Community pharmacies can be found on high streets and in rural villages, providing healthcare services when other options are unavailable. They dispense prescriptions, offer primary care services, and advise patients on proper medication use. While community pharmacists can offer personalized attention, they also face pressures of high workflow volumes and limited patient interaction time. Effective communication skills are important for community pharmacists, including active listening, observation, and using a structured approach to questioning patients. The future of community pharmacy roles remains undecided for many upcoming pharmacists, though some trends show more women being interested in hospital pharmacy and men in owning their own business.

1. Community
Pharmacy
First Year
Faculty of Pharmacy
Pharos University
2016-2017

2. Table of Content
• Definition of Community Pharmacy
• Advantages & Disadvantages
• Skills
• Future

3. Definition
Community of a pharmacy can be
found on high street, rural villages. It
could be a chain drug store or
independently pharmacy many are
open 24 hours when other health
care professionals are unavailable

4. •The role of community of pharmacy:
1) Dispense prescription written by doctors
2) Provide some primary healthcare services
3) Advise the patient with the right dosage of certain
medicine
4) Help patient about having the medicine in right form

5. Advantages
I’d say the main advantage of a community
pharmacy is that customers can get more
personal attention. Local pharmacists come to
know their customers , and vice versa. The
customers generally feel comfortable asking
questions of a pharmacist they know and trust
than one who is a stranger. A pharmacist may be
more motivated to act in the best interest of the
customer (as far as suggesting cheaper generic
alternatives to expensive medications , giving tips
about insurance claims, etc.) it that customer is a
neighbor.

6. Disadvantages
• Pressure to complete work quickly and
efficiently
• Need customers
• Too much busy work, not enough time with
patients
• What people say about community
pharmacist ?

7. Skills
i) Verbal Communication Skills:
1. Active Listening
2. Observation & Assessment

8. Questioning Technique
The pharmacist not the patient is the one control the interaction by
controlling the types of questions asked and the time allowed for
response.
1) Don’t fire up a rapid sequence of YES/NO questions
2) At the beginning, ask open ended questions to allow patients to talk
freely about their medications & concerns (e.g. what medications
are you taking?).
3) Use minimal facilitators (e.g. yes, uh, what else?)
4) Provide non-verbal encouragement by smiling and nodding when
appropriate.
5) Give the patient time to answer
6) Use directed & structured questions
7) Narrow the focus of the question along the conversation.
8) Discuss one topic at a time and avoid leading questions.

9. • Use appropriate language during the
counseling session
• Inform the patient of the dosage regimen
• Discuss drug-drug, drug-food, drug disease
interactions

10. Future
Future pharmacy workforce:
Pharmacy students about to enter the
profession will have a huge influence on
the way pharmacy is practiced in the
future

11. Table 1: “Very certain” career destinations
of the cohort in 10 years’ time
PercentageCareer Destination
22.8Hospital
14.7Community-large mutiple
13.6In practice abroad
12.7Community-own business
12.0Undecided
8.7Primary care

12. Women were significantly more likely to be very
certain that they wanted a hospital pharmacy
career, Conversely, men were significantly
more likely to have very certain
entrepreneurial career intentions that they
would own their own community pharmacy.
Another point to talk about is the career breaks
and the following table describes it majorly

13. Table 2: Intended career breaks
Women (%)Men (%)Career break
35.444.5Travel abroad
18.821.6Work abroad
8.416.5Study
61.59.8Start a family
4.517.1None planned