Pharmacy Study Guide (PDF)

## Pharmacy **Pharmacy** derives its name from the Greek word **Pharmakon** meaning **medicine** or **drug**. Pharmacy is the art and science of preparing and dispensing **medications** and providing **drug-related information** to the public. Pharmacy has been defined as: - the health profess...

## Pharmacy **Pharmacy** derives its name from the Greek word **Pharmakon** meaning **medicine** or **drug**. Pharmacy is the art and science of preparing and dispensing **medications** and providing **drug-related information** to the public. Pharmacy has been defined as: - the health profession concerned with the **discovery**, **development**, **production** and **distribution** of drugs. **Pharmacist** is a professional who provides drug information and dispenses medications. **Pharmacy involves:** - Manufacture - Formulation - Quality control - Interpretation of prescription order - Compounding - Labeling - Dispensing of drugs and devices used to treat disease. - Selection of drug product - Drug utilization reviews - Patient monitoring and intervention - Provision of cognitive services related to use of medications and devices ### Pharmacy Education - No educational program other than that in pharmacy provides the background to understand completely all there is to understand about drugs. - Pharmacists must have **at least five years** of education beyond high school. - All faculties of pharmacy programs result in pharmacy degrees. - Students enter five-year programs that result in pharmacy degrees. **Entry Requirements:** - Mathematics - Natural Science - Humanities - Social Science - Students may go on to earn **master's degrees** or **doctorates** in specialized areas in pharmacy. ### Degrees Awarded by Faculties of Pharmacy in Egypt - Bachelor degree in pharmaceutical science (B-pharm) - Bachelor degree in pharmaceutical science (clinical pharmacy) - this requires a **minimum standard course of five years (10 semesters) full-time study**. ## Mission of Pharmacy **Mission of Pharmacy** is to serve society as the profession responsible for the appropriate use of medications, devices, and services to achieve optimal therapeutic outcomes. ### Pharmacists - Pharmacists are educated and licensed to dispense drugs and to provide drug information. - Pharmacist expertise covers all aspects of the design, development, delivery, supply, control and use of drugs. - To become a pharmacist you need knowledge in all facets of pharmacy, including: identification, selection, pharmacological action, combination, analysis, and standardization of drugs and medicines, preservation. ### The Role of Pharmacists in the Healthcare System - Proper and safe distribution and use of medications, whether dispensed on prescription of licensed physician, dentist or veterinarian in those dispensed or sold directly to the consumer (over the counter). - Pharmacists are the most accessible member of today's health care team and often the first source of assistance and advice on many common illness and health care matters. ## Pharmaceutical Organizations ### International Pharmaceutical Organizations - **World health organization (WHO)** was created in 1948 by member states of the United Nations (UN) as a specialized agency with a broad mandate for health. - **Mission:** - To improve the people's lives - To reduce the burdens of diseases and poverty - To provide access to responsive health care for all people. - **Food and drug administration (FDA)** is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. - It is responsible for safety regulation of most types of foods, dietary supplements, drugs, vaccines, biological medical products, medical devices, blood products, medical devices, radiation-emitting devices, veterinary and cosmetics. - **International pharmaceutical federation (FIP)** is the global federation of national association of pharmacists & pharmaceutical scientists. - It encompasses **three million pharmacists** and scientists through its 127 member organizations. - **Mission:** - To improve global health by advancing pharmacy practice and science to enable better discovery, development, access to and safe use of appropriate, cost-effective quality medicines world wide. - To represent and serve pharmacy and pharmaceutical science around the globe. ### National Pharmaceutical Organizations - **Egyptian Syndicate of Pharmacists (ESP)** is the organization that serves pharmacists through its branches around Egypt. - It provides services for the pharmacists and their families professionally and socially. - **Pharmaceutical Society of Egypt** is focused on education in pharmacy. - Its main functions include: - Issuing scientific journals. - Holding conferences for pharmacists - Continual education for pharmacists - **Egyptian Society of Hospital Pharmacy** is concerned with all aspects of hospital pharmacy and clinical pharmacists. - **National Pharmacopoeia Committee** is responsible for updating and reviewing the pharmacopoeia to cancel or add new drugs. ## Drug Information Sources - The drug information sources can be categorized based on **originality** and their **proximity** to the source or origin. - Drug information sources can be categorized into **primary, secondary, and tertiary sources**. ### Primary Sources: - **Primary sources** are considered the most trusted sources of information because they provide **original data** and **first-hand accounts** of research and clinical trials. - Examples of primary sources include: - Scientific journals and periodical reporting experimental research results. - Technical reports and dissertations or theses (may be also secondary). - Proceedings of meeting, conferences & symposia. - Patents ### Primary Sources: Advantages - **Ability to read details about the individual studies.** - **Most up-to-date Information available.** - **Keep pharmacists updated to professional news.** - **Allow readers to evaluate methodology and results.** ### Primary Sources: Disadvantages - **Conclusions made in these resources may be misleading as they are based upon a single clinical trial.** - **Time-consuming** (readers must dedicate much time to review the vast amount of available primary literature. ### Secondary Sources: - **Secondary sources** provide summaries, interpretations, and analyses of information found in **primary sources**. - They are a good starting point when researching a drug information question. - Secondary resources serve as **gateways to primary drug information resources**. - Examples of secondary sources: - TextBooks - General Reference Books - Drug Compendia - Review Articles - Other Data, including information found on the Internet and some websites ### Secondary Sources: Advantages - **Easy to use, convenient, and concise**. - **Information reflects views of multiple experts**. - **Scope is broad**. ### Secondary Sources: Disadvantages - **Usually at least 2 years out of date by publication.** - **High dependency on interpretation of authors**. ### Tertiary Sources: - **Tertiary sources** provide condensed summaries, overviews, and interpretations of information found in both **primary** and **secondary sources**. - They are often the **most convenient** and **accessible source** of information for pharmacists who need a quick overview of a topic. - Examples of tertiary sources: - Index - Abstracting - Summarize, filter and interpret the primary literature - Present documented information in condensed, convenient, easy-to-read form - The most common types of reference that the community pharmacists will utilize - They are a good starting point when researching a drug information question. - They are excellent sources for understanding of a new topic - They provide practitioners with general information needed to be familiarize with the topic. ## Types of Drug Compendia - Drug compendia are **reference books** that contain the standards for **drugs**, **devices**, and **other related substances**. - **Official drug compendia** are published by governments or official organizations. - **Non-official drug compendia** are published by private organizations. ### Official Drug Compendia - **Pharmacopoeia** is a book containing a list of medicinal substances used in identification, prescriptions, and formulas for preparations. - It includes descriptions, tests, physical and chemical properties for medicinal substances. - It presents official standards for purity, strength, dosage, and analysis of drugs. - It is issued by governments or international agencies. - Most pharmacopoeias keep up-to-date through regular supplements. - **Formulary** is a list of drugs or a collection of formulas for the compounding of medicinal preparations that are approved to be prescribed at a particular hospital, in health system, under health insurance policy or government. ### Non-Official Drug Compendia - **Merck Index** is an encyclopedia of chemicals, drugs, and biologicals - It includes: - Registry numbers - Synonyms - Physicochemical properties - Therapeutic category, if applicable - Caution and hazard information - **Extra Pharmacopoeia (Martindale)** provides reliable and evaluated information on drugs and medicines used throughout the world. - It is not a true pharmacopoeia. - It includes lists of proprietary products and manufacturers, making it an invaluable reference for identifying foreign drugs.