Human Resource Development in Pharmaceutical Sciences in the New Era of Life Science

Abstract

Almost 20 years have passed since the six-year pharmaceutical education started as the standard educational course for pharmacists. The six-year pharmaceutical education was originally proposed to nurture the pharmacists who can play important roles in advanced medical care as part of the medical team. Importantly, recent advances in life science are providing additional scientific advantages for the graduates from the six-year pharmaceutical education system. In the new era of life science, clinical training in the six-year education will be beneficial not only for the clinical pharmacists but also for the pharmaceutical scientists. For example, in drug discovery research, numerous studies have been making efforts to identify therapeutic targets based on basic sciences so far. However, as a result of the innovation in life science, such as multi-omics analyses and molecular imaging, we can now perform patient-/disease-oriented research on molecular basis using clinical materials and information. Nowadays, with the help of data science, we can understand the pathophysiological status of individual patients and optimize pharmacotherapy from viewpoint of molecular biology in clinical setting. Moreover, in drug discovery research, we can explore and identify the drug targets by analyzing clinical samples and medical records. Thus, learning from the bedside in detail will develop future leaders, including pharmacists, scientists and pharmacist-scientists, who will pave the way for pharmaceutical sciences in the next generation.