Dr. B. Suresh is President of Indian Pharmaceutical Congress Association (IPCA), which organizes the IPC. He is also principal, JSS college of Pharmacy and the president, Pharmacy council Of India (PCI)
The Pharmaceutical Sciences and Practice have made tremendous progress during the last two decades. Several life savings drugs have been discovered during this period and practically some of the diseases have been totally eradicated from the face of this planet. Pharmacist from the dispenser of medicines has emerged as a knowledge worker who not only dispenses medicines but also is the provider of information on medicines to the patients and other healthcare professionals. In some countries, pharmacy practice had stunted growth as a result of misplaced belief that the profession is same as vocation. This belief has kept pharmacy academics in these countries completely fixed on industrial pharmacy .On the other side, observing that the pharmacy profession is based on providing for the needs of the society and since the education affects the knowledge gained, skills learnt and attitudes taken, a dynamic approach to phar-macy education is seen. Hence pharmacy practice has expanded from dispensing in retail setting to providing pharmaceutical care with empathy to patients. As the profession of pharmacy is entering the period where the emphasis is on patient care rather than dispensing, the pharmacy education is emulating many of the features of medical education. World's work force is becoming increasingly mobile geographically across national, regional and international borders due to economic globalization. Currently a strong move throughout the developed countries is towards having records, internationally recognized higher education and quality assurance processes
Pharmacist WHO?
The pharmacist has lost his professional standing primarily because the patient cannot visualize him as a tradesman and a professional simultaneously. Pharmacy is maturing as a clinical profession and presently is well positioned to transform itself from a product-oriented to a patient-oriented profession.
At the root of this change is a movement to revisit the true focus of the profession-namely, the patient. The profession as a whole now must dedicate itself to the philosophy of practice that clearly identifies the patient as its primary beneficiary. Pharmacists are embracing changing professional roles. However, several factors impair the adoption of new roles-
*including lack of consensus regarding the profession's goals
*resistance to broadening the pharmacist's responsibilities beyond dispensing functions
*lack of professional competence and/or self-confidence
*false impression that managed care will decrease pharmacist demand
*dissension surrounding adoption of the doctor of pharmacy asthe sole professional degree,
*work environments that provide little or no opportunity for patient-centered practitioners'
*lack of reimbursement for pharmacists' clinical services, and
*underdevelopment of practitioners' interpersonal skills.
Factors that appear likely to promote changing professional roles include opportunities
*to positively impact patients' drug therapy outcomes through disease state management,
*expanded use of technology and technicians in the dispensing process,
*Increased demand for drug information among health professionals and consumers
*new opportunities for creating tailored drug therapy as the field of
*Pharmacogenomics is better understood, and
*expanded practice roles in community, ambulatory, long-term care, and home care settings.
Regardless of the issues confronting future practitioners, it is clear that we will be called upon to provide evidence that justifies these new professional roles.
*Schools and colleges of pharmacy will have to focus on optimizing the integration of general and professional education to better prepare patient-centered pharmacists.
*All pharmacists must become agents of change.
*Future demand for pharmacists remains an unresolved issue for the profession