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Clinical Pharmacist
- Responsible for providing patient care that ensures optimal medication therapy outcomes; and the rational, safe, accurate, and timely use of medications.
- Works with other members of the health care team to design, implement, monitor, evaluate, and adjust pharmaceutical care plans.
- Should be consulted whenever there is a question about drug therapy, such as dosing, drug interactions, or efficacy.
- May round with a care team, answer patient-specific or medication-specific questions, calculate doses, provide advice related to drug therapy decisions, conduct medication use reviews, and more.
The Clinical Pharmacist is the medication expert within the U.S. health care system responsible for providing patient care that ensures optimal medication therapy outcomes.
Within a health care institution or system, Pharmacists fill a number of roles. The Staff/Dispensing Pharmacist works in the central or satellite pharmacies within the facility and is responsible for medication order fulfillment, including verification and clarification, safety and quality assurance, timely distribution of medications, and inventory management. However, the Clinical Pharmacist works in the patient care areas of the institution and focuses on the clinical aspects of medication therapy. The Clinical Pharmacist works with other members of the health care team to design, implement, monitor, evaluate, and adjust pharmaceutical care plans that are patient-specific and evidence-based. Depending on hospital policies and protocols, Clinical Pharmacists may be involved automatically in the care of certain categories of patients or the administration of certain drug therapies. However, other members of the health care team should consult them whenever they have a question about drug therapy, such as dosing, drug interactions, or efficacy.
Student Pharmacists in the United States complete two years of college-level, pre-professional study and four years of study in a professional degree program to earn the doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) degree. The PharmD curriculum is designed to prepare Pharmacists for providing patient-specific and population-based pharmaceutical care, managing and using the resources of the health care system, and promoting health improvement and disease prevention. Programs leading to the PharmD degree are the only pharmacy education programs that may be accredited in the United States. The accrediting body for these programs is the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. Colleges and schools of pharmacy offering the PharmD degree must meet standards to be accredited.
After obtaining the PharmD degree, a Clinical Pharmacist will likely complete postgraduate residency training in the form of a one-year pharmacy practice residency. The Clinical Pharmacist may then complete a one-year residency in a specialized area of practice. Postgraduate residencies are accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
Pharmacy services are coordinated and supervised within an institution by a leadership team that often includes an assistant and/or associate director of pharmacy and a director of pharmacy. Depending on the size of the institution, there may be one or more assistant or associate directors with differing areas of responsibility, such as clinical services (including the work of the Clinical Pharmacist) and pharmacy operations (including inventory management and medication distribution).
The Clinical Pharmacist works on a daily basis in cooperation with patients, prescribers, and other members of the health care team to optimize the outcomes of medication therapy. In the course of a day, the Clinical Pharmacist may:
- round with a care team
- answer patient-specific or medication-specific questions
- calculate doses
- provide advice related to drug therapy decisions
- educate patients on health-impacting behaviors and medication use
- respond to drug information questions from other health care providers and the public
- develop disease management and drug use protocols
- conduct medication use reviews
- serve on various hospital committees, such as the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee
A Clinical Pharmacist must be licensed in the state where he or she practices. Licensure processes are implemented by each state board of pharmacy. To be eligible for licensure, an individual must:
- have graduated from an accredited college or school of pharmacy
- have documented a specified number of hours of experience, which may or may not be included as part of the educational curriculum (requirement varies by state)
- pass the licensure examination (the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination™, developed by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy)
- pass the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination® (requirement varies by state)
- pass a state-specific law examination.
Clinical Pharmacists also may seek voluntary certification through the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS). BPS recognizes six specialties within pharmacy: ambulatory care pharmacy, nuclear pharmacy, nutrition support pharmacy, oncology pharmacy, psychiatric pharmacy, and pharmacotherapy.
Contributed by:
Susan M. Meyer, PhD, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy
