The concept of the “seven-star pharmacist” was introduced by WHO and adopted by FIP in 2000 in its policy statement on Good Pharmacy Education Practice to cover the roles of caregiver, decision-maker,communicator, manager, life-long learner, teacher and leader. The function of the pharmacist as a researcher has since been added and all these have been addressed in the competence standards.
1. Caregiver:
Pharmacists must view their practice as integrated and continuous with those of the healthcare system and other health professionals.
2. Decision-maker: The appropriate, efficacious, safe and cost-effective use of resources (for example,personnel, medicines, chemicals, equipment, procedures, practices) should be the foundation of the pharmacist’swork. Achieving this goal requires the ability to evaluate, synthesise data and information and decide upon themost appropriate course of action.
3. Communicator: The pharmacist is in an ideal position to provide a link between prescriber and patient, and tocommunicate information on health and medicines to the public and other health professionals. Communication involves verbal, non-verbal, listening and writing skills.
4. Manager: Pharmacists must be able to manage resources (human, physical and financial) and information effectively; they must also be comfortable being managed by others, whether by an employer or the manager/leader of a healthcare team.
5. Life-long-learner: It is impossible to acquire in pharmacy school all the knowledge and experience needed topursue a life-long career as a pharmacist. The concepts, principles and commitment to life-long learning must begin while attending pharmacy school and must be supported throughout the pharmacist’s career. Pharmacists should learn how to keep their knowledge and skills up to date and how to put them into practice.
6. Teacher: Every pharmacist has a responsibility to assist with the education and training of future generations of pharmacists and the public. Participating as a teacher not only imparts knowledge to others, it offers an opportunity for the practitioner to gain new knowledge and to fine-tune existing skills.
7. Leader: Leadership involves compassion and empathy as well as vision and the ability to make decisions, communicate, and manage effectively. A pharmacist whose leadership role is to be recognised must have vision and the ability to lead.
8. Researcher: The pharmacist must be able to use the evidence base (e.g., scientific, pharmacy practice, healthsystem) effectively in order to advise on the rational use of medicines in the healthcare team. As a researcher,the pharmacist is able to increase the accessibility of unbiased health and medicines-related information for thepublic and other healthcare professionals.
