Archive for category Pharmacy
Physician Assistant vs Pharmacist
There’s a thing about medicine. You have a range of fields to choose from, and each of them are rewarding. Medical aspirants often find themselves in a fix when it comes to choosing careers. While physician assistance is considered as a patient-oriented field of medicine, pharmacy is more chemical-oriented, where a pharmacist deals with medications. It totally depends upon the work setting you like, and the field of health care that inspires you the most. Here, in this article, we will be understanding how exactly is physician assistance different from pharmacy, and what are the duties involved in both. Moreover, an insight into the career path that is comparatively more lucrative will be offered. Both physician assistants and pharmacists have a set of educational requirements to shape a career in their respective fields, and that, later on, determines their pay scale. Today, in this adverse, let’s figure out the difference between a physician assistant and pharmacist, along with the worth and career prospects of both. Take a look at the following sections.
Physician Assistant
Definition: Medical professionals who provide diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive health care services, under the supervision of physicians and surgeons are called physician assistants or PAs. They are employed in various specialties such as pediatrics, family medicine, internal medicine, orthopedics, and geriatrics.
Pharmacist
Definition: Health care professionals who provide medicines as prescribed by the health care provider, assess the correctness of the prescription, and dispense medication in accordance with the settings that they have been trained in, are referred to as pharmacists. Many pharmacists advise their patients with regards to the selection and dosage of medications, along with the side effects of the same, if any, and analyze the entire progress of the patient while they are consuming their medications effectively.
Physician Assistant vs Pharmacist: Educational Requirements
The minimum educational qualification for a physician assistant is a bachelor’s degree in any health care specialty, along with a completion of at least two years of a physician assistant education program. The American Academy of Physician Assistants provides various programs for physician assistants, depending upon the field of medicine that an aspirant chooses to serve in. Moreover, a physician assistant is required to be certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), in order to practice in any state in the US. This certification requires the aspirant to pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination, along with 100 hours of continuing medical education every 2 years. Read the rest of this entry »
Pharmacists Sue to Avoid Dispensing Plan B Contraception
By Anastacia Mott Austin
Two pharmacists in Olympia, Washington, and the owners of the Ralph’s Thriftway where they are employed, filed a lawsuit in federal court over a new law that took effect Thursday.
The law says that pharmacists may not refuse to dispense the emergency contraception Plan B, which prevents an egg from being released from the ovary and thus prevents pregnancy. There is a provision in the law that allows for a pharmacist who does not wish to give Plan B to a customer to avoid doing so, as long as there is another pharmacist on the premises who can dispense the medication.
The two pharmacists, Rhonda Mesler and Margo Thelen, say it isn’t always possible to have another pharmacist on hand, and feel that the new law violates their religious freedom. The suit reads, in part, that the plaintiffs feel they are being made to choose “[between] their livelihoods and their deeply held religious and moral beliefs.”
Stormans, Inc., the owners of the Ralphy’s Thriftway in Olympia, are also plaintiffs in the case.
Levonorgestrel, a form of synthetic estrogen similar to that found in regular birth-control pills, along with progestin, is sold as Plan B in a higher dose than the standard pill. It is commonly prescribed to rape victims, as well as women who have had unprotected sex or interruptions to their birth-control pill cycle. If taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, its pregnancy prevention rate is 89 percent.
According to the FDA informational website about Plan B, it works primarily by preventing the release of an egg from the ovary. It can also prevent fertilization of an egg already released. Read the rest of this entry »