Chemistry Online

How does chemistry apply to being a pharmacist?

I'm doing a report for my chemistry class, and I'm having trouble finding out specifically how pharmacists used chemistry in their career.

Public Comments

1. Pharmacy IS medically applied Chemistry Before big drug companies, many pharmacists mixed their own drugs in solutions or in powdered form and distrubed them in capsules
2. Pharmacists need to know how various medicines, which are composed of compounds/chemicals, interact with each other as well as with the body. Those who do research need to know how to create medications--which involves a lot of chemistry! :)
3. Some pharmacists make drug cocktails by doctor's prescription. One of the famous ones was the diet drug cocktails was Phen-Phen.
4. If you do not know this, do not become a pharmacist. The entire universe is made out of chemicals. Drugs are chemicals. To make drugs you must be a master of chemistry, how it works and how to apply it.
5. In order to make a drug, one must do so by isolating it from a known substance or by creating it from the reaction of 2 or more substances. Therefore, it is important to know how different chemicals react with one another. Often, a series of reactions are required to make a particular substance. At high levels, most drugs become toxic, which is why it is important to know how drugs interact with the body and what dosages are safe.