Pharmacy,  Pharmacies, and Pharmacists – A Brief Overview

Known as the health profession that bridges the gap between chemical science and health science the pharmacy has the responsibility of packaging and vending prescribed medications.  It is also responsible for ensuring that these medications are consumed or used in an effective and safe manner.  Pharmacy comes from the Greek word φάρμακον pharmakos meaning “drug”, and the history of pharmacies and pharmaceuticals dates back to Bagdad in 754 AD when Muslim pharmacists opened the first known drug stores.

The current scope of pharmacies is of a more traditional role wherein compounding and dispensing medications is the focal point of the operation.  Additionally, it also includes modern services that relate to the care of the patient, such as the following:

• clinical services
• providing information for the consumer on their prescribed medications
• reviewing medications from an efficacy and safety standpoint

In so many words, they are the drug therapy experts, as well as the primary health industry pros that are responsible for optimizing the use of medications so as to provide the patient with a positive outcome.  The term pharmacy is also used to denote any establishment that is used for the above purposes.

Founded in 1821, the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science and was the first college of its kind.  Thirty years later, in 1851 the American Pharmaceutical Association was born.