• Different types and areas of pharmacy profession across the globe

Clinical Pharmacy

The pharmacists who are involved with direct patient care services dealing with use of medication, promoting health and disease prevention are called as clinical pharmacists. The practice of clinical pharmacy began with clinics and hospitals. For a better drug therapy and improved patient care, clinical pharmacists should have coordination with physicians and nurses in various medical and surgical areas. Clinical pharmacists are now an integral part of the interdisciplinary approach to patient care.

Hospital Pharmacy

The pharmacies located within the hospital premises, are hospital pharmacies. The pharmacists in hospital pharmacies deal with clinical management issues when compared to community pharmacies. The hospital pharmacists have a broad horizon where they deal with complex factors related to medications such as specific indications, effectiveness of treatment regimens, safety of medications and patient compliance issues.

Hospital pharmacies usually stock a larger range of dosage forms, including more specialized medications, than would be feasible in the community pharmacy setting. Most hospital medications are unit-dose or a single dose of medicine. There are also trained pharmacy technicians who compound non-sterile and sterile products for patients including total parenteral nutrition (TPN). This is a complex process that requires adequate training of personnel, quality assurance of products and adequate facilities. Several hospital pharmacies also outsource high-risk preparations and some other compounding functions to specialized manufacturing companies.

Community Pharmacy

Community pharmacies usually consist of a retail store with a dispensary where medications are stored and dispensed. The dispensary is subject to pharmacy legislation with requirements for storage conditions, compulsory texts, equipment, etc., as specified in legislation. All pharmacies, practicing community pharmacy should have qualified and trained pharmacists. A community pharmacist should spend more time in communicating with patients who have drug-related issues.

Consultant Pharmacy

Consultant pharmacy practice focuses more on medication regimen review than on the actual dispensing of drugs. The consultant pharmacists work in nursing homes and some medical and paramedical institutions. They are independent working professionals and as per the recent trends, the consultant pharmacists work directly with patients.

Compounding Pharmacy

Compounding pharmacy deals with preparing and converting the drugs in to a suitable dosage form which is more acceptable to the patients. If the patients come across any kind of inconvenience with the drug form, then those drug forms can be modified to make it more convenient for the patients. The pharmacists in compounding pharmacies should have more theoretical knowledge and practical skills in modifying drug dosage form.

Internet Pharmacy

Internet pharmacies or online pharmacies are practiced worldwide. These pharmacies serve the patients online. Patients or customers find this method more convenient than traveling all along to a medical store. Moreover, privacy is maintained in this method, whereas in a medical store, the presence of other customers may embarrass the patient while revealing the name of the medications.

Most internet pharmacies sell prescription drugs and require a valid prescription by the medical practitioner. However, some patients prefer taking medications from internet pharmacy without a valid prescription. This practice has been strongly criticized as potentially dangerous with the possibility of patients developing a self-medication habit.

Nuclear Pharmacy

Nuclear pharmacy deals with the use of radioactive substances for diagnostic tests and for treatment of certain diseases. The pharmacists who deal with nuclear pharmacy should undergo specialized training in handling the radioactive substances.

Veterinary Pharmacy

Veterinary pharmacies are for keeping a stock of medicines used for animal use. They fall into the categories of retail pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, etc. Veterinary pharmacies and products comply with regulations on veterinary medicines and are not for human use.