Areas of Pharmacy Practice Overview

Areas of Pharmacy Practice

• The College of Pharmacy at Our Lady of Fatima University offers various areas of pharmacy practice.
• These areas include community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, clinical pharmacy, industrial pharmacy, wholesale pharmacy, and pharmacy academe.

Outcomes

• Students will demonstrate familiarity with pharmacists' roles in various practice areas.
• Students will gain familiarity with diverse pharmacy practice areas they are interested in.

Checklist

• Students should read course and unit objectives.
• Students must read the material before attending class.
• Students should refer to unit terminologies for jargons.
• Students should actively participate in online discussions on the Canvas platform.
• Students should answer and complete course unit tasks.

Watch These Videos

• View a video about the role of a pharmacist.
• Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4VE7aOz6IQ

The Pharmacy Profession

• Pharmacy is a multifaceted profession with varied opportunities.
• Opportunities are tailored based on BS Pharmacy graduate interests.

Community Pharmacists

• Also known as retail pharmacists.

• Pharmacists own their drugstores or work in existing ones.

• About 85% of pharmacy graduates practice community pharmacy.

• They are important partners in healthcare teams.

• They handle potent and valuable drugs.

• A community pharmacist needs good communication skills.

• They need to interact effectively with general public.

• They must be proficient at paperwork and logistics.

• They need to handle health insurance details to provide cost-effective and appropriate care to patients.

• Responsibilities:

  • Fill prescriptions, educate customers on proper medication use, and provide clinical services.
  • Offer advice and guidance on diet, exercise, wellness, and stress management.
  • Provide support to physicians about medications.
  • Interpret prescriptions and dispense medications.
  • Compound medications as per prescriptions.
  • Provide patient counseling.
  • Oversee pharmacy administration (inventory, ordering, receiving, and returning of merchandise).
  • Monitor drugstore sales and performance.
  • Regularly attend professional development seminars and continuing education programs.

Community Pharmacist Examples

• Mercury Drug
• Watsons
• Southstar Drug
• CVS pharmacy

Professional Role in Delivering Primary Care

• Move from product-focused (supply of medicines) to patient-focused role.
• Shift from business-focused to a health-focused perspective.
• Integrate into healthcare teams.
• Collaborate with patients and the government on healthcare decisions.
• Be responsive to emerging healthcare needs, taking a proactive approach.

Primary Care Services

• Primary care acts as the initial point of contact within the healthcare system.
• It includes services from general practitioners, community pharmacists, dentists, and optometrists.

Hospital Pharmacist

• Practice in government- and privately-owned hospitals.

• Responsible for procuring, preserving, storing, compounding, manufacturing, packaging, controlling, assaying, dispensing and distributing medications to in-patients and out-patients.

• Stay informed about new medications and treatments to provide optimal patient care.

• Must have attention to detail and be prepared for long hours and unpredictable schedules.

• Responsibilities:

  • Provide and evaluate pharmaceutical services.
  • Plan for hospital pharmacy administration.
  • Act as a liaison between administrative and medical authorities.
  • Enforce policies and procedures for recruitment and management of competent staff.
  • Develop and maintain an effective system.
  • Participate in and adhere to the hospital's financial plan.
  • The Chief Pharmacist serves as the secretary to the Pharmacy Therapeutics Committee (PTC).

The Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee (PTC)

• Oversees important policies and procedures regarding medications within the hospital.
• Decides which drugs to include in the hospital's formulary.

Clinical Pharmacist

• Practices pharmacy in a patient-oriented hospital setting.
• Responsible for safe and appropriate medication use, including rational drug selection, monitoring, dosing, and overall control of patients' drug therapy.

Industrial Pharmacist

• Also known as Manufacturing Pharmacist.
• Involved in providing the highest standards in drug manufacturing.
• Analyze for the purity and effectiveness of drugs.
• Develop formulations for new drugs.
• Offer varied opportunities for pharmacists in industrial settings (e.g. marketing, production, quality control, research & development, company pharmacist)

Industrial Pharmacist (Marketing & Administration)

• Meet regularly with executives to discuss marketing of products, services and brands.
• Evaluate budgets and strategies, seeking maximum return on marketing campaigns.
• Requires 7-10 years of experience.
• Often hold a Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA).

Industrial Pharmacist (Production)

• Can hold supervisory or staff positions in production.
• Responsible for total drug production, including procurement of raw materials, weighing, mixing, assay, packaging, and dispensing.
• Needs technical skills to operate various production machinery.
• Maintain the cleanliness of manufacturing rooms before and after production.

Industrial Pharmacist (Quality Control)

• A critical role in the pharmaceutical industry.
• Pharmacists act as drug analysts to ensure high quality, purity, safety, efficacy and stability of medications.

Industrial Pharmacist (R&D)

• Research and development is pivotal to the pharmaceutical industry.
• Pharmacists as researchers develop new medications and dosage forms and evaluate existing ones.
• They ensure drug labels are compliant with state and federal regulations.

Industrial Pharmacist (Company Pharmacists)

• Regulatory and company pharmacists liaise between their company and the FDA to manage product registration.

Wholesale Pharmacist

• Also referred to as distributors.
• Provides business opportunities for a restricted number of pharmacists.
• Acts as a middleman between manufacturers and retailers.
• All wholesale drug companies employ registered pharmacists in senior positions, owing to legal limitations.

Pharmacy Academe

• Offers excellent opportunities for pharmacists with advanced degrees in numerous specialties.
• Colleges and universities are expanding enrollment in order to meet the increasing healthcare needs of future pharmacists.
• Academic pharmacists have many responsibilities, including teaching and training prospective pharmacists, conducting research.
• To enter the pharmacy academe a minimum of advanced degrees, certifications and residencies are needed.

Pharmacy Journalism

• Offers rewarding experience to a limited number of pharmacists with writing and editing skills.
• Pharmacists can work as MIMS writers or contribute to other pharmaceutical references and drug literatures.