Sunday, March 21, 2010

Clinical pharmacists key part of medical team

From the Montreal Gazette:
From psychiatry and intensive care to oncology and transplant teams, hospitals are a melting pot of diverse talent and specially trained medical experts.

But unless you spend a lot of time hanging around medical centres, you might not know that pharmacists are among the white coats in nearly all departments.

"Clinical pharmacists are specialists," said Linda Vaillant, director of l'Association des pharmaciens des établissements de santé du Québec (APES). "Their roles are very different than what you see in commercial pharmacies; they work almost exclusively with IV or injection medications."

APES is the association that represents the 1,300 hospital pharmacists who work in the public health care system.

"People tend to think we're just pill counters who dispense medication," said Hala Yazbeck, a pharmacist working in the Montreal General Hospital Intensive Care Unit. "They really have misconceptions about what we do and the extent of our role." ...more

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