Pharmacy
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.
Pharmacists are healthcare professionals with specialised education and training who perform various roles to ensure optimal health outcomes for their patients through the quality use of medicines. Pharmacists may also be small-business proprietors, owning the pharmacy in which they practice. Since pharmacists know about the mode of action of a particular drug, and its metabolism and physiological effects on the human body in great detail, they play an important role in optimisation of a drug treatment for an individual.
Pharmacists are represented internationally by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). They are represented at the national level by professional organisations such as the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in the UK, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA), the Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA), and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), See also: List of pharmacy associations.
In some cases, the representative body is also the registering body, which is responsible for the regulation and ethics of the profession.
In the United States, specializations in pharmacy practice recognized by the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties include: cardiovascular, infectious disease, oncology, pharmacotherapy, nuclear, nutrition, and psychiatry. The Commission for Certification in Geriatric Pharmacy certifies pharmacists in geriatric pharmacy practice. The American Board of Applied Toxicology certifies pharmacists and other medical professionals in applied toxicology.
INTERESTING FACT
THE TWO SYMBOLS MOST COMMONLY ASSOCIATED WITH PHARMACY IN ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES ARE THE MORTAR AND PESTLE AND THE â (RECIPERE) CHARACTER, WHICH IS OFTEN WRITTEN AS âRXâ IN TYPED TEXT. THE SHOW GLOBE WAS ALSO USED UNTIL THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY. PHARMACY ORGANIZATIONS OFTEN USE OTHER SYMBOLS, SUCH AS THE BOWL OF HYGIEIA WHICH IS OFTEN USED IN THE NETHERLANDS, CONICAL MEASURES, AND CADUCEUSES IN THEIR LOGOS. OTHER SYMBOLS ARE COMMON IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES: THE GREEN GREEK CROSS IN FRANCE, ARGENTINA, THE UNITED KINGDOM, BELGIUM, IRELAND, ITALY, SPAIN, AND INDIA, THE INCREASINGLY RARE GAPER IN THE NETHERLANDS, AND A RED STYLIZED LETTER A IN GERMANY AND AUSTRIA....Read More