Essentiality and Relevance of Medicinal Chemistry to Pharmacists - Essay Example

?Essentiality and Relevance of Medicinal Chemistry to Pharmacists The importance of bearing wide knowledge across multiple fields is widely appreciated in many industries. This is, however, in direct opposition to specialisation whose importance is also widely acknowledged; hence an issue arises on intensiveness and extensiveness of knowledge. Pharmacists can especially attest to this fact due to incorporation of, for instance, medicinal chemistry knowledge in pharmacy education. This has generated debate into whether thorough knowledge of pharmaceutical chemistry is at all essential, desirable, relevant or even ancillary to the professional duties and ever changing roles of qualified pharmacists as we turn into this decade. Proponents and opponents in the debate have contributed useful views which this study aims at exploring after a brief background on the two fields. The guiding thesis is that a thorough knowledge of pharmaceutical chemistry is desirable in pharmacy practice. It is imperative to establish the meanings of medicinal chemistry and pharmacy before determining the importance of the former in the practice of the latter. According to Thomas (2011 p. 1), medicinal chemistry involves the design, synthesis and development of new compounds that are suitable for use as pharmaceutical drugs. It involves knowledge drawn from chemistry, biology, pharmacology, biochemistry, medicine, mathematics and computing among other categories of knowledge. Pharmacists on the other hand are involved in the preparation, dispensing and proper use of drugs and have to work with other professionals in the wider healthcare industry including doctors, medicinal chemists and nurses among others (Stone and Curtis 2002, p. 12). From the two concepts, it is clear that pharmacists operate in a field characterised by wide interrelatedness thus placing in focus this debate on whether they should possess thorough pharmaceutical chemistry knowledge. One of the arguments against the integration of thorough knowledge of pharmaceutical chemistry in pharmacy practice stems from the view that we currently live in a modern world in which specialisation is encouraged. There are individuals specialised in different fields, which results in more organisational and individual productivity and innovativeness. How would it be necessary for a pharmacist to seek pharmaceutical chemistry knowledge when there are qualified researchers in that field with pharmacists being expected to be experts in their own field? Since the turn of the decade, pharmacy has itself undergone internal specialisation tangents significantly moving from generalist to specialist practice signifying the need for expert knowledge in area of practice (Laven 2002, pp. 267-278). Hence, knowledge of medicinal chemistry is irrelevant to pharmacy practice. Another argument against the relevance of medicinal chemistry in pharmacy stems from the difficulty of achieving this prescribed thorough knowledge in medicinal chemistry. It is impractical to gain thorough knowledge in pharmaceutical chemistry while still studying for pharmacy which is in itself a wide and comprehensive filed of inquiry. As described earlier, medicinal chemistry draws on extensive knowledge from several fields (Williams, Foye and Lemke 2009, pp. 13-19), and imploring pharmacy students to gain thoroughness in its concepts will be taking away from pharmacy. Successful pursuit of thorough knowledge in medicinal chemistry may have the counter-effects of producing pharmacy students bereft of sufficient knowledge in their area of practice. Hence, medicinal chemistry knowledge is only of ancillary importance to pharmacy at best. On the other hand, it is important to appreciate that pharmacists work in a setting in which they have to cooperate and collaborate with several other professionals in the healthcare industry including healthcare practitioners (doctors and nurses), medicinal chemists/clinical research personnel and several therapeutic committees and IRBs as well detailed by Brown (2006, p. 131-135). These interactions involve product development, drug use and business operations in a continuum cycle. These healthcare practitioner colleagues expect that pharmacists can articulate expertise and knowledge on drugs including elucidation and predictions of compatibility and other dynamics for the enhanced overall performance of the healthcare industry (Jurgens and Jakeman 2009, pp. 2-4). Hence, it is absolutely important that pharmacy possess expert knowledge on medicinal chemistry to help them sync well with the rest of the industry and improve performance. It is also desirable to integrate knowledge of medicinal chemistry in pharmacy practice since such knowledge is fundamental in generation of the required competence among pharmacy practitioners (Alsharif et al 2006, 91-96). According to the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE 2007, p. 21), pharmacists should have knowledge in biomedical science and pharmaceutical chemistry since they should; work cooperatively with other healthcare practitioners; provide information and advice on safe and appropriate use of medications; rational use of medications. Pharmacists also need to apply evidence-based therapeutic principles and have knowledge on evolving sciences and emerging medical technologies (ACPE 2007, pp. 21-22). The need for greater involvement in general healthcare by pharmacists has been recognised by WHO, which has called for their broad academic background to achive this involvement (Wiedenmayer et al 2006, p. 17). Acquiring in-depth knowledge in medicinal chemistry is a sure way to achieve basic practice requirements and excellent skills such as evidence-based practice and keeping in touch with emerging issues. The other argument for pursuit of knowledge in medicinal industry by pharmacists is in the direct and indirect gains to be earned this way by the field of pharmacy. As has been discussed earlier, pharmacists work in an interrelated field. Knowledge of medicinal chemistry would not only lead to better services by pharmacists and thus improvements but also gain of extra importance and leveraging power within the relationship framework with fellow professionals. Expert knowledge of what the other categories undertake provides the pharmacists with adequate power to influence policies since they already exist in the interface between research and development, manufacturer, patient, prescriber and medicine itself (Wiedenmayer et al 2006, p. 17). In conclusion, the arguments against pursuit of medicinal chemistry knowledge by pharmacist revolve around the need for specialisation and the view that it may weaken pharmacy. Those in support argue that fellow healthcare professionals require more knowledge, skill and participation by pharmacists hence the need for medicinal chemistry knowledge. It also improves the competence of pharmacists in their practice and can serve to draw power to the field of pharmacy in the larger healthcare setting. The proponent arguments appear stronger and beneficial, hence the conclusion that medicinal chemistry knowledge by pharmacists is of great relevance. References ACPE 2007, Accreditation standards and guidelines: professional program in pharmacy leading to the Doctor of Pharmacy degree, viewed 25 November 2011, Alsharif, NZ et al. 2006, “Instructional model to teach clinically relevant medicinal chemistry”, American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, vol. 70, no. 4, pp. 91-96 Brown, TR 2006, Handbook of institutional pharmacy practice, ASHP, USA. Jurgens, T & Jakeman, D 2009, Helping students understand the link between organic chemistry and drug action, Dalhousie University, viewed 25 November 2011, Laven, DL 2002, “A review on specialization in pharmacy—part I”, Journal of Pharmacy Practice, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 267-278. Stone, P & Curtis, SJ 2009, Pharmacy practice, Pharmaceutical Press, UK. Thomas, G 2011, Medicinal chemistry: an introduction, John Wiley and Sons, UK. Wiedenmayer, K 2006, Developing pharmacy practice: a focus on patient care, WHO-IPF, Netherlands. Williams, DA, Foye, OW & Lemke, TL 2009, Foye's principles of medicinal chemistry, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, UK. Read More