Introduction to Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the science that is concerned with the preparation and standardization of drugs for the well-being of all. Pharmacists are responsible for preparation of dosage forms of drugs, the synthesis of chemical compounds of medicinal value and analysis of medicinal agents for the benefit of living organisms in the research and development environment. In simple words the science that embraces knowledge of drugs with special reference to the mechanism of their action in the treatment of disease is pharmacy/pharmacology.
Diploma in Pharmacy or D.Pharma is a diploma level course that can be studied after the completion of PUC or 10+2 classes. The course is designed to prepare candidates to work under the supervision of licensed pharmacists in hospitals, community pharmacies and other pharmaceutical related fields. The course is aimed to familiarise candidates with the basic concepts of pharmaceutical sciences. The course prepares the students with necessary skills and academic knowledge required for entry-level job roles in retail pharmacies as well as pharmaceutical companies.
Skills required to join D.Pharma course
The pharmacy field is one of the popular fields in the medical sciences after medicine. The medicine field and pharmacy field are interdependent to each other. Both fields are required to survive on each other, in simple words medical fields will not sustain without pharmacy and vice versa. The students who are interested to join pharmacy field are expected to have some basic level skills to become successful pharmacists
Let’s try to discuss some of them in detail below.
Accuracy
The pharmacists basically deal with medicines in every aspect from production to marketing of at and even involved in dispensing of medicines. As a pharmacist, one is expected to be aware of the medicines that could be dangerous. If wrongly dispatched or mishandled then that may lead to loss of life or may lead to a permanent disability. As pharmacists are always expected to dispense medicines in error free manner and quickly accuracy is very important. They have to understand the handwriting of doctors and also be required to fill prescriptions. So aspirants should have a key to detail to accuracy.
Communication Skills
Communication skills are important for most of the professionals and it is important to have command on English as well as local languages. The pharmacists will be conversing with the people of all walks of life, so they should be well-versed with local language also. It is the duty of pharmacists to communicate with patients regarding dose of administration, when to take medicines. The aspirants are required to be good in communication skills.
Interpersonal Skills
The pharmacists often have to struggle between doctors who don’t like to be questioned and frustrated patients who may get upset due to waiting for their prescriptions. Pharmacists need interpersonal skills like patience, diplomacy and a great sense of humour. The aspirants are expected to have good interpersonal skills.
Management Skills
When chain pharmacies are part of the country and big hospitals require senior pharmacists, who can manage budgets, monitor inventories and keep accountable records. Pharmacists are also responsible for supervising and managing junior staff. The aspirants are required to have basic knowledge of managing tasks.
Multitasking
The pharmacists are involved in multiple tasks along with dispensing of medicines. Pharmacists are responsible for checking expiry dates of medicines, stocking of required medicines, recording many other small to big tasks are assigned to them. The aspirants should be able to develop multitasking qualities.
Patient Counselling
The pharmacists are required sometimes to become counsellors. It is most important among all the skills, patient counselling refers to the process of providing vital information, advice and assistance to help patients with their medications and to ensure patients to take medicines properly. The aspirants are required to have good will power to counsel the patients.
Gaining Knowledge
Pharmaceutical field is a field of innovation and many new medicines as well as products hit the market. It is necessary for pharmacists to keep themselves up to date with knowledge and keep learning professional things every day. The aspirants should have a quality to learn new things and should be open to learning.
Final lines
The D.Pharma is considered as the starting step for pharmacy field, so the students who are applying to this course are expected to have basic skillet and understanding that is mentioned here. If the students try to develop the above skills then they can become successful pharmacists.