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SUMMARY
Clinical pharmacists are specialty trained practitioners
who provide direct patient care and comprehensive medica-
tion management. While the practice model is most well
established in the United States, there are clinical phar-
macists throughout the world who are improving the
care of patients of all ages and in all areas of acute and
ambulatory care. This paper reviews the training stan-
dards, expected competencies, and contributions of clinical
pharmacists.
Key words: Pharmacists, pharmacotherapy, teams,
residency, training.
INTRODUCTION
Clinical pharmacists are licensed practitioners with
advanced education and training who practice in all types
of patient care settings with a focus on comprehensive
medication management. These specialized pharmacists
are focused on achieving optimal use of medications,
emphasizing dosing, monitoring, identification of adverse
effects, and economic efficiency to achieve optimal patient
outcomes. Clinical pharmacists are gaining significant atten-
tion worldwide as important members of the patient care
team for ambulatory and acute care patients. This paper
CLINICAL PHARMACISTS:
PRACTITIONERS WHO ARE ESSENTIAL
MEMBERS OF YOUR CLINICAL CARE
TEAM
JUDITH JACOBI, PHARMD, ACCP, MCCM, BCPS, BCCCP (1)
(1) Critical Care Clinical Pharmacist. Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital. Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
Email:
jjacobi@iuhealth.orgItem received: 21-04-2016
Article approved for publication: 09-08-2016
will describe the actual and potential scope of practice of
clinical pharmacists throughout the world.
DEFINITION OF CLINICAL PHARMACY
The American College of Clinical Pharmacy is the organi-
zation with a primary focus on clinical pharmacist devel-
opment, advancement, and positioning among other
providers, the public, and professional societies. There
are over 16,000 members, but many other practitioners
practice clinical pharmacy. The definition of clinical phar-
macy is a health science discipline where pharmacists
provide patient care that optimizes medication therapy
and promotes health, wellness, and disease prevention
(1). Clinical pharmacists practice in all health care settings
and utilize in-depth knowledge of medications and disease
states to manage medication therapy as part of a multi-
professional team. Clinical pharmacists are responsible and
accountable for medication therapy and patient outcomes.
They are a primary source of scientifically valid information
on the safe, appropriate, and cost-effective use of medi-
cations.
While pharmacists may participate in the management
of specific medications or individual disease states (e.g.
diabetes, hypertension) in collaboration with the care team,
[REV. MED. CLIN. CONDES - 2016; 27(5) 571-577]