Difference Between Community Pharmacists and Clinical Pharmacists- imdip

Pharmacists play one of the most essential roles in the healthcare sector from manufacturing to dispensing of medicines. In India, terms like community pharmacists and clinical pharmacists are not very common. Most people know that pharmacists are working on dispensing, manufacturing, and marketing medicines. After reading this article, you will understand some other roles of pharmacists in healthcare industries.

But there is a little confusion in people that-

What is the difference between Community pharmacists and Clinical pharmacists?

In this article, you can clearly understand the significant difference between them.

Community Pharmacists:

Community pharmacists are those pharmacists who directly interact with the public and patients. He dispenses prescribed medicines and other healthcare products. In some cases, he can provide OTC(Over-the-counter) medicines without a prescription. So that's the basic role of community pharmacists.

For example, pharmacists in retail pharmacy stores, collect prescriptions and dispense medicines.

Clinical Pharmacists:

Clinical pharmacists are those pharmacists who directly interact with doctors, other health professionals, and patients to make sure the prescribed medications for patients provide maximum health benefits.

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: Real work of a pharmacist