what do pharmacist do anyway? Every time I go to the pharmacy, I see a lineup of people behind the counter doing something I’m sure they’re counting up pills, but did they do anything else?
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Hi! Canadian clinical pharmacist here.
Ultimately it boils down to the pharmacist (along with other healthcare providers) must ensure the 5 “rights’ of medication.
These are:
The right medication
At the right time
At the right dose
Via the right route (way to take it)
To the right person.
This will include the making sure the medication must be correctly indicated (why the drug is being taken), will be effective, will be safe, and that it is taken correctly.
In my province and a couple more provinces we have extended privileges granted including prescribing medications and changing prescriptions in order to not kill you or to make sure it is effective.
I’ll just mention this reason pharmacists exist as well. There is an ultimate conflict of interest when doctors also sell you the medication you need. Meaning that the doctor will benefit more if he/she prescribed you more and more medication regardless of side effects and other issues. Being a separate profession, this risk is mitigated.
It is all a team effort, the pharmacist is a redundancy to making sure you get the best care you should. Often the last chance to catch mistakes before it gets to you, the end user.
( On mobile, hopefully formatting is ok)
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