicines and simplifying various complexities.
Dr Jain is of
opinion that side effects of drugs may be due to wrong handling of drugs,
improper patient counselling, adverse drug reaction, medication errors, lack of
drug information available at Drug Information Centres, lack of quality
assurance measures taken during drug testing and improper dispensing of
medicines.
Further, he said
a community pharmacist is a major source of information to the over the counter
(OTC) users residing in the rural and backward areas. The
pharmacist can convey his message to the OTC consumers through various modes.
In short pharmacists are primary custodians of drugs and ensure safety
and suitability by checking drug-drug and drug-food interactions. According to
the chief pharmacist, it is often difficult for a doctor to stay up-to-date
on the latest breakthroughs in the pharmaceutical industry, but a specialist
(modern pharmacist) can answer any questions regarding a new drug.
Dr Sanju Nanda,
associate professor, Dept of Pharmaceutics, Maharishi Dayanand University,
Rohtak was the guest of honour in the seminar. She spoke on the need
0of revolution required in pharma packaging industry.
Dr S Sardana,
principal, Hindu College of Pharmacy, welcomed the professionals and future
pharmacists to the seminar. He shared his views about the current
trends in the field of pharmaceutical education and research.
Dr Manisha Vats,
assistant professor, Hindu College of Pharmacy, spoke on “Biopiracy of
Traditional Knowledge”. Scientific session was followed by the poster
presentation session. Three best poster presenters were selected and authors were awarded by dignitaries.
Source:PharmaBiz
by
Akshaya Srikanth, *Dr.Sunil Jain
Pharm.D Intern, Chief Pharmacist-AIIMS
Hyderabad, India
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