The pharmacists of tomorrow will be "stepping into the gap where physicians have previously operated," Steve Martin, PharmD, dean of Ohio Northern University's Raabe College of Pharmacy in Ada, said in a June 26 release.
Some of their future tasks may include things like managing medication therapy or perhaps "haven’t even been invented yet," Dr. Martin said.
As a pharmacist who grew up in a family of pharmacists, Dr. Martin stated in his pre-retirement Q&A that pharmacy and a desire to help people are two things that will continue to be needed even as other things like advanced technologies evolve.
Looking ahead, he predicts "a structured partnership between psychiatrists and pharmacists," will begin to emerge across the profession allowing pharmacists to play a greater role in a patient's care continuum — particularly as the demand for clinicians and a primary point of care increases.
"We could free up psychiatrists to see those acute patients that need care urgently, with diagnosis and beginning therapy, while pharmacists could manage the pharmacotherapy for patients to really optimize their care," he said.
Dr. Martin also noted that the healthcare sector is also likely to see more pharmacists entering into leadership roles "in the private industry to a much greater extent, in healthcare systems as well as in the government [and] in the military," he said.