Pharmacotherapy

Pharmacotherapy is therapy using pharmaceutical drugs, as distinguished from therapy using surgery, radiation, movement, or other modes.

Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, to help improve bodily function or appearance or to repair unwanted ruptured areas.

Therapy is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a diagnosis.

A pharmaceutical drug is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease.

Among physicians, sometimes the term medical therapy refers specifically to pharmacotherapy as opposed to surgical or other therapy; for example, in oncology, medical oncology is thus distinguished from surgical oncology.

A physician or medical doctor or just doctor is a professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining, or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury, and other physical and mental impairments.

Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Pharmacists are experts in pharmacotherapy and are responsible for ensuring the safe, appropriate, and economical use of pharmaceutical drugs.

Pharmacists, also known as chemists or druggists, are healthcare professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use.

The skills required to function as a pharmacist require knowledge, training and experience in biomedical, pharmaceutical and clinical sciences.

Pharmacology is the science that aims to continually improve pharmacotherapy.

Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action, where a drug can be broadly defined as any man-made, natural, or endogenous molecule which exerts a biochemical and/or physiological effect on the cell, tissue, organ, or organism.

The pharmaceutical industry and academia use basic science, applied science, and translational science to create new pharmaceutical drugs.

Translational science is a multidisciplinary form of science that bridges the recalcitrant gaps that sometimes exist between basic science and applied science, necessitating something in between to translate knowledge into applications.

Basic research, also called pure research or fundamental research, is scientific research aimed to improve scientific theories for improved understanding or prediction of natural or other phenomena.

Academia is the internationally recognized establishment of professional scholars and students, usually centered on colleges and universities, who are engaged in higher education and research.

As pharmacotherapy specialists, pharmacists have responsibility for direct patient care, often functioning as a member of a multidisciplinary team, and acting as the primary source of drug-related information for other healthcare professionals.

A pharmacotherapy specialist is an individual who is specialized in administering and prescribing medication, and requires extensive academic knowledge in pharmacotherapy.

In the US, a pharmacist can gain Board Certification in the area of pharmacotherapy upon fulfilling eligibility requirements and passing a certification examination.

While pharmacists provide valuable information about medications for patients and healthcare professionals, they are not typically considered covered pharmacotherapy providers by insurance companies.