In the past few decades, PHARMACY practice has grown beyond traditional drug dispensing. In 1960, a movement started by pharmacists in hospitals contributed to offering different aspects of consultation in drug use, which ultimately, in its development, crystallized to be called clinical PHARMACY. In the 1980s and 1990s, clinical PHARMACY matured, and it continued to grow further in the decades to come. Pharmacists have done their role in the clinical field prestigiously in the past few decades. In doing so, other aspects of practice have come up which are very important in Rational use of drugs, drug safety and saving financial resources. These aspects are social, behavioral, and policy aspects. There is a growing awareness in the profession that social, cultural, economic, and political factors impact medication use and health outcomes. This shift in perspective has led to the development of social PHARMACY, a multidisciplinary field that incorporates related social sciences into pharmaceutical education, research, and practice. Clinical PHARMACY was established as a field of direct patient care within society and the healthcare system. The sister discipline, social PHARMACY, addresses how drugs are utilized and understood by patients in society. Over my 40 years’ experience as a pharmacist, I have noticed increasing interest in patients and society about how medicines are prescribed, dispensed, and consumed. This editorial intends to (1) provide a clear definition of social PHARMACY, (2) discuss its importance in addressing health challenges, and (3) emphasize its vital contribution to future PHARMACY practice.

INTRODUCTION: Recent advances in PHARMACY practice have created serious ethical challenges for the pharmacists. Pursuing a new philosophy of practice is required to overcome these challenges and optimize the standard of care. In this regard, the current ethics guideline in the PHARMACY curriculum used in Tehran University of Medical Sciences, does not provide a fully comprehensive understanding of the issue. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to revise the current curriculum based on a needs assessment study. METHODS: In this study, a two-part questionnaire was presented to pharmacists to obtain their views on the importance of topics in their daily routine practice. Part one of the questionnaire consisted of demographic data and part two of 23 topics in PHARMACY ethics. RESULTS: Out of a total of 200 questionnaires, 158 questionnaires were returned. We reached consensus on 24 topics, of which 8 topics gained a score of higher than 4 (the highest score was considered to be 5) and the rest obtained a score of 3 and higher. The highest score pertained to the pharmacists’ relationship with patients, awareness of the rules and regulations, and medication error. CONCLUSION: Based on the results, a revised curriculum was designed for ethics in PHARMACY. It seems that the designed curriculum is context-based and will develop appropriate educational material regarding pharmacists’ requirements in daily practice. Consideration of interactive methods for teaching the curriculum is highly recommended.

The world is ageing. Data from World Population Prospects: the 2019 Revision, states that by 2050, one in six people in the world will be over age 65 (16%), up from one in 11 in 2019 (9%) (1). Iran is ageing rapidly, too. The data from the Statistical Center of Iran states that currently 10% of the Iranian population is 65 years old or above, but this percentage soon reaches to around 20% by the year 2050 (2). There has been efforts in highlighting this concern like writing “, Sanad Melli Salmandan Keshvar”,or the National Document on the Elderly, in 1399, by The Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Planning and Budget Organization, and State Welfare Organization of Iran (3). Also, for the first time in 1392, medical residents were recruited but this program was discontinued after several years. Elderly population needs special attention both from the physicians and pharmacists. The clinical pharmacist can play a special role by educating these two groups of healthcare professionals. This segment of population have different pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and have sensitive receptors. This leads into reducing dosage of drugs especially in the initiation phase. In addition, they tend to be more forgetful, and have reduced visual and auditory senses, making the medication consultation essential. Drug safety is very important, here. Need for reduced dosages and high chances of drug-drug interactions and side effects are enough reasons for a clinical pharmacist to monitor pharmacotherapy while educating patients, physicians and pharmacists. Mark H Beers from UCLA developed the first list of “, potentially inappropriate medication use in older adults”,in 1991. Since then, several revisions have occurred, the latest, in 2022, where the American Geriatrics Society updated the list by using an expert panel (4). Other countries such as Germany, France, Canada, England, and Sweden followed suit (5-9). In Iran, we do not have such a list. Maybe, a clinical pharmacist should make an effort to create this list by using physicians and clinical pharmacists as the panel of experts. Also, clinical pharmacists should be trained in geriatrics especially when we lack enough medical specialists to monitor the pharmacotherapy of Iranian elderlies.