A Review on Specialization in Pharmacy—Part II: A Commentary on Postgraduate Training and Pharmaceutical Care

Many opportunities exist for pharmacists who desire to expand their role in providing comprehensive pharmaceutical care services to patients and other health care providers, who they serve and collaborate with on a daily basis. Consequently, there is a strong trend within pharmacy to specialize in areas of professional interest. In many respects, pharmacy has turned toward the medical model in addressing its needs and providing a framework for specialization in practice. With respect to generalist and specialized practitioners and varying initiatives relative to the medical model, the concept of specialization in pharmacy has recently developed some interesting tangents when issues of certification, credentialing, disease-state management, and added qualifications enter the discussion. The previous installment in this 2-part article focused on specialization in pharmacy and offered a review of the current initiatives by which a pharmacist can achieve specialty status. In this concluding installment, discussion is offered that addresses pharmaceutical care and postgraduate training in pharmacy relative to future professional and societal expectations for pharmacy.

Clinical radiopharmacy: principles and practices

On the average, radiopharmacists spend about 17.2% of their time in clinical activities if their practice setting is in an institution, and about 8.5% of their time if their practice setting is in a centralized nuclear pharmacy. A recent survey of radiopharmacists was conducted to determine: (1) the percentage of time they spend engaged in selected activities, and (2) the specific clinical activities in which they are involved. A few radiopharmacists spend as much as 50% of their time in clinical activities, but most spend only 5% to 20% of their time. Some of the clinical activities involve direct interactions with patients, such as explaining the reasons for administering the radioactive material or actually administering the dose. Other clinical activities are indirect, such as reviewing charts before or after studies and making recommendations to other health care professionals. About half of the pharmacists surveyed see a need for increasing their clinical activities. The need to maximize the time involved in providing pharmaceutical care is discussed and several patient-care activities/responsibilities are proposed.

Hospital nuclear pharmacy--a comparison of physician and pharmacist practice

OBJECTIVE

Nuclear pharmacy is practiced in every hospital with a nuclear medicine clinic. Pharmacists control this practice in fewer than four percent of these institutions. The authors wish to bring to the attention of hospital pharmacists an area of practice in which they can make a significant contribution to the state of pharmacy practice.

METHOD

The current state of the physician practice of nuclear pharmacy is described and compared with the accepted standards of pharmacy practice.

CONCLUSIONS

Hospital pharmacists can improve pharmaceutical care administered in nuclear medicine by their participation in nuclear pharmacy practice and by the application of hospital pharmacy practice standards. It is also suggested that nuclear pharmacy should be integrated into the pharmacy curriculum at schools of pharmacy.