Pharmacy as a career

Pharmacy as a career

Pharmacy is a healthcare profession to ensures the safe and effective use of medications. A career in pharmacy can be divided into the following three categories

1. Career in Pharmaceutical Industries

2. Career in Pharmacy Practice

3. Career in other settings related to pharmacy

• Career in Pharmaceutical Industries: Pharmacists in pharmaceutical industries are not in direct contact with patients or other health care professionals. But they are largely contributing to the healthcare sector.

       India is considered as “Pharmacy of the World”. Acharya P. C. Roy is the architect of the pharmaceutical industry in India. He founded Bengal Chemicals and                       Pharmaceuticals Work in Calcutta in 1901. In pharmaceutical Industries, Pharmacists work in the following sections.

1. Manufacturing chemist in the production department.

2. Analytical chemist in the quality assurance and quality control department

3. Chemist in the packaging section of the pharmaceutical industry

4. Drug regulatory officer and drug inspector appointed by the central and state government.

5. Government analysts in central drug laboratory, state drug laboratories, and other drug laboratories established by the central and state governments.

6. Sales and marketing officer appointed by the pharmaceutical industries.

• Career in Pharmacy Practice: Pharmacists are vital links among medical practitioners, nurses, and patients. Pharmacists’ ultimate goal is patient welfare by providing pharmaceutical services. Compounding and dispensing were the basic functions of the pharmacists. However, the availability of readymade medicines has shifted the basic function of pharmacists from compounding to management of inventories and their dispensing. Their services are “patient-focused”. They ensure safe and effective medicine dispensing by providing relevant information to patients. They are not only medicine dispensers but “Medicine Therapy Managers.

  The World Health Organization (WHO) has introduced 7-star pharmacists. International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) has added one more star to introduce 8-star pharmacists. These are following

  1. Caregiver: Serving along with other healthcare professionals in the healthcare system

  2. Communicator: Link between patient and medical practitioner

  3. Leader: Performs as a leader for the overall welfare of the patient and community

  4. Teacher: Educates next-generation pharmacists

  5. Learner: Develops skill and update knowledge

  6. Manager: Manages men, materials and machines,

  7. Researcher: Evidence-based advice for rational use of medicines and providing unbiased health information

  8. Decision maker: Ability to evaluate and synthesize data for cost-effective use of medicines

Pharmacy practice in India is governed by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and the Drugs and Cosmetics Rule 1945. Pharmacy practice covers the following areas in India.

1. Community Pharmacy (Retail Pharmacy or medical store or chemist and druggist): These pharmacies serve the nation by providing quick services and medicines to the public even at odd hours. Nowadays organized pharmacy chains have entered the market. Such as Apollo Pharmacy. There is a shortage of willing pharmacists to work in community pharmacies. This is the big challenge to provide suitable health care services to the diseased population. In community pharmacy Pharmacists have the following opportunities.

   • Employed as a pharmacist or to start own pharmacy

   • Manage inventory and store medicines

   • Handle prescriptions, check correctness and safety

   • Dispense medicines

   • Patient counseling

   • Maintenance of patient medication record

   • Health promotion by disease prevention advice and nutrition advice

   • Screening tests such as BP, blood sugar, temperature, height, weight, etc

   • Medicine recommendation for simple ailments

2. Hospital Pharmacy: The practice of pharmacy inside hospital premises close to patients, medical practitioners, nurses, and other healthcare professionals is hospital pharmacy. In a hospital pharmacy, the Hospital pharmacist interacts with all healthcare professionals and patients. Most of the private and public hospitals have pharmacies run by pharmacists. Pharmacists provide the following services in the hospital pharmacy.

   • Drug procurement

   • Inventory management in hospital pharmacy

   • Indoor and outdoor dispensing

   • Patient counseling

   • Drug Information Centre

   • Sterile and non-sterile medicines manufacturing and repacking

   • Central sterilization

   • Pharmacovigilance

   • Quality assurance and quality control of medicines.

   • Participating in the National Health Program

   • Nuclear pharmacy

3. Clinical Pharmacy: Clinical services in the hospitals have geared up. Pharmacists work with medical practitioners and participate in the ward rounds. Pharmacists contribute to monitoring, treatment chart review, suggestion therapy, maintaining the medication history of the patients, side effects, adverse drug reactions, providing drugs and poison information by maintaining a drug information center (DIC), etc. Pharm D degree holders and M. Pharm (Clinical pharmacy) are available to perform clinical pharmacy services in hospitals. Pharmacists in clinical pharmacy perform the following functions

   • Detection, prevention, and monitoring of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADR)

   • Reducing drug interactions and drug-related problems

   • Recording patient medication history

   • Participate in hospital ward rounds along with other healthcare professionals

   • Deciding and adjusting medication dose

   • Providing drug information to patients and healthcare professionals.

Other settings

1. Academics: Pharmacists work as teaching faculties in pharmacy institutions to teach students. They also participate in continuing gradation and research work in collaboration with pharmaceutical industries and pharmacy practice setups. Postgraduates in pharmacy are eligible to join the teaching profession for B. Pharm courses. Graduates in pharmacy with three years of experience are eligible to teach diploma pharmacy students as lecturers. A Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences is a desirable qualification for teaching in pharmacy institutions.

2. Regulatory (Government): the Central Drug Standard and Drug Control Organization (CDSCO) is the central body in India for drug regulation purposes. The central government and each state have also a drug control department headed by the drug controller. There are also some other positions in the drug control offices such as drug inspector, and assistant drug controller. They regulate the manufacturing and dispensing of the drugs in their respective jurisdiction.

3. Clinical Research: A clinical research organization exists in India as a department of pharmaceutical companies or as an independent research organization. Most of the clinical research across the world is sponsored by the pharmaceutical industries. However, these clinical researches are strictly regulated by Government guidelines. Clinical research organizations in India have highly qualified and skilled staff. Most of them are clinicians, pharmacologists, Post-doctorate, pharmacists, etc. They provide the following services under clinical research

   • Clinical studies from phase1 to phase 4

   • Protocol development

   • A case report from reviews

   • Report writing

   • Monitoring

   • Bioanalytical services

   • Quality assurance and data management

   • Bioavailability studies

   • Data management for global trials.

     In some countries specialized pharmacists also exist such as

     • Nuclear Pharmacist

     • Pediatric Pharmacist

     • Oncology Pharmacist

     • Geriatric Pharmacist

     • Veterinary Pharmacist

     • Nutritional support Pharmacist

     • Psychiatric Pharmacist

     • Hypertension Pharmacist

     • Diabetic Pharmacist

     • Drug Information Pharmacist

       Author: Alok Bains