Quote from: Flan on October 24, 2012, 10:18:06 PM
It's actually pharmacy technicians who slap labels on bottles and refer any questions by patients to the pharmacist who can't do anything advice wise because of lack of information about conditions the patient may or may not have. And with eventual increases in education requirements to become a pharma tech, and increasing workload (compounding), kinda hard not to wonder about the future of the phd pharmacist other than glorified supervisor even though the techs can't legally do what little advice and administration the phd's do.
Compounding is increasing? This is news to me, and my aunt is a pharmacist of 20 years. Compounding historically has been declining for the last 70 years, but if you know something I don't I'd be more than happy to listen.
Also, I'm fairly sure, here at least, both pharmacists and the staff put labels on bottles depending on how busy things are. You're right though it's more common for the techs to do it.
Pharmacists can provide basic advice. They can suggest medications up to what Australia classifies as Schedule 3 medications (Pharmacist advice required, e.g. certain formations of sudafed, benadryl, any painkiller containing codeine, but not requiring a prescription (Schedules 4 and

), and can give advice on when to take it, what not to take with it, etc. Largely anything that doesn't require a prescription. If they need to know what other conditions a patient has, they ask and ask what other medications they take.
My feeling is they're competent enough to be given prescription power, that or we should lower the requirements for most medications so that pharmacists can authorize their purchase, especially when doctors are so overloaded. For all this forum raves on about the danger of prescription medications and if you don't see a doctor YOU WILL DIE HORRIBLY. Most of the medications in the prescription only realm can be used even incorrectly without harm. If they didn't people would drop like flies due to the level of incompetence of so many doctors I've seen.