It is the creation of a particular pharmaceutical product to fit the unique need of a patient. To do this, compounding pharmacists combine or process appropriate ingredients using various tools.
Compounding pharmacy is just a speciality. If you want to do that, you should make sure to take all the compounding classes your school has and do a rotation at a compounding pharmacy P-4 year. All pharmacists can compound. It is just there aren't that many prescriptions which require it. Source(s): pharmacy student. Rating: +3. The Art and Science of Compounding, is one that belongs to the pharmacist and has been so for hundreds of years. In fact, the very first practices of early pharmacists were just that, compounding medications for their patients. What that means, is to prepare, to formulate, to mix, make ready from basic chemical ingredients, a dosage form specific to the needs of a patient, as ordered by a practitioner. Pharmaceutical compounding (done in compounding pharmacies) is the creation of a particular pharmaceutical product to fit the unique need of a patient. To do this, compounding pharmacists combine or process appropriate ingredients using various tools. Compounding is most routine in the case of intravenous/parenteral medication, typically by hospital pharmacists, but is also offered by privately owned compounding pharmacies and certain retail pharmacies for various forms of medication. In general, compounding is a practice in which a licensed pharmacist, a licensed physician, or, in the case of an outsourcing facility, a person under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist, combines, mixes, or alters ingredients of a drug to create a medication tailored to the needs of an individual patient. Compounded drugs are not FDA-approved. This means that FDA does not verify the safety, or effectiveness of compounded drugs. Consumers and health professionals rely on the drug approval process to ensure that drugs are safe and effective and made in accordance with Federal quality standards. Pharmacy compounding is an established tradition which allows a physician to prescribe a very specific medication, prepared by a pharmacist, for a patient’s individual needs. Years ago, compounded medications provided the majority of prescription drug care for the population. 1 Compounded items are in greater demand for these groups, as the mass-produced market is lacking. 2  A compounding pharmacist may be able to combine several medications a patient is taking into one dosage form to increase compliance. 3  The same situation may apply to a patient taking several nutritional supplements. 1 A compounding pharmacist may be able to combine several medications a patient is taking into one dosage form to increase compliance. 2  The same situation may apply to a patient taking several nutritional supplements. 1 Compounded items are in greater demand for these groups, as the mass-produced market is lacking. 2  A compounding pharmacist may be able to combine several medications a patient is taking into one dosage form to increase compliance. 3 1 Check with the pharmacist to see if he or she is familiar with compounding the product in your prescription, and whether he or she has the training, equipment, and processes in place to compound that product. 2  Get information from your doctor or pharmacist about proper use and storage of the compounded product. Pharmacy compounding is a practice in which a licensed pharmacist combines, mixes, or alters ingredients in response to a prescription to create a medication tailored to the medical needs of an individual patient. New England Compounding Center (NECC) is a compounding pharmacy. It has now recalled the 2,410 different drugs it sold in all 50 states. Fungal contamination of at least one product -- single-shot syringes filled with a steroid preparation -- is responsible for the meningitis outbreak. In the last two to three years there has been an upsurge in an old function of compounding pharmacies, to step in on a local basis to fulfill drug shortage issues, Miller says. What we have seen is on a large scale, important drugs being in shortage and not for short periods as before. Pharmacy compounding is the customized preparation of a medicine that is not otherwise commercially available. These medications are prescribed by a physician, veterinarian, or other prescribing practitioner, and compounded by a state-licensed pharmacist. 
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what does a compounding pharmacist do