What is pharmacology and how does it relate to a pharmacy technician career ? Pharmacology is the study of drugs and the impact they have on living organisms. It includes the study of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. Although pharmacology is not the same as pharmacy, there are important pieces of each that overlap and folks in pharmacy careers may benefit by having at least a basic knowledge of pharmacology.
This topic may be described as a bridge science because it covers many other subjects including physiology, biochemistry and toxicology with the main focus being on the impact of chemicals on living organisms. Drugs generally are designed to disrupt, enhance or somehow modify the existing chemical communications in human systems. Pharmacology looks at how synthetic and natural drugs impact biological systems.
This science is a basis for medicine as well as nursing, dentistry and pharmacy. Because it investigates the relationship between drugs and chemicals on human health, it is a science that relates to all health careers. It's a field that has neverending growth and changes. While there have been many recent discoveries and beneficial progress, there are so many more tremendous opportunities.
Education in pharmacology includes study of Cellular Pharmacology, Developmental Pharmacology, Adverse Drug Reactions, Cancer Chemotherapy, Herbal Medicines and much more. The knowledge that certain drugs with known treatment behaviors are able to modify certain conditions provides some useful information about the condition itself. As a result, this science is one of the main forces behind many of the cutting edge advances in medicine.
With the explosion of life science companies and pharmaceutical research in recent years, there is a corresponding growth in demand for jobs for those with a pharmacology background.
There are numerous terms used in pharmacology that are also commonly used in general pharmacy work. Examples include "anesthetic", "bioavailability", "dependence", "equipotent", "habituation" and "half-life".
Pharmacology research has been extremely helpful in the development of new drugs to treat and prevent various health issues including cancer, diabetes, asthma, erectile dysfunction and more. The pharmacology program at Yale University gave birth to the first cancer chemotherapy clinical trials and today that program is ranked as one of the top in the U.S. by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. Students studying at the undergraduate level generally move on to medical school or graduate programs. Some also go directly into research careers in the industry and some find careers in pharmacy.
This science is a foundation of medicine and pharmacy and is therefore relevant to pharmacy technicians and anyone working in a pharmacy related career. However, it is important to understand that Pharmacy and Pharmacology are NOT the same and one must study and train differently for careers in one field compared to the other field.
We hope this has been some helpful "high-level" information about what is pharmacology and how it relates to medicine and pharmacy and other sciences. If you are interested in pharmacy technician information please explore the links below or on the left side of the page.