Original scientific paper
ON DE- / RE- PROFESSIONALIZATION OF PHARMACY: critical analysis of the role of pharmacists in modern society
Živka Juričić
; Farmaceutsko-biokemijski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Željka Lukačin
Abstract
This paper begins with the discussion about specific, important, as well as ideal characteristics of the pharmaceutical profession, such as: knowledge, authority, autonomy, services, monopole and altruism. The examination of the role of pharmacists is based on Bourdieu’s concepts of social field and symbolic capital. In particular, we infer the following: the professional status of pharmacists is continually changing under the influence of a whole range of objective, historically constructed relations with capital and power. The increasing complexity of bureaucracy and administration, as well as the introduction of managerial, industrial, commercial and consumer logic in the field of health care and pharmacy, resulted in the decrease in the professional work of pharmacists. In a completely commercialized society, professions can no longer promote their professional logic (to provide service in the public interest) but must promote the logic of economic and financial capital (to provide service in the interest of decision makers in the socio-political system). The paper examines in detail the process of deprofessionalization of pharmacy, as well as its negative consequences: the reduction of pharmacists to mere salespersons, without any bigger role in the health care system. Based on our analysis, we ask a crucial question: How is it possible that we are witnessing a decline in the importance of pharmaceutical profession while, at the same time, it’s key characteristics - specialized, sophisticated knowledge that it provides, as well as, most importantly, the very need for such knowledge – remain relevant? In conclusion, we discuss the strategy of re-professionalization of pharmacy. A new concept of pharmaceutical care arose as pharmacists became increasingly dissatisfied with their professional status, which created tensions between them and other health care professionals, but also because of a genuine need for a more efficient pharmacotherapy.
Keywords
professionalization; characteristics of a profession; deprofessionalization of pharmacy; re-professionalization of pharmacy; pharmaceutical care
Hrčak ID:
132484
URI
Publication date:
22.12.2014.
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