Pharmacy Practice I - Learning Objectives

Pharmacy Practice I - Learning Objectives

• Students will be able to describe and identify the broad range of pharmacy practice settings.
• Students will be able to perform basic functions and/or skills in various practice settings.
• Students will be able to describe the role and function of pharmacy professionals in different practice settings.
• Students will be able to conduct public health educational programs for the community.

Pharmacy Practice I - Course Outline

• Introduction to Pharmacy Practice
• The Pharmacist as a health care professional
• Community pharmacy
• Hospital pharmacy
• Other areas of pharmacy practice
• Pharmacy health education

Introduction to Pharmacy Practice

• Pharmacy is an old profession that has changed dramatically.
• The word "pharmacy" originates from the Greek word "pharmakon," meaning "drug" or "remedies."
• It's a health profession bridging health science and chemical science.
• It's responsible for ensuring safe and effective medicine use.
• The practice of pharmacy is a vital part of a complete healthcare system.
• The number of people needing healthcare services is increasing, leading to challenges and expanded responsibilities for pharmacists.

Pharmacists as Health Professionals

• Pharmacists use their expertise in medicine to help people understand medications.
• This includes understanding what medications are, how they help, and how they react in the body.

Pharmacy Practice

• Pharmacy practice involves developing professional roles for pharmacists.
• It applies knowledge and skills learned in other disciplines to patient care.
• It allows pharmacists to use their expertise in areas like pharmacology, pharmaceutics, pharmacognosy, chemistry, and therapeutics.

Pharmacist to Population Ratios

• Pharmacists are the third largest group of healthcare professionals globally.
• Pharmacist-to-population ratios vary widely globally; some countries have as few as < 0.02 pharmacists per 10,000 people, while others have over 25.07 per 10,000.
• The WHO recommends a pharmacist-to-population ratio of 1:2000.

Aim of Pharmacy Practice

• The aim of pharmacy practice is to provide and promote the best use of drugs and other healthcare services and products for patients and the public.

Pharmaceutical Care

• The term "pharmaceutical care" has established itself as a philosophy of practice.
• Pharmaceutical care is the responsible provision of drug therapy for achieving definite outcomes that improve a patient's quality of life.
• The goal is positive outcomes from medication use, improving patient quality of life.

Outcomes of Pharmaceutical Care

• Cure of a disease
• Elimination or reduction of symptoms
• Arresting or slowing a disease process
• Prevention of disease
• Diagnosis of disease

Eight Star Pharmacist Characteristics

• Caregiver
• Communicator
• Decision-maker
• Teacher
• Lifelong learner
• Leader
• Manager
• Researcher

Caregiver

• Pharmacists provide caring services.
• They must view their practice as integrated and continuous with other healthcare professionals.
• Their services must be of the highest quality.

Communicator

• Pharmacists are ideally positioned to connect prescribers and patients.
• They communicate health and medicine information to the public.
• They must be knowledgeable and confident when interacting with other healthcare professionals and the public.
• Communication involves verbal, nonverbal, listening, and writing skills.

Decision-Maker

• Pharmacists ensure appropriate, efficacious, safe, and cost-effective resource use.
• They play a role in setting medicines policy at local and national levels.
• They evaluate, synthesize data, and determine appropriate courses of action.

Teacher

• Pharmacists have a responsibility to educate and train future generations of pharmacists and the public.
• Participating in education and training benefits both the recipient and the practitioner.

Life-Long Learner

• Pharmacists need continuous learning throughout their careers.
• Knowledge and skills need to stay current to provide the best care.

Leader

• Pharmacists can be leaders in multidisciplinary teams involving comprehensive patient and community care.
• Their leadership involves compassion, empathy, vision, decision-making, communication, and effective management.

Manager

• Pharmacists must effectively manage resources (human, physical, financial) and information.
• They must be comfortable being managed as well.

Researcher

• Pharmacists should use evidence-based practices (scientific, pharmacy practice, healthcare system) to advise on the rational use of medicines.
• They contribute to the evidence base and improve patient care and outcomes through shared experiences and documented findings.
• They increase accessibility of unbiased health and medicine information.

Areas of Pharmacy Practice

• Community pharmacy
• Hospital pharmacy
• Pharmaceutical industry
• Drug regulatory body
• Research institutes
• Drug supply and distribution agencies
• Pharmacy Associations
• Clinical Pharmacy (Recent)
• Long-term Care Facilities
• Academia
• Government
• Armed services
• Mail order/Internet pharmacy

Evolution of Pharmacy Practice

• The use of drugs in healing is as old as civilization itself.
• Modern archaeologists have unearthed clay tablets with lists of medicinal preparations.
• Ancient civilizations like the Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Chinese, etc. contributed to the foundation of pharmacy practice.
• Early inhabitants used trial-and-error to compile lists of drugs (pharmacopeias/dispensatories).
• Modern formularies are based on those early drug lists.

Important People of the Ancient Era

• Emperor Shen Nung (2000 BC): investigated medicinal herbs, authored Pen T'sao (native herbal) with 365 drugs.
• Papyrus Ebers (1500 BC): collection of 800 prescriptions mentioning 700 drugs.
• Hippocrates (420-370 BC): considered the father of medicine, emphasized patient care, and minimized reliance on magic/religion.
• Dioscorides (1st century AD): boosted the transition of pharmacy to a science, authored Materia Medica detailing 500 plants/remedies.
• Galen (130-201 AD): introduced many unknown drugs and taught pharmacy/medicine; his principles dominated for 1,500 years.

Pharmacy Development - Later Eras

• Early 19th century: retail pharmacies separated manufacturing from retail.
• Extraction of plant alkaloids became crucial (e.g., quinine).
• Late 19th century: manufacturing separated from retail operations.
• 20th century pharmacy roles dramatically changed due to medical and scientific advancement.

Eras in 20th Century Pharmacy

• Traditional Era (early 20th century): pharmacists formulated/compounded medications from natural sources.
• Scientific Era (post-WWII): pharmaceutical companies synthesized and mass produced medicines; pharmacology became a required course.
• Clinical Era (1973+): traditional role of dispending combined with drug information, new courses in pharmaceutics, therapeutics, and pathophysiology emerged.
• Pharmaceutical Care Era: expanded mission of pharmacy to include responsibility for ensuring positive outcomes from drug therapy (Medication Therapy Management).
• Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Era (now and future): DNA, gene therapy, and recombinant DNA technology.

Clinical Pharmacy Levels of Action

• Before prescription: Clinical trials, formularies, drug information, drug-related policies.
• During prescription: Counseling activity, influencing prescriber attitudes/priorities (correct treatments), focus on therapeutic monitoring of specific medication dosages.
• After prescription: Counseling, personalized formulations, drug use evaluation, outcome research, pharmaco-economic studies.

Medication-Related Problems

• Untreated indications, improper drug selection, sub-therapeutic dosage, medication failure to receive, medication overdose, adverse drug reactions, drug interactions.

Relationship with Other Healthcare Professionals

• Health care is a collaborative effort between diverse healthcare professionals (physicians, nurse practitioners, dentists, vets, nurses, pharmacists).
• Paraprofessionals (pharmacy technicians, physician assistants, etc.) assist with routine tasks.
• Pharmacists need to adapt knowledge, skills, and attitudes to their collaborative role.
• Pharmacists integrate traditional pharmaceutical science with clinical patient care, clinical skills, management, and communication skills.
• They collaborate with medical teams and solve medicine-related problems.