Transforming Pharmaceutical Education to Accelerate the Acceptance and Implementation of Personalized Medicine

The lack of appropriate health professional education is considered a major barrier to the implementation of pharmacogenomics in clinical practice. Pharmacogenomics is important for personalized medicines and for safer, more effective pharmacotherapy. In simple terms, pharmacogenomics can improve the clinical outcomes of pharmacotherapy by the use of genetic information. This will lead to better medical care due to the better chance of therapeutic success and the reduction of adverse effects. It also may reduce health care costs by restricting use of certain treatments to those who will get the most benefit.1 Worldwide, only a limited number of pharmacists use pharmacogenomics in their practice and this is usually in highly specialized roles. Yet, it is acknowledged that pharmacists, as drug therapy experts, should have a greater role incorporating pharmacogenomic information into patient care. There is a wide range of opportunities for pharmacists in the field of pharmacogenomics.