DrugXpert Blog

Pharmaceutical care definition by Hepler and Strand in the 1990 was adopted worldwide. It became popular and was introduced into the first degree pharmacy curriculum. It heralded the beginning of a new era for the profession in which pharmacists are fully involved in the health care of the patient. With the rapid adoption and expansion of pharmaceutical care, so many questions arise. The most important of which is of what benefits is pharmaceutical care to the pharmacist? As the definition of pharmaceutical care shows that it is patient oriented, what is the importance to the patient? In this post, we shall see how both benefit from the adoption of pharmaceutical care. But before then, let us take a closer look at what pharmaceutical care is all about and what it came to solve. Pharmaceutical care Read Also :  A Day In The Life Of A Hospital Pharmacist In Nigeria What Is Pharmaceutical Care Pharmaceutical care is the responsible provision of drug therapy for the purpose of achievin...

Pharmacy profession have evolve over the years to fit social needs. From apothecary model, compounding model, distribution model, clinical pharmacy model and now pharmaceutical care (PC) model with different phylosophy and practice. Pharmaceutical care Definition Of Pharmaceutical Care (PC) Pharmaceutical care as defined by Hepler and Linda Strand is the responsible provision of drug therapy for the purpose of achieving definite outcomes that improve a patient's quality of life. This came from their article ‘Opportunities and responsibilities in pharmaceutical care’ from 1990 and became the ignition and spark pharmaceutical care need to take a stand. Ever since then, different definitions have been use such as the direct, responsible provision of medication-related care for the purpose of achieving definite outcomes that improve a patient's quality of life. The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) 1998 statement describes pharmaceutical care as the responsible provisio...

In this blog, I have mentioned pharmacy and pharmacist a whole lot of time. They mean a lot to me. That is why I decided to define what each term means. Pharmacist induction into the profession There are so many occasions we interchange the words pharmacy and pharmacist. They don't mean the same thing. Difference Between Pharmacy And Pharmacist Pharmacy When we talk about pharmacy, we talk about a profession. It covers education, practice and the way of life of a group of people. The scope of pharmacy practice includes more traditional roles such as compounding and dispensing of medications, and it also includes more modern services related to health care, including clinical services, reviewing medications for safety and efficacy, and providing drug information. Pharmacist Pharmacists are healthcare professionals trained in the science of pharmacy. They are capable of dispensing medicinal drugs for various medical needs as well as providing the much needed pharmaceutical care to pa...

Pharmacy is the science or practice of the preparation and dispensing of medicinal drugs. A pharmacist is a person who was formally trained in the act of pharmacy. Such a person must be registered with the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN). Read Also:   Procedure for registration as a pharmacist in Nigeria A registered pharmacist is given a license. The license gives the pharmacist the power to practice the profession. That license covers a period of a year. It expires on the 31st of December of that year. It is kind of compulsory for a pharmacist who wants to go for service to register with PCN for the first time. That is because the registration makes it possible to get a cover letter or license needed for the national youth service corps (NYSC) programme. But subsequent years depend on if the pharmacist wants to practice or not. Renewal of Pharmacist registration A pharmacist who wants to be a superintendent and register a premises must register with PCN before registering th...

Here is how my journey into medical writing and in extension blogging started. This may be of help to other pharmacists who may have interest in medical writing. Let me introduce myself. I am a community pharmacist by trade. However, I started medical writing when I was in pharmacy school. But before I started medical writing, I wrote different categories of articles for blogs. The wide acceptance prompted me to focus on medical writing. Read Also:  Medical writing job for Pharmacist I decided to create a blog with focus on pharmacy school, drugs and health. The reason I want to focus on blogging and medical writing is because I want an easy life where I can in most cases work from home and be flexible. So many work from home jobs require different levels of expertise, experience and pay is fixed or specific. However, I realised skills needed in medical writing are not difficult and the pay can grow over the years into millions of dollars if done right. Medical writing I was still ...

Medical writing Medical writing is not very common among pharmacists in Nigeria. As a registered pharmacist, you can make money from the comfort of your home through writing for blogs, newspapers and magazines. Many pharmacists have shown interest in writing for me. Some have written for me. However, my blog is not yet able to afford the value of the article. What Is Medical Writing Medical writing involves writing articles in health and related topics for blogs, newspapers and magazines. In return, you get paid. Payment depends on the recipient, the length of article and the topic. There are international blogs, newspapers and magazines which pay in foreign currency and locals that pay in naira. In some cases, the pay is to help project your image to their large audience by adding a link from their page to your social media and bio. Read Also:   Career in Pharmacy The need for medical write-up was increased during the 2020 pandemic when most people worked from home. The need for a...

Pharmacy Vs chemistry There is confusion as to what is the difference between pharmacy and chemistry. This confusion is extended to who a pharmacist is or chemist. This confusion is worldwide with different definitions. Well, this post will explain what both are and where the confusion is coming from. Pharmacy Pharmacy is a profession that deals with the science of preparing and dispensing drugs including patient counseling. It is the study of chemistry and pharmaceutics among other specialties topics. Chemistry Chemistry is the branch of physical science that studies the properties and building (synthesis) of molecules. Read Also:  Difference between a pharmacologist and pharmacist Pharmacist A pharmacist is also called a chemist in the United Kingdom (UK) or a druggist in the United States of America (USA). They are health care professionals who specialise in manufacture and safe use of medicine as they deal with the composition, effect, mechanism of action, proper and effective ...

Pharmacist and Money There are many fields in pharmacy. They are all lucrative. But just like all fingers are not equal, some of the fields are more lucrative than others. Many young pharmacists wish to carve a career path for themselves in the most lucrative field. They always ask what field of pharmacy makes the most money. Fields In Pharmacy To know the most lucrative field in pharmacy, we need to know which field exists in pharmacy in Nigeria. Below is the list. Read Also :  Alternative career for Pharmacist 1. Community pharmacy 2. Hospital pharmacy 3. Industrial/clinical trials 4. Education/research 5. Regulatory 6. Government and NGO 7. Consultant pharmacist Pharmacist Employee As an employee in any of the fields, the salary depends on the company. Most private firms don't pay as much as the government. And most state governments, especially those in the south, pay higher than the federal government. As an employee in an establishment, working as a pharmacist in the industry...

What will you do if a client walks into your community pharmacy demanding for a product you don't have at the moment? Promise to stock it in your next purchase? Say you don't sell that product because of some reasons? Source for it yourself around for the client? Or let the client walk away? This is a crucial decision every community pharmacy contend with almost all the time. The wrong approach can harm the business in the long run. Client and pharmacist Community pharmacy businesses survive from patronage from clients. Getting new clients is the desire of every community pharmacist and retaining them is the goal. As long as the community pharmacy shop is in a good location, having new clients is easy. But retaining them requires so many things. Read Also :  How to prevent out of stock in community pharmacy Both pharmacists and support staff always get training on how to make clients happy. Management always makes sure products are available. But there are times a client may de...

Pharmacist Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians work closely together. They both focus on delivery of medication and advice to patients on medication use. They are right and left hand to each other. They have their individual roles but work together. Read Also : Everything about pharmscuetical technologist in Nigeria In some countries, pharmacy technicians are also called pharmaceutical technologists. Their job description looks the same. However, there seems to be variation in their education qualification. Difference Between Pharmacist, Pharmacy Technician And Pharmaceutical Technologist Pharmacists spend more years in school (5-6 years). They acquire their degree in the university. They are either awarded a bachelor of pharmacy (B Pharm) or doctor of pharmacy (Pharm D) degree. Pharmacy technicians in Nigeria spend about three years in school to get their certificate. They go to school or college of health to get an ordinary national diploma (OND). Their curriculum covers just the ba...

Pharmacists are part of essential staff working at various sectors fighting covid-19. Those in the industry are working with the virus searching for a drug or vaccine that will offer cure. Those in the regulatory sectors work with those in the industry coordinating their research. The other sets are the hospital and community pharmacy. The hospital pharmacy works with front line medical doctors sometimes solving puzzles of this new disease. Community pharmacies attend to people who want simple over-the- counter drugs (OTC) or prescription only medicine (POM). Pharmacists in all sectors are exposed to covid-19. However, the degree of exposure varies. Industrial pharmacists work with, in most cases, killing viruses and they usually wear full personal protective equipment (PPE). Same goes to regulatory pharmacists. However, this is not the case with hospitals and community pharmacies that deal with both Covid-19 patients and patients whose health status is not known. Read Also : ...

Community pharmacy Community pharmacists have a lot of funny moonlight tales to tell. Conversing with different customers with different needs everyday provide opportunities to meet strange characters in the world. One of the most funny scenarios is when a customer is asking if the pharmacist have use the drug they are prescribing. The above question may not be funny in some context. But when you consider some context, it becomes funny and to some extent weird. Take for instance, how can you ask a female pharmacist is she have ever use a particular brand of male condom just because she recommends it. Or asking a male pharmacist if he has ever use clomiphene tablet. If the question is about their partner, it will make sense. It does not add up at all if the question is about them personally. In such a situation, many pharmacists find it difficult on what to say. Read Also: How supplements can help boost sales The truth is that pharmacists are drug experts. They know about th...

Industrial pharmacy There is an increase in the number of pharmaceutical industries in Nigeria for some time now. This has lead to increase in employment in this sector. Companies employ persons from different field to man different departments. The department in each company is determined by the nature of their job. A pharmaceutical production company may have some different departments from a company that distribute imported products. Read Also:  Drug Production Process However, the following are the basic department pharmacist's can find themselves in. Department In Pharmacy Industry Research And Development (R.D.A): This department may not be present in every industry especially here in Nigeria. It involve in innovation, introduction, and improvement of products and processes. To achieve the above aim and objective, professional from different fields come together. The head is usually a pharmacist with a PhD. New entry pharmacy will normally be given minor jobs like...

Pharmacist registration As at June 2017, the Pharmacists Council Of Nigeria (P.C.N), the regulatory body of pharmacy education and regulation in Nigeria complained about the gap between the registered pharmacists and licensed ones. According to PCN, there are about 21, 892 registered pharmacist in Nigeria. Of this few number, only 12, 700 has been duly licensed to practice. This number is far low compared to the millions of persons they are to serve. Pharmacist Registration A graduate of pharmacy school is yet to be a pharmacist until after induction/oath ceremony where they will be registered into PCN register. The registration is term temporary because it elapses after the internship. A pharmacist must after internship register under PCN to be called a pharmacist and allowed to practice in Nigeria. The process for registration is simple and can be done at any PCN office nationwide after making some payment. The registration leads to the provision of a unique registration numb...

Pharmacy and Pharmacology Pharmacy students back in school like going by the title description of pharm (name). Pharmacology students also copied this. This confusion is becoming so rampant that college students get confused on what is the difference between the two courses. Here is the difference. Pharmacy And Pharmacology Pharmacy is a health profession in which a pharmacist provide information regarding medication to patients and other health care professionals. They are medication experts concerned with drug design and development, distribution and safety use guarding the public on medication. Read Also:  The Reason Some People Faint Even When They Seems To Be Very Healthy There are about twenty schools offering pharmacy in Nigeria. It is a faculty of its own having about six departments under it. The departments include Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy (P.C.A), Pharmaceutical Chemistry (P.C.H), Pharmaceutics and Industrial Pharmacy (P.C.T), Pharmaceuti...

Patients Can Visit A Pharmacist For Minor Ailments Back in the days, so many Nigerians believe that the place of the pharmacist is simply to dispense medications to patients.

Pharmacist To most Nigerians, the duty or job of a pharmacist is to dispense medications from a medical doctor to a patient. This is because that is what they see most times in the hospital when they visit. However, the function of the pharmacist is so vast.

The Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD) is designed to update the knowledge of pharmacists, and enable them keep abreast of advancements in pharmaceutical development and modern trends in pharmacy. This is to enhance their skills in the process of providing pharmaceutical care. PCN's Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD) Programme for the Re-certification of Pharmacists in Nigeria. Pharmacist program Reason For Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD) Programme Every profession is evolving so too is the pharmacy profession. It is imperative of pharmacist to keep themselves abreast of recent happenings and current trends in the world of pharmacy. It is in view of this the Pharmacists Council Of Nigeria (P.C.N) has introduced a program designed for pharmacists to keep educating themselves. This program is compulsory for re-certification. How Continuing Professional Development Program Began It was in the year 1995 that a call for a...