Pharmacists are integral members of the health-care team and provide objective, comprehensive, unbiased information for health-care decisions and problem solving. In addition, pharmacists are assuming greater non-dispensing roles that include providing direct patient care counseling, evaluating medications for formulary status, developing drug therapy protocols, conducting MUE and DUEs, maintaining ADR programs and conducting pharmacoeconomics analysis.

 In addition, the advancements in technology and health sciences have made a profound effect on the manner in which pharmacy and medicine are practiced today. The quantity of information and methods of access (e.g., wireless) are increasing at an extraordinary rate.

Pharmacists must be able to systematically locate, analyze, and deliver the information in an efficient manner to meet the needs of the requester and/or institution. However, pharmacists must be cautious of researched materials and/or other information presented to them. Misleading information is present among the publications; therefore, all health-care professionals needs to have the ability to evaluate and interpret biomedical literature to appropriately apply in practice.
 

Drug Information Education Activities

The primary goal of the following required drug information courses is to prepare the individual to serve as an effective provider of drug information. An effective provider perceives, assesses, and evaluates drug information needs; and retrieves, evaluates, communicates, and applies data from the published literature and other sources as an integral component of pharmaceutical care. The Drug Information faculty follow the “Consensus-Derived Objectives for Drug Information Education” developed during the 1991 Drug Information Conference held in Albuquerque, New Mexico.