Shout out to all the Dux Youth Development and Student Support pharmacy students because today is National Pharmacist Day.
About Pharmacists
Ignore quacks who suggest you treat your migraine with a necklace made of herring. When you are ill, you need medicine!
“A Pharmacist must be knowledgeable of the chemistry of all medicines. They can inform you of a drugs' side effects, and all aspects of prescription medicine. Very importantly, they understand and recognize the interaction of drugs together...many people take numerous drugs.”
There are certain standards that every retail pharmacist must meet. According to the SAPC (2010), this includes:
- Prioritising the welfare of the patient and the public in general
- Providing appropriate information and advice to patients
- Ensuring the correct use of medicine, and monitoring their effects
- Ensuring the safety, quality and efficacy of medicine
- Maintaining relationships of mutual trust with patients
- Adopting appropriate professional discretion
- Keeping essential medical and pharmaceutical information about each patient
- Having independent, comprehensive, objective and current information about therapies and medicines
- Ensuring that treatment and patient support is always professionally rather than commercially focused
Study Pharmacy
As a subdiscipline of Medicine, Pharmacy is the science that focuses on the techniques of preparing and dispensing drugs. Your degree, be it Bachelor’s or Master’s, will entail spending time in laboratories, researching and learning about the chemistry involved in the development of medication. Some of the courses covered by this degree consist of:
- Pharmaceutics
- Medicinal Chemistry
- Pharmacognosy
- Pharmacy Practice
Considering everybody needs pharmacists at some point in their life, the fields you can find yourself in are vast and very diverse. Some of these are:
- Community, Clinical, Veterinary, Military or Specialty Pharmacy
- Pharmacy Informatics
- Pharmacology
- Science Writing
- Toxicology
- International Institutions with Health Care Professionals
National Pharmacist Day
January 12th every year is National Pharmacist Day to honour their important role in medical care. If you are in a pharmacy today, make sure to wish your pharmacist a good day.
The Dux Edge
If you are interested in practical learning experiences that set you up for success, become a Dux today – it will be your launchpad to the extraordinary.
Sources: www.daysoftheyear.com, www.pharmcouncil.co.za
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