Pharmaceutical medicine is a medical discipline concerned with the discovery, evaluation, registration, monitoring and clinical aspects of pharmaceutical development. All medical specialties overlap to some extent, and likewise the boundaries of pharmaceutical medicine are elastic. But, at its centre is the clinical testing of medicines, translation of pharmaceutical drug research into new medicines, safety and well-being of patients and research participants in

clinical trials Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...

, and understanding the safety profile of medicines and their benefit-risk balance. Pharmaceutical physicians work in the

pharmaceutical industry The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate symptoms. ...

, universities / medical schools, drug regulatory authorities and

contract research organisations In the life sciences, a contract research organization (CRO) is a company that provides support to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries in the form of research services outsourced on a contract basis. A CRO may provide ...

, but have a close affinity with their medical colleagues elsewhere. As a postgraduate medical discipline, pharmaceutical medicine has a recognised international syllabus, training courses with examinations and qualifications, its own research methodologies, professional bodies and academic societies, journalsPharmaceutical Medicine
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/ref> and texts, and embraces new technologies and regulations in pursuit of proof of efficacy, safety and effectiveness of medicines. Pharmaceutical medicine is a listed medical specialty in the UK, Ireland, Switzerland and Mexico. This official recognition is underlined by the availability of accredited education and training of specialist pharmaceutical physicians and the establishment and maintenance of standards of practice and professionalism in the competency, care and conduct applied to their work and of growing public recognition and accountability. In the UK, the

Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine The Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine (FPM) is a faculty of the three Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom (the Royal College of Physicians London, the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh and the Royal College of Physicians and S ...

of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

provides accreditation for the specialty. The basics of pharmaceutical medicine are founded in clinical pharmacology. In addition to expertise in basic research,

drug development Drug development is the process of bringing a new pharmaceutical drug to the market once a lead compound has been identified through the process of drug discovery. It includes preclinical research on microorganisms and animals, filing for re ...

, and the structure and function of clinical trials, pharmaceutical physicians must possess a thorough understanding of

pharmacoeconomics Pharmacoeconomics refers to the scientific discipline that compares the value of one pharmaceutical drug or drug therapy to another. It is a sub-discipline of health economics. A pharmacoeconomic study evaluates the cost (expressed in monetary te ...

, medical aspects of the marketing pharmaceuticals, and business administration, and public health Entry-level jobs with this qualification are often clinical research-related. At the entry level, PMST specialists often place into clinical research associate, clinical research analyst, pharmacodynamic data observer, clinical research project manager, drugs and pharmaceutical control manager in clinical research project, etc.

References

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External links

International Federation of Associations of Pharmaceutical Physicians

Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine

British Association of Pharmaceutical Physicians

Pharmaceutical Medicine

Academy of Pharmaceutical Physicians and Investigators

European Forum for Good Clinical Practice

International Society of Pharmacovigilance

International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology
Clinical pharmacology Pharmaceutical industry