Doctor of Pharmacy programs focus on providing drug therapy that improves patients' quality of life. It involves interaction with patients and health care providers.

The field is an integration of pharmaceutical and clinical sciences.

Students will learn to initiate or modify drug therapy and disease state screenings, and to monitor and adjust anticoagulation therapy and antibiotic therapy.

They will study the prevention of adverse drug experiences, drug interaction, drug-food interaction, errors in prescription and patient noncompliance.

Graduates can become clinical pharmacists, staff pharmacists, regional pharmacy directors, pharmacy supervisors and more.

The system differs from country to country it can be 4 years up to 6 years, here in Pakistan it is a professional bachelor degree consisting of 5 years i.e. 10 semesters.

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Pharmacist

Sister Nadifa, That's a good question but let me explain what D-pharma really is:

D-Pharmacist is not the old classic pharmacist...

The core goal of a Pharm.D. program is to teach students the pharmacology of the drugs and which drugs are used for what conditions, Pharm.D. programs put a lot of emphasis on teaching undergraduates how to deal with patients. Roughly half of the 5-year Pharm.D. program focuses on the clinical aspects of the job, and communication skills are a major part of that.

Students have on average one full year of multiweek internships at local pharmacies, where they apprentice with working pharmacists. It's a chance for them to put into practice what they have learned about how to deal with patients and drugs. "Students learn how to translate very complex medical jargon into what a patient can understand and actually integrate within their lifestyle. Patient counseling is the centerpiece of their education.

The focus on communication--and empathy for patients--starts early in the Pharm.D. curriculum. During the first year of pharmacy school, students start learning how to counsel patients on managing illnesses (i.e., chronic respiratory conditions) and how to use medical devices (such as inhalers). "Students practice on themselves how to use these devices and see what a patient actually has to go through.


Throughout your studies, you learn how to translate and impart the necessary information so when you are in a working pharmacy situation, you not only know how to fill a prescription but can also counsel the patient on how to properly use medical devices.

Pharmacists are the main people that deal with patients, so it's really difficult to go through all that schooling and acquire all that knowledge and not be able to communicate and share it.

I think we've come a long way from the old days when we were just a guy in a lab coat in the back giving out drugs.

Hope I answered your questions

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Pharmacist

Thank you Pharmacist for answerin in that way...u some how made me stick to my field...thanx i hope i become a good pharmacist