why are there pharmacists?

[vi edit]

but then why aren't pharmacists the ones picking the drugs?

Politics.

In an office environment, who usually makes the decision to buy the big elaborate accounting system? - The IT guys who have to implement and support it, or the VP who barely knows how to log in to check his email?

I think you'll see some major changes in the way drugs are administered in the next 10-20 years. Their is already a small shift of responsibility letting pharmacists make small perscriptions and to alter existing perscriptions. I think you'll see more and more of this in the future.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

No one can know everything. MD's diagnose, and prescribe treatment, be it surgery, physical therapy or medication. That is what they do. Pharmacists know medications better than physicians do. That is what they do. A valuable part of what the pharmacist does is to double check the physician. A pharmacist may catch many errors every day, some significant, some not. They are insurance that you never knew you had. As far as software, interactions are not all or nothing. Proper action requires judgement, something computers are not good at.

 

[vegetation]

Most of them are just technicians. There's generally only one or two registered pharmacists on duty, supervising the dispensing of medicine.

Originally posted by: da loser
why can't someone just write software so that the wrong drugs don't get prescribed? the software could be updated as new interactions are learned, seems so simple what am i missing? i'm talking about the pharmacists at stores which hand out medicine, seems like you could just train a technician to hand them out.

 

[iamme]

the real question is: why do pharmacists have to be situated 2 feet higher than everyone else??

(seinfeld)

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

so to become a pharmacist I'm guessing you'd have to memorize a lot of different compounds, their effects, and interactions?

Damn, I'd hate to do that! No wonder they get paid big bucks.