Pharmacists : Current Challenges and Perspectives

It has become apparent that pharmacy education needs to respond to professional and social changes and renew its mission in terms of students and learning objectives. As such, this compilation presents approaches for bridging the theory-practice gap. Following this, the authors focus on pharmacists'' role in oncology, and the current challenges and perspectives of pharmacist in oncology settings. Oncology pharmacists contribute to the rational use of chemotherapy and supportive drugs by providing individual pharmaceutical care plans for patients. Challenges in pharmacy education and practice in the Middle East are discussed, and the authors elaborate on specific frameworks for different sectors of pharmacy. It is also proposed that developing the pharmacist''s role as a major part of the medical team could provide patients with the highest outcomes at the lowest cost. The objective of the closing review is to make a proposal for the implementation of the analysis of ethical, organisational, legal, social, environmental and other domains, in the studies of the health technology assessment agencies.