Veterinary Pharmacy

Abstract

Veterinary pharmacy is a specialized area of practice within the field of pharmacy as a whole. It is in the veterinary academic setting that pharmacists have established themselves as an integral and important part of the veterinary health care team in that veterinary hospital pharmacists are engaged in many different activities involving drug distribution, clinical services, teaching, and research. The average veterinary hospital pharmacy provides services that are equivalent in quality and quantity to those found in many hospitals for humans. Veterinary hospital pharmacists also play an important role as drug therapy consultants often being called upon to design dosage regimens for various types of patients. In order to be maximally effective in this setting, the veterinary pharmacist must combine knowledge of drug chemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology with an understanding of those unique anatomic, metabolic, and behavioral aspects that exist for each species of animal. Veterinary pharmacists are also often involved in clinical research with veterinary hospital clinicians and, less often, in areas of basic research with other faculty members of the veterinary school. Veterinary pharmacy is predicted to continue to grow, expand, and evolve in those areas in which it has already become established, namely, the veterinary schools and their associated teaching hospitals. There is also ample opportunity and need for pharmacists to become involved in other areas, such as the veterinary pharmaceutical industry, veterinary regulatory agencies, and agricultural and livestock production, which affect not only veterinary medicine but also public health as a whole.