1. What do pharmacists actually do?
2. What happens if there is no pharmacist?
3. How are pharmacists making an impact in the healthcare sector?
These are some questions in some people's minds, who don't have that much awareness about pharmacists and pharmaceutical technology.
The role of a pharmacist in the medical field is equivalent to doctors and other health staff. Pharmacists are those technologists, who are working on medicines. From drug invention, market research, production, packaging, testing, marketing, and handover to the consumer, every step is maintained by the pharmacists.
There are a lot of career opportunities for pharmacists.
Let's understand the role of a pharmacist in the healthcare field-
Doctors are working on the diagnosis and treatment of any disease in patients after it, they write the prescription for medication. We all know that 99% of diseases are treated with medicines. So without medicines, doctors are unable to treat any patients.
The vital role of a pharmacist starts at the time when the word medicine comes. All the medicines are created, tested, and delivered by pharmacists. So you can easily understand the importance of the role of pharmacists.
Role of a pharmacist:
A. Dispense prescription:
This is one of the responsible jobs of a hospital or a retail pharmacist to handle the prescription and to provide information and advice about the time and dose of the medication to patients. This field of pharmacy is also known as community pharmacy.
B. Production and Testing:
Production or manufacturing is one of the most important responsibilities of pharmacists. Not only production testing for the efficacy and safety parameters is also another important job of a pharmacist. Without the pharmacist, no one can produce and manufacture pharmaceutical products.
C. Marketing of medicines:
Marketing of medicine is quite difficult than other products. Because you must have proper knowledge about the medicine (like the mechanism of action, adverse effects, drug interaction, etc.). A medical representative is a job, where a pharmacist shares his knowledge of a particular medicine with a doctor or a patient, or a pharmacy owner.
D. Clinical Pharmacy:
Those pharmacists, directly interact with doctors, other health professionals, and patients to make sure the prescribed medications for patients provide maximum health benefits. This field of the pharmaceutical sector is known as the clinical pharmacy.
The concept of the clinical pharmacist is quite uncommon than community pharmacists in India. But in western countries, clinical pharmacists play a very important role.
The basic role of a clinical pharmacist is to provide information and advice about the side effects, drug interactions, dosage, and storage conditions to physicians, other healthcare workers, and patients. They also suggest the proper medication to physicians and patients to get the best therapeutic effects.
You can also read: Difference Between Community Pharmacists and Clinical Pharmacists
E. There is a huge science behind any medicine:
1. Clinical Research is the investigational systemic study to find out new facts and ways to treat the patient properly with less adverse effects of any medication.
To improve the safety and effectiveness of medicine and other health care products.
This study involves
- A clinical trial through 5 phases
- Drug development
2. Pharmacokinetics Study Pharmacokinetics is the study to understand, how the body act on a drug.
This study involves
- Absorption of the drug
- Distribution of the drug
- Metabolism of the drug
- Excretion of the drug.
3. Pharmacodynamic Study is the study to understand the drug's activity in the body. Basically the mechanism of action of the drug. The pharmacodynamic study involves
- Stimulation
- Inhibition/Depression
- Replacement
- Irritation
- Cytotoxic
4. Drug Delivery System is the method or process of administration of a drug or other pharmaceutical compound to get the therapeutic effect in the body. To increase the treatment efficiency, reduce the side effects, and increase the specific localization.
Pharmacists are researching to invent a more target-specific drug delivery system.
Not only target-specific drug delivery systems but pharmacists also working to improve the bioavailability of the dosage form.
