How is pharmacy different from pharmacology?

While pharmacy and pharmacology are both essential to medicine, they focus on distinct aspects of drug science.

Pharmacy is the science and art concerned with the preparation, standardization, and dispensing of drugs. Pharmacists focus on formulating dosage forms—such as tablets, capsules, and injections—ensuring the quality and efficacy of medicinal products, and providing information to patients and prescribers.1

Pharmacology, by contrast, is the branch of medicine that studies the interaction of drugs with living systems. It focuses on the mechanisms of drug action, the therapeutic uses of compounds, and how chemical structures influence effects within the body. While pharmacy is centered on the preparation and delivery of medication, pharmacology is centered on the scientific research and understanding of how those medications function in the treatment of disease.21

In short, pharmacology provides the scientific foundation for how drugs work, while pharmacy applies that knowledge to prepare, standardize, and safely provide those treatments to patients.21