intro to pharmacy profession

2. Pharmacy (from the Greek word ‘Pharmakon’ = drug) is the
health profession that links the health sciences with the
chemical sciences, and it is charged with ensuring the safe
and effective use of drugs.
Pharmacy is the art & science of preparing & dispensing
medications & the provision of drug-related information to
the public

3. The scope of pharmacy practice includes services related to health
care, including clinical services, reviewing medications for safety
and efficacy, and providing drug information.
Pharmacists, therefore, are the experts on drug therapy and are the
primary health professionals who optimize medication use to
provide patients with positive health outcomes
The continuing and expanding need for Pharmacists can be
demonstrated by the society’s changing and ever increasing
requirements, growing variety and demand for drugs and emphasis
on research to find new, safe and effective remedies.

4. The World Health Organization’s has laid down a
pharmacist / population ratio of 1:2000 for optimal
healthcare delivery.
In Pakistan this ratio is even more than 1-21000.
According to an estimate, there are 8000 pharmacists
in the country, while the country needs 78,000
pharmacists for a population of 170,000,000; a target
that is still far from being reached.
Perhaps building new Pharmacy institutes is the need
of the hour.

5. Few professions offer the variety of specialization and
opportunities that the profession of Pharmacy does.
Pharmacy offers a challenging, satisfying and rewarding
career to the individual whose interest lies in health services
to the public, business, scientific research, university
teaching and hospital practice.

10. Pharmaceutics
 Drugs which are obtained from various sources are rarely administered in their pure
chemical form. Generally drugs are combined with other inert substances ( excipients
) and converted into suitable form of administration commonly termed as dosage
form.
 Pharmaceutics is a branch of Pharmacy which includes the study of
formulation of drug into dosage form.
 Pharmaceutics is the discipline of pharmacy that deals with all facets of the
process of turning a new chemical entity (NCE) into a medication able to be
safely and effectively used by patients in the community. Pharmaceutics is
the science of dosage form design.
 There are many chemicals with known pharmacological properties but a raw
chemical is of no use to a patient. Pharmaceutics deals with the formulation
of a pure drug substance into a dosage form.

11. • Physical Pharmacy
• Pharmaceutical Preparations or Dosage Forms
• Microbiology
• Hospital Pharmacy
• Dispensing, Compounding & community Pharmacy
• Quality Control and Quality Assurance
• Pharmaceutical Technology
• Industrial Pharmacy
• Clinical Pharmacy
• Drug Law/Forensic Pharmacy
• Biopharmaceutics

12. PHARMACEUTICS-I (PHYSICAL PHARMACY) [2 semesters]
1. PHARMACY ORIENTATION:
Introduction and orientation to the Professional of Pharmacy in relation to Hospital
Pharmacy, Retail Pharmacy, Industrial Pharmacy, Forensic Pharmacy,
Pharmaceutical education and research etc.
2. HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF PHARMACY:
(a) A survey of the history of pharmacy through ancient, Greek and Arab periods
with special reference to contribution of Muslim scientists to pharmacy and allied
sciences.
(b) An introduction of various official books.
3. PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PRINCIPLES:
(a) Solutions: Introduction, types, concentration expressions, ideal and real
solution, colligative properties, their mathematical derivations and applications in
pharmacy, molecular weight determinations, distribution co-efficient and its
applications in pharmacy.
(b) Solubilization: Solubility, factors affecting solubility, surfactants, their properties
and types. Micelles, their formulation and types.
(c) Ionization, pH, pH indicators, pka, buffers, buffer’s equation, Isotonic solutions
and their applications in pharmacy.
(d) Hydrolysis, types and protection of drugs against hydrolysis.
(e) Micromeritics: Particle size and shapes, distribution of particles methods of
determination of particle size and importance of particle size in Pharmacy.

13. 4. DISPERSIONS:
(a) Colloids: Types, methods of preparation, properties (optional, kinetic,
electrical) Dialysis and artificial kidney, stability of colloids, protection and
sensitization phenomenon and application of colloids in Pharmacy.
(b) Emulsions: Types, theories of emulsification, Emulsifying agents their
classification and stability of emulsion.
(c) Suspensions: Type, Methods of Preparation, Properties, Suspending
agents, their classification and stability.
(d) Adsorption: Techniques and processes of adsorption in detail.
5. RHEOLOGY:
(a) Definition and Fundamental concept.
(b) Properties contributing to Rheological behaviour.
(c) Graphic presentation of Rheological data.

14. 6. PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROCESSES:
(a) Precipitation: Process of precipitation and its applications in Pharmacy.
(b) Crystallization: Types of crystals, Mechanism and methods of crystallization and
its applications in Pharmacy.
(c) Distillation. Simple, fractional, steam distillation, vacuum distillation, destructive
distillation and their applications in Pharmacy.
(d) Miscellaneous Processes: Efflorescence, deliquescence, lyophillization,
elutrition, exiccation, ignition, sublimation, fusion, calcination, adsorption,
decantation, evaporation, vaporization, centrifugation, dessication, levigation and
trituration.
7. RATE and ORDER OF REACTIONS.
8. KINETIC PRINCIPLES AND STABILITY TESTING: THEORETIC
CONSIDERATIONS: Degradation:
(a) Physical Factors: Influence of pH, temperature, ionic strength, acidbase
catalysis, U.V. light.
(b) Chemical Factors: Complex chemical reactions. Oxidationreduction, hydrolysis

15. Recommended books
1. Allen LV, Popovich NG. Ansel's pharmaceutical dosage forms and
drug delivery systems. 8th Ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins New
York; 2005.
2. Attwood D, Flocence AT. Surfactant Systems: Their Chemistry,
Pharmacy and Biology. 1st Ed. London: Chapman and Hall Ltd; 1982.
3. Aulton ME. Aulton's pharmaceutics: the design and manufacture
of medicines. Churchill Livingstone; 2007.
4. Britain MD. British national formulary. 54th Ed. British Medical
Association; 2001.
5. Carstensen JT. Pharmaceutics of solids and solid dosage forms. 1st
Ed. Wiley; 1977.
6. Connors KA, Mecozzi S. Thermodynamics of pharmaceutical
systems: An introduction to Theory and Applications. 2nd Ed. Wiley &
Sons; 2010.

16. 7. Cooper JW, Gunn C, Carter SJ. Cooper and Gunn’s
Tutorial Pharmacy. 6th Ed. New Delhi: CBS Publishers &
Distributors; 2004.
8. Davis H. Bentley’s Text Book of Pharmaceutics. 2nd Ed.
Tindall and Cox Publishers; 1961.
9. Finlay WH. The mechanics of Inhaled pharmaceutical
aerosols: An introduction. 1st Ed. Academic Press; 2001.
10. Florence AT, Attwood D. Physicochemical Principles of
Pharmacy. 5th Ed. Pharmaceutical Press; 2011.
11. Florence AT, Siepmann J. Moderen Pharmaceutics: Basic
Principles and Systems: (Drugs and the Pharmaceutical
Sciences). 5th Ed. Taylor & Francis; 2008.
12. Ganderton D, Jones T, McGinity J. Advances in
Pharmaceutical Sciences. 1st Ed. Academic Press; 1995

17. 13. Ghosh TK, Jasti BR. Theory and practice of
contemporary pharmaceutics. 1st Ed. CRC Press; 2005.
14. Kleemann A, Engel J, Kutscher B, Reichert D.
Pharmaceutical substances: Syntheses, Patents,
Applications of the most relevant APIs. 5th Ed. Thieme; 2008.
15. Lewis GA, Mathieu D, Phan RTL. Pharmaceutical
experimental design: (Drugs & the Pharmaceutical
Sciences). 1st Ed. Informa HealthCare; 1998.
16. Lund W. The pharmaceutical Codex: Principles and
practice of pharmaceutics. 16th Ed. Co CBS Publishers; 2009.
17. Rienger M, Scott-Blair GW. Rheology. 3rd Ed. Academic
Press; 1990.
18. Rowe RC, Sheskey PJ, Quinn ME. Handbook of
pharmaceutical excipients. 6th Ed. Pharmaceutical Press;
2009

18. 19. Sinko PJ, Martin AN. Martin's physical pharmacy and
pharmaceutical sciences: physical chemical and
biopharmaceutical principles in the pharmaceutical sciences.
5th Ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2006.
20. Sinko PJ. Martin's Physical Pharmacy and
Pharmaceutical Sciences. 6th Ed. Lippincott Williams &
Wilkins; 2010.
21. Winfield AJ, Richards RME. Pharmaceutical practice.
Elsevier Health Sciences; 2004.
22. Zinc G. Remington: The Science and Practice of
Pharmacy. Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science;
2005.

19. Pharmacy Symbols
 World-wide there are many symbols, Signs and Badges
used to represent Pharmacy.
 There is no standard representation of them, but the
illustrations here have been chosen to give the
simplest and clearest image available for each one.

20.  1. The one snake on a staff symbol is called
the serpent of Epidaurus on the staff of
Aesculapius, and can be seen in the bottom
left quarter of the shield on the crest of the
Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great
Britain.
 Aesculapius was one of the Greek Gods of
medicine, and is usually depicted carrying a
staff with a snake coiled around it.
 The snake was a symbol of wisdom,
immortality and healing in Middle and far
Eastern cultures


21.  The bowl with a snake coiled around
it is called the bowl of Hygeia with
the serpent of Epidaurus, and is a
variant on the above. Hygeia was
Aesculapius’s daughter and a Greek
Goddess of health.
 Her symbol was a serpent drinking
from a bowl. The vessel is usually
depicted with a long stem and a
shallow, wide bowl as seen here.


22.  The symbol of two snakes on a staff is
called the Caduceus.
 The staff, depicted with wings, is that
of Mercury (Roman) or Hermes
(Greek), messenger of the Gods .
 The history and meaning of this
symbol is complicated. In the West it
has been adopted as a symbol of
medicine since the 19th century,
probably because of its similarity to
the serpent of Epidaurus on the staff
of Aesculapius.
 It is generally considered less suitable
for pharmacy than the one snake
motif, but is more popular for use as a
general medical symbol.

23.  The serpent around a palm tree symbol is
used by French and Portuguese
pharmaceutical bodies, and was introduced
in the 19th century.
 The snake is associated with healing, as
discussed above, but here has a more
specific meaning.
 The palm tree represents the vegetable
kingdom, the serpent the animal kingdom,
and the rocks at the palm tree’s base the
mineral kingdom.
 The serpent and palm tree shown here is
the design used by the Portuguese Order of
Pharmacists.

24.  5. The Green Cross was first introduced in the
as a pharmaceutical symbol in Europe in the
early 20th century as a replacement for the
Red Cross.
 The Red Cross, previously used by some
medical institutions and pharmacists, was
adopted by the International Red Cross in
1863, necessitating the need for an
alternative.
 The Green Cross was not used in Britain until
1984, when it was adopted by the Royal
Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain as a
standard symbol for British pharmacy.
 The Society stipulated that it should be
produced in a specified shade of green, or in
black and white, and that the words
pharmacy or pharmacist, or the Society’s
name, should appear with it.

25.  The mortar and pestle has long been
used as a pharmaceutical symbol in
Britain and on the European mainland,
and is still widely employed as a
pharmacy shop sign in Scotland.
 The mortar and pestle are tools of
traditional pharmacy, hence their use
as an easily recognisable visual motif.

26.  The carboy, a glass vessel with a globular base tapering
to a narrow neck, was commonly displayed filled with
brightly coloured liquids in pharmacy shop windows
well into the second half of this century, and has come
to be a symbol of pharmacy.
 The term carboy is a corruption of the Persian word
qarabah or qarrabah, meaning “large flagon”, and the
carboy is thought to originate from the Near East,
where drug sellers used large glass vessels, filled with
coloured liquids, especially rosewater and wine, in their
stalls.
 By the late 18th century they were recorded by
observers as a characteristic and attractive feature of
the chemists and druggists shop window, and have
retained a strong association with pharmacy ever since..

27.  The recipe sign appears at the
start of prescriptions. Although
universally accepted as an
abbreviation of “recipe” (Latin
for ‘take thou’), it has also been
suggested that it is the
astronomical sign of the planet
Jupiter.
