Bachelor in Pharmacy

The dispensary is the historic and traditional domain of pharmacists. For a long time, all of a pharmacist’s duties were concentrated there. As medication preparers, following the doctor’s prescription, they would prepare “compounded medications,” tablets, pills, syrups from substances of biological or mineral origin, most of which were themselves prepared and analyzed in the dispensary. They then dispensed these medications to patients, assuming full responsibility for them.

Scientific and social developments, particularly the emergence of pharmaceutical specialties, have shifted the balance of these roles. Adapting to this new situation means that, faced with an increasingly complex and diverse therapeutic arsenal, the primary role of pharmacists today is to have a thorough understanding of the medications they dispense and their effects. More than ever, they are the last line of defense between the medication and the patients, whom they must be able to guide and advise on its use.

Approximately 70% of graduates pursue careers as community pharmacists. Consulted twice as often as doctors and enjoying a high level of trust among the public, community pharmacists are frontline public health professionals. Their role as advisors in dispensing medications, providing pharmaceutical follow-up, and supporting patients is essential. 

Fulfilling this mission requires solid knowledge of pharmacology and medical conditions, as well as strong listening, communication, and teaching skills.

Pharmacists can also play an important role in a wide variety of other fields that are difficult to categorize. For example, pharmacists apply their expertise in toxicology, hygiene and environmental protection, food analysis, cosmetology, dietetics, and herbal medicine, as well as in the fields of research and higher education. 

In the pharmaceutical industry, industrial pharmacists play a key role in research and development (drug development, formulation, analysis, etc.), contribute to clinical trials, are involved in regulatory affairs concerning, among other things, drug registration, and are responsible for drug production, quality control (QC), and quality assurance (QA). Finally, certain key positions must be held by industrial pharmacists.

In a hospital setting, hospital pharmacists manage and oversee the pharmacy department. They are responsible for the manufacturing, control, analysis, sterilization, and dispensing of medications, as well as the management of the hospital pharmacy. As specialists in medications and medical equipment (prosthetics, surgical equipment, etc.), they are in constant contact with healthcare staff (doctors, nurses, etc.).

In hospitals, clinical pharmacists are part of the healthcare team. They also interact with patients, and their goal is to optimize medication use (rational selection, adverse effects, cost, etc.).

Clinical laboratory scientists manage private or hospital-affiliated clinical laboratory (or medical testing) facilities. They are responsible for the quality of the tests as well as their interpretation. Through the information they provide, they contribute, in collaboration with physicians, to establishing a diagnosis of the disease. Clinical biology comprises three main fields: medical chemistry (analysis of chemical and biochemical components, toxicology, etc.), hematology (analysis of blood cells and proteins, immunology, etc.), and microbiology (analysis of bacteria, viruses, parasites, etc.).

Radiopharmacists, for their part, are responsible for the production and control of radioisotopes for diagnostic (medical imaging) and therapeutic (radiotherapy) use.

A number of government agencies and organizations rely on the expertise of pharmacists. These include public authorities (e.g., the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products, which oversees the Pharmacy Inspectorate), the military (Health Service), public agencies (INAMI, mutual insurance companies), professional organizations (Belgian Pharmaceutical Association, Medicines Control Service, etc.), and humanitarian organizations (Pharmacists Without Borders).