Good As Doctor

[MinD_ D]

Hi everyone ,,,
I'm a 1st year pharmacy student .

I have a strange question

As pharmacy student , our study involved in knowing the physiology and the diseases , and the treatment .

Move to the question....


Can pharmacist in some point of their career diagnosis like a doctor or physicians ?


Why not ....

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[Chriskahn]

No, pharmacists are not trained to diagnose

 

[Dolfina]

Lol diagnosing is the one thing we really really shouldn't be doing. That is 100% on the docs and other mid-level clinicians. Tell me what the patient has and I can tell you how best to treat it... If you want to diagnose, that is what medical school is for (or np or pa but even then... )

 

[BigBoss]

If you wanted to diagnose, you should've gone into medicine.

 

[projektreverb]

It’s not too late to jump ship to medicine. Seems like that’s what you want to do.

 

[BC_89]

There are specific states that allow pharmacists to legally prescribe certain medications ( such as the state I’ll attend school ). Even then, they won’t do it.

Pharmacists do not diagnose. If they had the same autonomy to do so, mid-levelers would be out of a job. You look for drug interactions and best avenues of drug use once the diagnostics have been established.

That’s why you study pharmacology for 8 semesters and medical students don’t.

 

[MinD_ D]

If you wanted to diagnose, you should've gone into medicine.

It’s not too late to jump ship to medicine. Seems like that’s what you want to do.

More than 50% I'll after pharmacy school
Who knows

 

[MinD_ D]

No, pharmacists are not trained to diagnose

Although we study microbiology and examine the type of bacteria and what it cause , are you meaning we can't diagnose at all , or in some cases we can ?

 

[Momus]

Although we study microbiology and examine the type of bacteria and what it cause , are you meaning we can't diagnose at all , or in some cases we can ?

You can't not diagnose at all.

 

[MinD_ D]

I think there is a reason I put ( why not ) at the end . Could you explain ?

 

[BC_89]

I think there is a reason I put ( why not ) at the end . Could you explain ?

There’s something called an MTM (Medication Therapy Management). It’s a practice agreement with a physician allowing you to adjust doses of medication or even start certain drugs if an outlier patient meets the criteria. This is mostly “unicorn” clinical pharmacy specialties talked about on threads.

However, YOU are not trained beyond the simplest of diagnosis to be given that right to “diagnose”. Why? Your paying 200k+ to study drug use and drug interactions NOTHING ELSE. That is the meer definition of a pharmacist.

As far as studying microbiology, think of this example:

I can pump gas, check the tire pressure, and change my oil....Does that make me a professional auto mechanic?

 

[MinD_ D]

There’s something called an MTM (Medication Therapy Management). It’s a practice agreement with a physician allowing you to adjust doses of medication or even start certain drugs if an outlier patient meets the criteria. This is mostly “unicorn” clinical pharmacy specialties talked about on threads.

However, YOU are not trained beyond the simplest of diagnosis to be given that right to “diagnose”. Why? Your paying 200k+ to study drug use and drug interactions NOTHING ELSE. That is the meer definition of a pharmacist.

As far as studying microbiology, think of this example:

I can pump gas, check the tire pressure, and change my oil....Does that make me a professional auto mechanic?

For first part ,thank you for the information

For the second part ,you are not serious!!
Pharmacy school doesn't just teach ( drug use and drug interactions) also teach diseases and disorders + treatment
There is something called clinical pharmacy , so after all this are you sure we can't even diagnose ?! ( not like doctor)

For the example I don't know how you compile , or similarities !!!

 

[Momus]

I think there is a reason I put ( why not ) at the end . Could you explain ?

Diagnosing diseases falls in the realm of practicing medicine. You are not qualified to make a diagnosis (occasionally pointing where diarrhea/cough medication is doesn't count). The courses you mentioned, anyone can take and that doesn't make them a medical doctor. You take a semester to diagnose diseases. Do you suddenly become an expert? Doctors do this 2 years while in school + 4 years+ residency hands on training. Medical doctors practice medicine. Pharmacists don't. We aren't trained to diagnose. Read the scope of pharmacy practice.

 

[gwarm01]

This poor student might just be misled by some delusional academic.

We are not trained to diagnose. However, we are trained to assess patients to the point of recommending self-care through OTC products, or referring them to a physician or hospital. I could understand why you might conflate the two, especially if you are being taught that clinical pharmacy and provider status are going to be the future of pharmacy.

 

[rxkrafted]

I think you should try to diagnose some of the patients when you start rounding with physicians during rotations. I think you will get some great feedback.

 

[BC_89]

For first part ,thank you for the information

For the second part ,you are not serious!!
Pharmacy school doesn't just teach ( drug use and drug interactions) also teach diseases and disorders + treatment
There is something called clinical pharmacy , so after all this are you sure we can't even diagnose ?! ( not like doctor)

For the example I don't know how you compile , or similarities !!!

If you cant understand my analogy, then as a P1 listen to what’s being said on here. You don’t study enough in school to diagnose to the level of mid level clinicians. Dont confuse OTC meds with disease states.

I told you certain states allow pharmacists to prescribe certain meds. Your getting clear answers from people and challenge what you don’t like to here. Not sure how it can be made clearer.

 

[rxkrafted]

Also, there are many rare diseases and disorders that they don't cover in pharmacy school. Take a shot at some practice questions on the USMLE step questions.

 

[DOOM N GLOOM]

Hi everyone ,,,
I'm a 1st year pharmacy student .

I have a strange question

As pharmacy student , our study involved in knowing the physiology and the diseases , and the treatment .

Move to the question....


Can pharmacist in some point of their career diagnosis like a doctor or physicians ?


Why not ....

This is the current state of pharmacy in 2018... students getting into pharmacy schools not knowing what a pharmacist does.

 

[MinD_ D]

This is the current state of pharmacy in 2018... students getting into pharmacy schools not knowing what a pharmacist does.

I know why am going to study and the bath , just I asked curiosity question .

I would thank everyone who helped to make the answer clear , it seems that I had conflict between two things . Thank u all

 

[deleted556323]

Haha. That's funny

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Digsbe]

Hi everyone ,,,
I'm a 1st year pharmacy student .

I have a strange question

As pharmacy student , our study involved in knowing the physiology and the diseases , and the treatment .

Move to the question....


Can pharmacist in some point of their career diagnosis like a doctor or physicians ?


Why not ....

No

And because we are not trained to diagnose. Drop out and go for a PA program, their salaries are already on track to beat pharmacists.

 

[Rouelle]

No

And because we are not trained to diagnose. Drop out and go for a PA program, their salaries are already higher than pharmacists’.

Fixed that...at least as it occurs in my household

 

[Rouelle]

We might also remember that the field of medicine involves much more than managing drug therapy. How much ortho are you learning in pharmacy school? Odds are: virtually none. Do you think upon graduation you will be comfortable diagnosing a scaphoid fracture? Or repairing a hernia? Or reading an EKG? If it’s anything more complicated than asystole, I’m out.

At the moment you are seeing a very narrow slice of what physicians do.

 

[RxPreceptor]

Diagnosing is outside the scope of practice for RPhs. As ignorant as some may be, diagnosing someone is MUCH more complicated than your average/lay person can imagine. Just use a reference like Epocrates for some fairly common skin conditions/diseases and go under the "differential diagnosis" section; you have to be trained not only to know what objective & subjective signs & symptoms to look for, but also what is missing/rule out other conditions in a fairly quick & critical manner. Sure the treatment is often very similar but like others have mentioned, there are TONS of obscure conditions/diseases that are not common & we are not trained to evaluate the root cause(s) or even have the means of production to do so (labs, tools, clinical skills, etc.)

Contrast to how RPhs can easily compare & contrast (differential) 1 drug class vs. another for a given disease state and provide insight as to which drug is best catered to a particular individual given various comorbidities (we are trained much more extensively @ doing this...(at least some of us ><)...weighing benefits vs. risk for drugs, having insight on the appropriateness of the dose (labs needed often), kinetics, dynamics, interactions of course, & hell, even dose form). Recurring theme being insurance/$$$ as an obstacle; most RPhs are well trained enough to work around the BS of insurance & at least make drugs affordable albeit with some compromise with what is optimal/ideal

*Look into collaborative practices (contracts); some of them do provide RPh opportunity to perform such tasks as taking labs, changing doses, changing drugs, etc. Honestly not so optimistic about these...

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

More than 50% I'll after pharmacy school
Who knows

I don't think medical schools accept students that can barely write in English, but I could be wrong