Research needs for pharmacy administration and clinical pharmacy include study of the relationship of pharmacists and society, management methods for providing health care services, pharmacist training and socialization, competence evaluation, formative and summative research on drug use control, and organizational decision making. (MSE)

Pathography is defined as a personal account of illness written by the patient, a friend or relative. The authors advocate the use of patient pathography as an additional or alternative teaching tool for the medical history record. (Author/JM)

Physiologists offer their viewpoints on career opportunities in the pharmaceutical industries. A director's and an employee's views of what a director of pharmacology looks for in a physiologist are included. (JN)

The pharmacist as a provider of "pharmaceutical care" is examined both as a notion and as a new example for training practitioners. It is concluded that the example will require more from the pharmacist of the future and a reordering of perceptions about the nature of the pharmacy profession. (MSE)

The influence that pharmacists can have in solving the problem of patients who either do not take their medication or take it improperly is discussed. The incidence of patient noncompliance in the treatment regimen is considered, based on research findings. It appears that most noncompliance is rooted in either the patient's inability to…

Possible ways to influence the future practice of pharmacy include more shared responsibility with the pharmaceutical industry, increased attention to changes in disease patterns, attention to differential skills needed by different kinds of pharmacists, increased specialization, and emphasis on administrative and other business skills. (MSE)

Although pharmaceutical education embraces the concept of a patient-centered curriculum, it does not instill a patient-centered ethos and sends students out to practice in primarily product-centered settings. Professional dissonance and frustration result. One part of the solution may be in increasing the emphasis on liberal education and…

Research in ambulatory pharmacy is needed because of changes in its organizational financing and patient population. With health care payers seeking to move patients out of hospitals and into less costly care environments, pharmacy must help discover how to care for this growing patient population effectively and efficiently. (MSE)

The biotechnology revolution is making contributions to the improvement of health care. Some of the biotechnology-based pharmaceuticals in the marketplace include human hormones, enzymes, enzyme inhibitors, vaccines, immunomodulators, growth factors, and monoclonal antibodies. Many new diagnostics will appear and be used by patients in their own…

The pharmaceutical industry has contributed to many life-saving innovations in medicine and has become one of the most successful industries in the world. As a result, pharmaceutical industry financial and marketing influences extend to federal regulatory agencies, professional organizations, medical journals, continuing medical education,…

Strain in the profession of pharmacy over conflicts between basic and natural science perspectives is attributed to several factors: the many facets of the profession, divergent interests, political uncertainty, social change, members' aspirations, and curriculum studies. Greater use of computers is encouraged. (MSE)

Only recently has emphasis been placed on pharmacy's role in public health planning, alongside other professional groups and government at all levels. The pharmaceutical profession is urged to join forces with these groups in the forefront of policy and program planning. (MSE)

Professions take different approaches to competency-based continuing education: (1) pharmacy and nursing analyze competence in terms of roles and tasks (performance); (2) law analyzes professional knowledge, skills, and attitudes (attributes); and (3) medicine analyzes attributes in the context of performance of professional tasks, an integrated…

Issues in the conflict between clinical practice and basic research in pharmacy are reviewed: professional associations' role, curriculum needs and traditions, internal strains and diversity in the profession, computer use, scholarly work of faculty, using the medical profession as a model, and misperceptions of what clinical and basic sciences…

Problems associated with prescription drug use and misuse are discussed. The role of the pharmacist in providing information that patients need to use drugs appropriately is emphasized. (SFJ)