Pharmacy Practice
What to know
Pharmacy practice questions test the operational and clinical workflow of a pharmacy rather than isolated drug facts. Know the sequence of a prescription's life: receipt and validity check, patient record review, therapeutic and dose verification, dispensing and labelling, pharmacist final check, counselling, and documentation. Understand the difference between a legal prescription requirement and a best-practice recommendation - questions often blur the two.
Be comfortable with medication reconciliation, especially at transitions of care (admission, discharge, transfer). Know the purpose of adverse drug reaction reporting, pharmacovigilance systems, and how to handle a suspected counterfeit or defective product. Understand storage requirements (cold chain, controlled room temperature, light protection), expiry dating, and what to do with a product that has been stored outside its range. Know the principles of inventory control, including look-alike/sound-alike name risks and tall-man lettering.
Traps
- Confusing dispensing accuracy with clinical appropriateness; both must be checked.
- Assuming a technically valid prescription is also clinically appropriate.
- Forgetting that counselling must be documented, not just delivered.
- Mixing up recall classes or reporting timelines.
- Ignoring the patient's own medication list when reconciling.
Worked example / rule of thumb
Use the three-check rule: before any product leaves the pharmacy, confirm (1) right patient, (2) right product and dose, (3) right instructions understood by the patient. If any of the three cannot be confirmed, stop and resolve it. Example: a label reading "take as directed" fails check 3 and must be rewritten with a specific dose, route, and frequency.