The difference between a pharmacologist and a pharmacist is that a pharmacologist studies the interaction of drugs with the human body, while a pharmacist dispenses drugs.
That said you must know how each functions in order to be more clear:
What is Pharmacology?
It is the study of drugs – what they are, how they work and what they do. It includes the study of the manner in which the function of living tissues and organisms is modified by chemical substances and the study of the effect of chemical agents on living processes.
What is Pharmacy?
A pharmacist has to complete 6 years of pharmacy school to graduate with a Pharm D (Doctor of Pharmacy) degree. This requirement changed 5-6 yrs ago. Before that, a pharmacy degree required 5 yrs- (B.S degree in pharmacy) which is what I have.
A pharmacy technician does not require a college degree or certification for some jobs. Most all hospital jobs require you to become certified. This calls for taking and passing a certification test. Usually technicians make more money per hour if they are certified. I have worked with a lot of techs who didn’t know anything about pharmacy when they started working in a retail pharmacy; they received on-the-job training, then took the exam to become certified when they felt comfortable.
Pharmacology should not be confused with Pharmacy, which is a quite different area of study involving the scientific legal and managerial aspects of dispensing medicines. It is important to realise the difference between pharmacology and pharmacy because these subjects lead to quite different careers.
To many, the word ‘drug’ suggests a dangerous substance to which young people become ruinously addicted. To a pharmacologist, however, the word ‘drug’ really means any chemical substance which changes normal body function and so includes medicines as well as poisons and drugs of abuse.
To sum up:
Pharmacology is the study of the effect of medications on the body. It is the basis of what pharmacists do. Techs may be required to know a certain amount of pharmacology, also. Hope this helps, and feel free to email back with more questions.
PS: Pharmacologist is a medical personal ( post MBBS) and pharmacist is para medical personal in India.
MBBS ( 5.5 yrs) + MD( 3 yrs) ( pharm ) = pharmacologist ;
Bachelor’s degree ( 3yrs ) or Diploma degree ( 2 yrs) after primary education( +12 ) – is pharmacist….INDIA
Culled from pharmacist-school.com
