Is pharmacy a knowledge-based profession?

Abstract

An increasingly important question for the pharmacy educator is the relationship between pharmacy knowledge and professionalism. There is a substantial body of literature on the theory of knowledge and it is useful to apply this to the profession of pharmacy. This review examines the types of knowledge and skill used by the pharmacist, with particular reference to tacit knowledge which cannot be codified. This leads into a discussion of practice-based pharmacy knowledge and the link between pharmaceutical science and practice. The final section of the paper considers the challenge of making knowledge work in practice. This includes a discussion of the production of knowledge within the context of application. The theoretical question posed by this review, "Is pharmacy a knowledge-based profession?" highlights challenging areas of debate for the pharmacy educator.