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Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the
chemical sciences, and it is charged with ensuring the safe use of medication.
The scope of pharmacy practice includes more traditional roles such as
compounding and dispensing medications on the orders of physicians, and it also
includes more modern services related to patient care, including clinical
services, reviewing medications for safety and efficacy, and providing drug
information. Pharmacists, therefore, are experts on drug therapy and are the
primary health professionals who optimize medication use to provide patients
with positive health outcomes. Types of pharmacy practice settings, Community
pharmacy, Hospital pharmacy, Nuclear pharmacy, Compounding pharmacy, Consultant
pharmacy, Internet pharmacy,
Pharmacology is sometimes considered a fourth discipline of pharmacy. Although
pharmacology is essential to the study of pharmacy, it is not specific to
pharmacy. Therefore it is usually considered to be a field of the broader
sciences. Pharmacists are highly-trained and skilled healthcare professionals
who perform various roles to ensure optimal health outcomes for their patients.
Many pharmacists are also small-business owners, owning the pharmacy in which
they practice. Pharmacists are represented internationally by the International
Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). They are represented at the national level by
professional organizations such as the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great
Britain (RPSGB), the Pharmacy Guild of Australia (PGA), and the American
Pharmacists Association (APhA).A pharmacy (commonly the chemist in Australia,
New Zealand and the UK; or drugstore in North America; or Apothecary,
historically) is the place where most pharmacists practice the profession of
pharmacy. It is the community pharmacy where the dichotomy of the profession
exists—health professionals who are also retailers.Nuclear pharmacy focuses on
preparing radioactive materials for diagnostic tests and for treating certain
diseases. Nuclear pharmacists undergo additional training specific to handling
radioactive materials, and unlike in community and hospital pharmacies, nuclear
pharmacists typically do not interact directly with patients.The two symbols
most commonly associated with pharmacy are the mortar and pestle and the ℞ (recipere)
character, which is often written as "rx" in typed text. Pharmacy organizations
often use other symbols, such as the Bowl of Hygieia, conical measures, and
caduceuses in their logos. Other symbols are common in different countries: the
green Greek cross in France and the United Kingdom, the increasingly-rare Gaper
in The Netherlands, and a red stylized letter A in Germany and Austria (from Apotheke, the German word for pharmacy, from the same Greek root as the English
word 'apothecary').In the coming decades, pharmacists are expected to become
more integral within the health care system. Rather than simply dispensing
medication, pharmacists expect to be paid for their cognitive skills.This
paradigm shift has already commenced in some countries; for instance,
pharmacists in Australia receive remuneration from the Australian Government for
conducting comprehensive Home Medicines Reviews. In the United Kingdom,
pharmacists (and nurses) who undertake additional training are obtaining
prescribing rights. In the United States, consultant pharmacists, who
traditionally operated primarily in nursing homes are now expanding into direct
consultation with patients, under the banner of "senior care pharmacy. Learn
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