pharmacy

pharmacy, art of compounding and dispensing drugs and medication. The term is also applied to an establishment used for such purposes. Until modern times medication was prepared and dispensed by the physician himself. In the 18th cent. the practice of pharmacy began to be separated from that of medicine. The Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science was founded in 1821, the first school of its kind in the United States. The American Pharmaceutical Association was formed in 1851. The progress of medicine, and therefore the expansion of pharmacy, has necessitated more stringent requirements in the training of pharmacists; it is of vital interest that medications be formulated accurately according to the physician's prescription. Schools of pharmacy are now associated with universities, and a degree in pharmacy follows a four-year course of instruction. Examination and licensing by the state is mandatory.

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pharmacy

Science dealing with collection, preparation, and standardization of drugs. Pharmacists, who must earn a qualifying degree, prepare and dispense prescribed medications. They formerly mixed and measured drug products from raw materials according to doctors' prescriptions, and they are still responsible for formulating, storing, and providing correct dosages of medicines, now usually produced by pharmaceutical companies as premeasured tablets or capsules. They also advise patients on the use of both prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Laws regulating the pharmaceutical industry are based on the national pharmacopoeia, which outlines the purity and dosages of numerous medicinal products.