Abstract
The history of Japanese pharmacists began with the promulgation of the medical system in 1874 (Meiji 7), and will reach 150 years in 2024. During this time, the environment surrounding medical care and pharmacists has changed significantly. This paper reviews how pharmacy pharmacists and hospital pharmacists changed their positions, transformed their roles and duties, and expanded the pharmacist profession in different environments, along with the background of social factors such as the separation of prescription and dispensing (Iyakubungyo), the pharmaceutical affairs and medical affairs system, and pharmaceutical education. In particular, the fact that the Iyakubungyo did not progress for 100 years after the medical system had a major impact. During this period, pharmacy pharmacists were hardly able to dispense drugs, but hospital pharmacists developed their dispensing technique and created the position of technician in charge of dispensing. After 1974, the first year of the Iyakubungyo, pharmacy pharmacists gradually changed to technicians in charge of dispensing, and hospital pharmacists shifted to patient-oriented ward work after an inpatient basic dispensing fee was newly established in 1988. This was a major shift from objective work to interpersonal work. With the revision of the Medical Care Act in 1992, pharmacists were given the responsibility of being responsible for medical care, and patient-centered Pharmaceutical Care began to spread as a direction for pharmacists' work.
Since 2010, the importance of team medical care and promotion measures have been presented, hospital pharmacists support medical care as pharmaceutical specialist in team medical care, and pharmacy pharmacists are becoming family pharmacists and community healthcare leaders. In 2019, a function-based pharmacy certification system was launched to make it easier for patients to choose a pharmacy. We have entered an era in which pharmacists are required to take responsibility for each patient’s drug therapy, provide pharmaceutical management and guidance, maintain the health of local community residents, and serve as a consultation counter, with the aim of ensuring the proper use of medicines and medical safety.
