Pharmacists are health care professionals who use their expertise in medicine to help people understand what are the medications they are taking, how they will help, and how they will react. Pharmacists also participate in disease-state management, where they optimize and monitor the drug therapy or interpret medical laboratory results – in collaboration with physicians and/or other health profess
ionals. Pharmacists have many areas of expertise and are a critical source of medical knowledge in clinics, hospitals, medical laboratories and community pharmacies throughout the world. History
In ancient Japan, the men who fulfilled roles similar to pharmacists were respected. The place of pharmacists in society was settled in the Taihō Code (701) and re-stated in the Yōrō Code (718). Ranked positions in the pre-Heian Imperial court were established; and this organizational structure remained largely intact until the Meiji Restoration (1868). In this highly stable hierarchy, the pharmacists—and even pharmacist assistants—were assigned status superior to all others in health-related fields such as physicians and acupuncturists. In the Imperial household, the pharmacist was even ranked above the two personal physicians of the Emperor. Nature of the work
Historically, the fundamental role of pharmacists as a healthcare practitioner is to distribute drugs that have been prescribed by a prescriber to patients. In more modern times, pharmacists advise patients and health care providers on the selection, dosages, interactions, and side effects of medications, and act as a learned intermediary between a prescriber and a patient. Pharmacists monitor the health and progress of patients to ensure the safe and effective use of medication. Pharmacists may practice compounding; however, most medicines are produced by pharmaceutical companies in a standard dosage and drug delivery form. In many jurisdictions, pharmacists have prescriptive authority to either independently prescribe under their own authority or in collaboration with a primary care physician through an agreed upon protocol. Source
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