• Question: what is the difference between pharmacy and pharmacology?

    Asked by paria to Alex, Laura, Lesley, Richard, vediacan on 16 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Richard Prince

      Richard Prince answered on 16 Jun 2015:


      Hi Paria,
      Pharmacy is a patient orientated profession that involves the dispensing of medicines. It’s a four year course, with a pre-registration year too. You learn about drugs, how the body works etc but in not so much detail as you would on a pharmacology course. You would also study the legal and business aspects of the profession and learn about how to deal with patients. Pharmacists these days are an important “front line” medical service and give advice to people about minor ailments that doctors are too busy to deal with. In other words, it’s not just about counting pills these days! Some pharmacists go into research when they qualify – a lot of the pharmacology researchers in Manchester used to be pharmacists.

      Pharmacology is about how drugs work – what they do to the body and how the body metabolizes the drugs. You’d study drug mechanisms, physiology some molecular biology and biochemistry. Pharmacology is more research orientated but many people who do the degree don’t end up working in science. It is well regarded by graduate employers like banks and the Government because it teaches you a lot of transferable skills. You know how to research a subject for example.
      Hope this helps.
      Richard

    • Photo: Laura Newton

      Laura Newton answered on 16 Jun 2015:


      Hey Paria,

      Richard seems to have summed it up quite nicely! If you want to be a pharmacist your only option is to do a pharmacy degree. If you know you don’t want to and are just interested in the theory behind how drugs work them pharmacology will probably give you more options and teach you more.

      Best wishes,
      Laura

    • Photo: Vedia Can

      Vedia Can answered on 16 Jun 2015:


      Hey Paria!

      Both Richard and Laura have beaten me to the answer 🙂
      Pharmacy = Dispensing prescription drugs to the patients.
      Pharmacology = Making drugs for the patients.

      Best Wishes,

      Vedia

    • Photo: Alex Agyemang

      Alex Agyemang answered on 18 Jun 2015:


      Hello Paria,

      Pharmacology is the study of the action of drugs with a focus on their characteristics, effects and interactions with receptors. There are two key areas of pharmacology; pharmacokinetics (i.e. the study of how drugs are taken up, broken down and removed from the body) and pharmacodynamics (i.e. the study of the effect of drugs on the physiology of the body, e.g. the effect of insulin on low blood glucose levels). Clinical Pharmacology is the study of the action of drugs in humans. It is an exciting medical specialty and scientific discipline focused on ensuring the safe, effective and cost-effective use of medicines through clinical and regulatory practice, education and research.
      Pharmacy on the other hand, which deals with the manufacture, compounding, distribution and supply of medicines are also closely related to pharmacology, although each can be studied as separate disciplines.

      I hope this is helpful.

      Best wishes,
      Alex

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