Pharmacy is one of the unique and creative professions which combine modern knowledge and skills and ancient traditions. I am excited about the profession because it joins unique principles of folk medicine and modern innovative approaches to treatment and curing. Popular medicine was based primarily on the use of home remedies, dietary control, and behavioral rules generated by the notions of hot and cold.
Preventive and remedial practices emphasized balance and equilibrium of intake and action for health. Popular medical practices also included religious petitions for health, the purchase of herbal substances in the marketplace, and family patterns of avoidance and magical influence. Even today in Central America and Africa, herbalists are to be found selling dried preparations in some small local pharmacies, in stalls within the central market, and along the central plaza with hand trays of their remedies. Clients visit these stalls either with specific home recipes to be filled or for direct consultation and prescription with the practitioner (Desselle and Zearrick 34).
A variety of medications are sold for such diverse ailments as a weak liver, impotency, tired blood, and general health maintenance. The task and role of a good pharmacologist are to use folk knowledge and skills and apply them to modern medicine. I am really excited about this profession because it requires extensive knowledge of remedies and herbal treatments based on medical beliefs. The pharmacist gives personal advice and has direct contact with the client.
Innovations and developments in pharmacy rely on responding directly to client needs and less on sundries and beauty items. To compete successfully, the pharmacist diagnoses the illness and provides a treatment regime. The pharmacist assures the citizens they are making the appropriate purchase and asks them to come again. The history of pharmacy amazes me because the pharmacist was a person who treated a patient and prepared drugs for him.
A modern pharmacy is a commercial unit that specializes in the sale of patent medicines. Thus, the pharmacist is responsible for medicines and drugs quality. In spite of the fact that he does not carry many herbs nor prepare any of the traditional remedies commonly found in the community locale, they rely on folk medicine and knowledge as a part of the profession. Historically, the community pharmacist established a therapeutic relationship that was the focus of primary care for the families. In this sense, the pharmacist participated as an alternative health practitioner. Pharmacy today cannot maintain itself with only the sale of medicines.
In order for it to be a business, a pharmacy has to sell cosmetics, sundries, and other items. Nonetheless, the popular medical role of the pharmacy has expanded: an individual goes to the pharmacy most often when they are ill because they can purchase medicines for anything and can trust the pharmacist to advise wisely if you do not know the remedy’s name.
Even today, in the urban environment, many of the popular remedies used at home and in self-care have been replaced by patent and prescription medicines purchased in local pharmacies and stores. Modern medicine cannot exist without pharmacology and innovative solutions which help to treat previously incurable diseases and relieve pain. It is difficult to represent the entire professional medical sector in any detail and at the same time fully cover the breadth of practitioners and office settings.
Works Cited
Desselle, S. P., Zearrick, D. P. Pharmacy Management. McGraw-Hill Medical, 2004.