Background to pharmacy
What is pharmacy?
Pharmacy comes from a word that means drug. Pharmacy is a process that occurs between health sciences and chemical sciences and a profession that ensures the safe use of medication. Pharmacists’ traditional role is to compound and dispense medication on the order of physicians. Pharmacies have recently offered other services linked to patient care along with clinical practice, medication review and drug information. The symbol that is related to pharmacy is the mortar and pestle.
Areas of pharmacy
Pharmacy is generally seen to be divided into three main areas:
- Pharmaceutics
- Pharmaceutical chemistry
- Pharmacy practice
However pharmacology is sometimes considered the fourth, as pharmacology is linked to the study of pharmacy but is not specifically for pharmacy.
Types of pharmacy practice
There are different types of special aspects of pharmacy practice based on the place of practice that include:
- community
- hospital
- consultant
- locum
- drug information
- regulatory affairs
- industry
- academia
Other specialist areas are based in clinical roles, which include:
- nuclear
- oncology
- cardio-vascular
- infectious disease
- diabetes
- nutrition
- geriatric
- psychiatric pharmacy
What our
students say
The University's 'mock pharmacy' gives us the opportunity to put what we have learnt into practice in a safe environment.