Pharmacy Scope Today & Tomorrow

“Some Say, pharmacy is a field.

 Some say, pharmacy is carrier.

 Some say, pharmacy is science.
But I say, ‘Pharmacy is the world of medicine’.”

Pharmacists are health professional who practice the science of pharmacy. In their traditional role, pharmacists typically take a request for medicine from a prescribing health care provider in the form of a medical prescription evaluate the appropriateness of the prescription, dispense the medication to the patient and counsel them on the proper use and adverse effects of that medication. In this role pharmacists act as a learned intermediary between physicians and patients and thus ensure the safe and effective use of medications. 

Pharmacists also participate in disease-state management, where they optimize and monitor drug therapy or interpret medical laboratory results - in collaboration with physicians and/or other health professionals. 

Advances into prescribing medication and in providing public health advice's and services are occurring in Britain as well as the United States. Pharmacists have many areas of expertise and are a critical source of medical knowledge in clinics, hospitals, medical laboratory and community pharmacies throughout the world. Pharmacists also hold positions in the pharmaceutical industry as well as in pharmaceutical education and institutions.

The development of pharmacy is not uniform in world wide. In U.K & U.S.A it is well developed while in India nobody knows about it. In current scenario of India Pharmacy do not have its own identity. It is recognized by ‘chemical stores’ or ‘drug stores’. It is the place where the drug is purchased in the form of medicine following prescription or sometimes non-prescribed drugs are also given. To ignorant people, they are giving the cheapest quality drug having no significant therapeutic activity. They are doing just for getting the profit. The pharmacist has lost his professional standing primarily because the patient cannot visualize as a “tradesman and professional simultaneously”, so pharmacist presently are embracing changing professional role. Several factors impair the adoption of new role including lack of consensus regarding the pharmacy professional goals. Number of steps need to be consider as pharmacy prepare to shift towards the profession wide, patient centered practice model.

Pharmacists are trained in pharmacology, pharmacognosy, pharmaceutical chemistry, microbiology, pharmacy practice (including drug interaction, medicine monitoring, medication management), pathophysiology, anatomy, biochemistry, pharmacokinetics, drug delivery, pharmaceutical care, and compounding medications. Additional curriculum covers diagnosis with emphasis on laboratory tests, disease state management, therapeutics and prescribing (selecting the most appropriate medication for a given patient).

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 the management of each in order to improve the outcome for each individual patient. Pharmaceutical care has many benefits that include but are not limited to:

•        Decreased medication errors
•        Increased patient compliance in  medication regimen
•        Better chronic disease state management
•        Strong pharmacist-patient relationship
•        Decreased long-term costs of medical care

Pharmacists are often the first point-of-contact for patients with health inquiries. This means that pharmacists have large roles in the assessing medication management in patients, and in referring patients to physicians. These roles may include, but are not limited to:

1. Clinical medication management
2. The assessment of patients with undiagnosed or diagnosed conditions and for decisions about the clinical medication management required.
3. Specialized monitoring of disease states
4. Reviewing medication regimens
5. Monitoring of treatment regimens
6. Delegating work
7. General health monitoring
8. Compounding medicines
9. General health advice
10. Providing specific education to patients about disease states and medications
11. Oversight of dispensing medicines on prescription
12. Provision of non-prescription medicines
13. Counseling and advice on optimal use of medicines
14. Advice and treatment of common ailments

 In addition, it is also widely believed that pharmacists can make a great contribution to the provision of the primary health care, especially in developing countries. Their role varies in different parts of the world: some deal with the preparation and supply of medicines, while some focus on sharing pharmaceutical expertise with doctors and patients. Some of the major issues identified as barriers to effective pharmacy practice models in these countries include an acute shortage of qualified pharmacists and no implementation of dispensing separation practices - especially in countries where the pharmacist is not the sole dispenser and medical practitioners are allowed to dispense as well - and a lack of standard practice guidelines. Pharmaceutical services in developing countries face some specific challenges unlike those faced by pharmacists in the developed world. The current era of globalization has witnessed evolution in the professions of the health sector, especially in pharmacy. Whereas previously the pharmacist worldwide was seen as responsible primarily for manufacturing and supplying medicines, today the pharmacist's role has evolved towards a clinical orientation. The profession is still under continuous transition. With change in the health demands, pharmacists have a further role to play in patient care. The precise role of a pharmacist in the health setting is altering and varies significantly from country to country. In contrast to the developed world, pharmacists in developing countries are not fully executing their potential role. They are still struggling for the recognition of their role that can help improve the health care system. Along with lack of human resources, the profession seriously lacks government interest in many countries. Access to and appropriate use of medicine is among the major health sector problems in most of the developing countries. The health care system without pharmacists is unable to cope effectively with most medicine-related issues. Thus, involvement of skillful and authoritative pharmacists in therapeutic procedures is necessary to improve appropriate use of medicines, eliminate medication errors, make proper use of the medicine.

In future pharmacy will play key role in generating drug librarary for developing novel drug candidate during drug development process. In the coming decades, pharmacists will be become more integral within the health care system. 

Thanks for reading...

by

Akshaya Srikanth,

Pharm.D Internee,

FIP-YPG Project associate,

Hyd, India.