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The Pharmacists’ Role in Contemporary Health Care

Pharmacists have become increasingly more important in contemporary healthcare.  Many people traditionally think of the pharmacist as just a person behind the counter dispensing pills. Today, pharmacists have a greater variety of choices for careers because their role in society has drastically changed.

The first appearance of pharmacists occurred in Europe and their function in the community did not change much early on. Compounding and dispensing medicine in pharmacies was their main duty and they hardly talked to patients and doctors. It was not until 1960s that the role of pharmacists made a huge shift.  In 1969, the Pharmacy Practice Act began.  Pharmacists were encouraged to talk to their patients and spend more time engaged in community service.  In 1975, the concept of pharmaceutical care was introduced to the health care field for the first time and was re-defined in 1990 by Hepler & Strand.  By their definition, pharmaceutical care is “the responsible provision of drug therapy for the purpose of achieving definite outcomes that improve a patient’s qualify of life”. This belief has become the moral code of pharmacists, which changed their overall image in the healthcare profession.  Pharmacists have become more involved in patient relations and have begun to offer advice to medical doctors, patients and the government. They have also become an essential part of professional healthcare teams, working closely together with other health care professionals such as nurses and medical doctors. Ever since the introduction of pharmaceutical care, pharmacists have become more patient-oriented.

Here, we can see a lot of changes that occurred to the pharmacy profession initially. So why has the role of the pharmacist changed so much during the past 40 years?   One of the main reasons is that there are numbers of new drugs on the market today and that number continues to grow each year. Another fact is that patients are paying more for their prescriptions and they demand better customer service as well. Since pharmacists are experts on the drugs, they are capable of answering all the questions patients may have for a particular drug and helping them understand the usage and risks of a drug. Pharmacists can also communicate with doctors and offer better suggestions if they feel a prescription is not appropriate for the patient.   This can be a great help to both doctors and patients and reduce the number of mistakes greatly by having two experts reviewing the patient’s circumstances.   Some pharmacists work in long-term care consulting teams that specialize in elderly care.  Since the population of the elderly is growing rapidly and their medication has to be monitored constantly, these teams are very helpful in improving the patients’ quality of lives.

The increasing development of the drug manufacturing industry creates a greater demand for pharmacists. With huge advance in medical technology and the help of computer programs, drug manufacturers now have many new ways to develop medicines more efficiently. This opens up a lot of advanced research topics and will require a lot of intelligent pharmacists to turn chemical substances into lifesavers. On one hand, drug companies need pharmacists; on the other hand, the government needs them to test, review and evaluate drugs. Every year, there are loads of new drugs being introduced to the market. Many of them may have side effects that can cause great harm to patients if not used properly.  Many pharmacists are working as drug information experts who do testing and review for these drugs. They can then make the information available to health care professionals and the general public and help them use drugs effectly and safely. Their expertise helps the government and lawmakers make better decisions on health problems.  For example, the recall of Vioxx avoids the potential harm to the customers who have cardiovascular problems. Behind each drug recall, we shall see the efforts of a lot of pharmacists and health care officials.  

            Finally, people with pharmacy education background can have other non-traditional jobs. One example is that they can fit into non-researching positions in the pharmaceutical industry such as sales and marketing, law and computer application developer.  These jobs require a combination of health science background and various degrees.  The background of pharmacy education gives a person a different insight of the pharmaceutical industry and makes him or her more professional.  The same situation can also be found in managed care pharmacy, which is a combination of pharmacy education background with the art of management. Pharmacists working as managed care professionals help health care facilities work more effectively and efficiently. Many patients benefit from the improvement of health care facilities.

            Today, Pharmacists are changing the stereotype of dispensing and compounding drugs. They may work in various positions, but their fundamental goals are the same: helping patients improve their health and also the quality of their lives.

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好像对Firefox支持不好…

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