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THE FUTURE OF PHARMACY

VOL 28, NO.1 - JUNE 2012

ACCOMPANYING COMMENTARY ON FUTURE PERSPECTIVES OF PHARMACY Florian Sarkar, swissYPG

T h e Sw i s s YPG s y m p o s i u m hi g h l i g h t e d a c r u c i a l f a c t t h a t c h a n g e in t h e p h a r m a c e u t i c a l s c i e n c e s is a co nt i n u u m t h a t p r e s e n t l y a p p e a r s t o a c c e l e r a t e . Profe s s i o n a l e v o l u t i o n s a r e h o w e v e r of t e n a m a t t e r of gr e a t c o n c e r n fo r p h a r m a c i s t s .

Cha n g e is a na t u r a l p r o c e s s t h a t o c c u r s in v ir t u a l l y e v e r y p a r t of lif e . We sh o u l d t h e r e f o r e n ot fe a r c h a n g e fo r t h e s a k e of l o s s a n d in s e c u r i t y, b u t t a k e it a s a ch a n c e fo r im p r o v e - m e n t a n d n e w o p p o r t u n i t i e s . Pha r m a c i s t s sh o u l d t a k e a d v a n t a g e of t h e o p e n i n g g a p s in h e a l t h c a r e s y s t e m s a n d d e m o n s t r a t e t h e v a l u e of t h e i r p r o f e s s i o n n ot ju s t a s m e d i - c i n e s di s p e n s e r s , b u t a s m e d i c i n e s e x p e r t s p r o v i d i n g hi g h qu a l i t y s e r v i c e s .

I n o r d e r t o p r o m o t e a r o l e in h e a l t h c a r e t h a t is b ot h b e n - e fi c i a l t o s o c i e t y a n d gr a t i f y i n g fo r o u r s e l v e s , w e h a v e t o e x t e n d t h e du t y of e x e c u t i n g a p h y s i c i a n ’ s t h e r a p y in s t r u c - t i o n s . In s t e a d w e h a v e t o l e a r n t o t a k e p e r s o n a l r e s p o n s i b i l - i t y fo r t h e r a p e u t i c p a t i e n t int e r v e n t i o n s . In s t e a d of fo c u s i n g o n t h e l e g a l li m i t s d e fi n i n g o u r p r o f e s s i o n , w e sh o u l d r e l y m o r e o n o ur w i d e k n o w l e d g e a n d d e v e l o p p r a c t i c e in a wa y t h a t m a t c h e s b ot h o u r t r u e a b i l i t i e s a n d s o c i e t a l n e e d s . We h a v e t o go a h e a d of p o l i t i c a l p r o c e s s a n d p r o v e t h e v a l u e of o ur w o r k t o o bt a i n a jur i d i c a l a n d p o l i t i c a l p o s i t i o n t h a t a c - t u a l l y c o r r e s p o n d s t o w h a t w e c a n b r i n g t o t h e p o p u l a t i o n .

I n p a r a l l e l , w e mu s t a l s o c l o s e l y ke e p co nt a c t w i t h ot h e r h e a l t h c a r e p r o f e s s i o n a l s . T h e m o r e w e co o p e r a t e a n d

p a r t i c i p a t e in jo i n t t h e r a p e u t i c p r o j e c t s , t h e m o r e w i l l ot h e r p r o f e s s i o n s k n o w a n d a p p r e c i a t e o u r co m p e t e n c e .

B y p o s i t i v e l y f a c i n g t h e c h a l l e n g e s of f u t u r e h e a l t h p o l i c y, w e c a n p r o v i d e us e f u l a n d s a f e h e a l t h c a r e s e r v i c e t o p a t i e n t s t o g e t h e r.

At pr e s e n t , a n o t h e r c h a l l e n g e is t o co p e w i t h t h e r a p i d l y g r o w i n g a m o u n t of m e d i c a l a n d s c i e n t i fi c k n o w l e d g e . T h e p h a r m a c i s t ’ s e d u c a t i o n h a s t o a d o p t t h e n e w e s t t r e n d s of inf o r m a t i o n t e c h n o l o g y. In o ur f u t u r e , w e w il l in d e e d r e g u - l a r l y us e co n n e c t e d c o m p u t e r s , t a b l e t s a n d sm a r t p h o n e s a s qu i c k a n d fl e x i b l e t o o l s of s t o r i n g , t r a n s f e r r i n g a n d sh a r i n g inf o r m a t i o n . T h e r e is a l s o a s t r o n g n e e d t h a t co m p l e t e c li n i c a l p a t i e n t d a t a a r e qu i c k l y a v a i l a b l e t o a ll in v o l v e d c a r e p r o v i d e r s . Yet t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t of a b r o a d l y a c c e p t e d E-Healt h s t r a t e g y w i l l f a c e a lo n g p o l i t i c a l p r o c e s s in e v e r y c o u n t r y. Pha r m a c i s t s c a n t a k e infl u e n c e h e r e a s h e a l t h c a r e e x p e r t s w i t h la r g e e x p e r i e n c e in h a n d l i n g p a t i e n t d a t a fo r m e d i c i n e s m a n a g e m e n t .

T h e f u t u r e of t h e p h a r m a c y p r o f e s s i o n d e p e n d s o n t h e p e r s o n a l at t i t u d e of e v e r y si n g l e p r o f e s s i o n a l . T h e w i l l t o ke e p up w i t h cu r r e n t p h a r m a c e u t i c a l k n o w l e d g e a n d t e c h - n o l o g i e s h a s t o b e o ur mi n d s e t . If we b e l i e v e in o ur a b i l i t i e s , w e c a n l e a d o u r p r o f e s s i o n t o w a r d s a b r i g h t f u t u r e w h e r e p h a r m a c i s t s p a r t i c i p a t e in c r e a t i n g a h e a l t h i e r w o r l d .

AUTHORS’ INFORMATION

François Ledermann*, Institute for the History of Medicine, University of Bern and Schloss-Apotheke, Bern Antoine Geissbühler*, Service of Cyber Health Care and Telemedicine, Geneva University Hospitals and University of Geneva Gerrit Borchard*, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva and University of Lausanne Stefan Mühlebach*, Vifor Pharma, Glattbrugg and Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel Jean-François Locca, Pharmacie de Prilly and University Out-patients’ Clinic, Lausanne, SwissYPG, Bern Jacqueline Bezençon, PharmaCenter, University of Basel, SwissYPG, Bern Nicolas Widmer, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, University Hospital Center and University of Lausanne, SwissYPG, Bern

* T h e 4 le c t u r e r s e qu a l l y co nt r i b u t e d t o t h e s y m p o s i u m a n d t o t h e s e p r o c e e d i n g s .

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