Kampala International University

Faculty Of Biomedical Science

School Of Pharmacy
Pharmaceuticals coursework

Name: Oluka Aaron Mwaule

Registration Number: 2023-08-18135

Questions;
1. Disdain the myth that a pharmacist is a person that counts and gives out
drugs.
2. Discover reference books such as pharmacopoeia, guidelines that can be
used in pharmaceutical studies using names, formulas they contain,
measurements for drugs. Use this information to different in a discussion
between the books.

Question 1:

A pharmacist is a health professional who has special training in

preparing and dispensing prescription drugs. Pharmacists also know how drugs
work, how to use them and their side effects.
Therefore, it is worth noting that pharmacists do not count and give of drugs
but they perform various roles which may include verifying dosage
medications, patient counselling, prescription audit and so on as they are
explained below;
Firstly, pharmacists perform patient medication counselling which
involves giving adequate information in the form of verbal instructions to
ensure that the patient has an unequivocal understanding of the instructions
for use and any distinguishing characteristics or requirements of the medicine.
Secondly, pharmacists are involved in verifying dosage on medications
prescribed by health care providers in a series of processes which can include
organizing the items to be verified and if it is for the intended patient, checking
if the prescription is new or the first refill to avoid different errors of
medications.
In addition to that, pharmacists play an important role in detecting,
reporting and monitoring of adverse drug reactions and also preventing these
adverse drug reactions, this can usually be best achieved by utilising of and
obtaining a detailed clinical history which can include the severity of the
medications and determining if the patient experienced a reaction of
significant concern is of particular importance.
Pharmacists also ensure whether or not a particular medication will
interact with other medications used by the patient which can be done by
using clinical decision support systems (CDS) that generate automated drug
interaction alerts during the dispensing and prescription verification process
due to the large number of potential interactions with drug therapy.
The other reason why pharmacists do not count and give out drugs is
administration of various vaccinations such as flu shots by being in position to
identify patients who would benefit from vaccinations, regulatory and legal
issues knowledge of vaccination and also strategies for improving rates and
administration techniques.
Pharmacists are well endowed towards basic record-keeping and
administrative tasks as required, this may include storing of records for the
required time period for example; all dispensing, supply and prescription
records must be retained for 2 years in the case of schedule 4 medicines and 5
years for the case of schedule 8 medicines. This data records obtained are
usually protected from data loss or corruption and also to act as references for
effective prescriptions.
Pharmacists perform drug selection to ensure proper and improved
patient outcomes, avoiding prescribing errors and development of rational
approach that includes making a diagnosis, estimating prognosis, establishing
the goals of drug therapy, selecting most appropriate treatment and
monitoring the effects of treatment.
Pharmacists are involved in educating patients on ow and when to
take or administer the prescription for example they tell the patients the time
of taking the drugs and the period spacing before the next drug administrations
including the reasons for the timing to promote drug efficacy in achieving
desired results.
In conclusion, it is very clear that pharmacists perform a multitude
of very important roles that are aimed at achieving desired patient results,
which in turn promote the patient’s wellbeing and safety.
Question 2:
Pharmacopoeia refers to a book containing directions for the
identification of compound medications and published by the authority of a
government or a medical or pharmaceutical society. It is usually made up of;
Monographs - which are descriptions of preparations of drugs or compounds of
drugs, official standards for the quality, purity and potency of substances.
Tests – these are test methods used to ensure substance compliance with
standards.
Assays - which are methods for determining potency or substance
concentration.
General chapters – these contain guidance on topics like packaging, labelling
and storage.
Examples of pharmacopoeia include; United States Pharmacopoeia,
British Pharmacopoeia, Indian Pharmacopoeia, European Pharmacopoeia and
lastly International Pharmacopoeia. These various Pharmacopoeia contain
differences which can be based on guidelines in naming, formulas used,
measurement for drugs and so on and they are explained below;
Pharmacopoeia differ in their guidelines for naming substances,
leading to variations in nomenclature for example,
1. The United States Pharmacopoeia (USP): uses official names that are
shorter and more concise, it may use United States Adopted Names E.g.
Acetaminophen (USP) while Paracetamol for European Pharmacopoeia.
2. The European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eury): uses more descriptive and
detailed official names, it may use International Non-proprietary Names
E.g. Paracetamol (Ph. Eur) vs acetaminophen (USP)
3. The British Pharmacopoeia (BP): uses the same naming conventions as
Ph. Eur, it may use BP-specific names for some substances.
4. Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP): uses a combination of IP- specific names and
International Pharmacopoeia names, may use traditional Ayurvedic or
Unani names for certain substances.
 5. Japan Pharmacopoeia (JP): uses a combination JP-specific names and
INN names. It may use JP-names for certain substances.
6. Chinese pharmacopeia (ChP): It uses a combination of ChP-specific
names.
Pharmacopoeia differences based on formulas are explained below;
1. The United States Pharmacopoeia: It uses metric units (grams,
millilitres), formulas are based on ratios like weight/weight or
weight/volume for example; Acetaminophen tablets (500mg/tablet) or
Ibuprofen oral suspension (100mg/5mL).
2. European Pharmacopoeia: It uses metric units (grams, millilitres),
Formulas are based on ratios of weight/weight or weight/volume for
example, Paracetamol tablets (500mg/tablet) or Ibuprofen oral
suspension (100mg/5mL)
3. British Pharmacopoeia (Bp): It uses metric units (grams, millilitres),
Formulas often based on weight/weight or weight/volume for example,
Paracetamol tablets (500mg/tablet) or Ibuprofen oral suspension
(100mg/5mL)
4. International Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Int): It uses metric units (grams,
millilitres), Formulas based on weight/weight or weight/volume for
example, Paracetamol tablets (500mg/tablet) or Ibuprofen oral
suspension (100mg/5mL)
5. Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP): It uses metric units (grams, millilitres),
Formulas based on weight/weight or weight/volume for example,
Paracetamol tablets (500mg/tablet) or Ibuprofen oral suspension
(100mg/5mL), It may contain Ayurvedic or Unani formulas.
6. Japanese Pharmacopoeia (JP): It uses metric units (grams, millilitres),
Formulas based on weight/weight or weight/volume, for example
Acetaminophen tablets (500mg/tablet) or Ibuprofen oral suspension
(100mg/5mL), It may contain traditional Japanese formulas.
7. Chinese Pharmacopoeia (ChP): It uses metric units (grams, millilitres),
Formulas based on weight/weight or weight/volume for example,
Acetaminophen tablets (500mg/tablet) or Ibuprofen oral suspension
(100mg/5mL), It may contain traditional Chinese formulas.
Pharmacopoeias differ in their guidelines for measuring drugs,
leading to variations in;
1. Units of measurement:
-USP: milligrams (mg), grams (g), millilitres (mL)
-Ph. Eur.: grams (g), millilitres (mL), millimoles (mmol)
-IP: milligrams (mg), grams (g), millilitres (mL)
-JP: grams (g), millilitres (mL), millimoles (mmol)
-ChP: grams (g), millilitres (mL), millimoles (mmol)
2. Concentration expressions:
-USP: percentage (%), milligrams per millilitre (mg/mL)
-Ph. Eur: percentage (%), milligrams per millilitre (mg/mL), millimoles per litre
(mmol/L)
-BP: percentage (%), milligrams per millilitre (mg/mL), millimoles per litre
(mmol/L)
-IP: percentage (%), milligrams per millilitre (mg/mL)
-JP: percentage (%), Milligrams per millilitre (mg/mL), millimoles per litre
(mmol/L)
-ChP: percentage (%), milligrams per millilitre (mg/mL), millimole per litre
(mmol/L)
3. Dose expressions:
-USP: milligrams (mg), grams (g)
-Ph. Eur.: milligrams (mg), grams (g), millimoles (mmol)
-BP: milligrams (mg), grams (g), millimoles (mmol)
-IP: milligrams (mg), grams (g)
-JP: milligrams (mg), grams (g), millimoles (mmol)
-ChP: milligrams (mg), grams (g), millimoles (mmol)
4. Measurement methods:
-USP: High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Gas Chromatography
(GC)
-Ph. Eur.: HPLC, GC, Titration
-BP: HPLC, GC, Titration
-IP: HPLC, GC
-JP: HPLC, GC, Titration
-ChP: HPLC, GC, Titration