Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29354558›Full record

ArticleIntegrated pharmacy research & practice2017

Defining pharmacy and its practice: a conceptual model for an international audience.

S L Scahill, M Atif, Z U Babar

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Integrated pharmacy research & practice, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

22 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Strengthening Pakistan's pharmaceutical workforce: from evidence to action.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2026
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  18. COVID-19 Pandemic and its Impact on Pharmacy EducationTurkish journal of pharmaceutical sciences · 2021
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

S L ScahillSchool of Management, Massey Business School, Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand.
M AtifPharmacy School, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
Z U BabarSchool of Pharmacy, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, England, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is much fragmentation and little consensus in the use of descriptors for the different disciplines that make up the pharmacy sector. Globalization, reprofessionalization and the influx of other disciplines means there is a requirement for a greater degree of standardization. This has not been well addressed in the pharmacy practice research and education literature.

objectivesTo identify and define the various subdisciplines of the pharmacy sector and integrate them into an internationally relevant conceptual model based on narrative synthesis of the literature.

methodsA literature review was undertaken to understand the fragmentation in dialogue surrounding definitions relating to concepts and practices in the context of the pharmacy sector. From a synthesis of this literature, the need for this model was justified. Key assumptions of the model were identified, and an organic process of development took place with the three authors engaging in a process of sense-making to theorize the model.

resultsThe model is "fit for purpose" across multiple countries and includes two components making up the umbrella term "pharmaceutical practice". The first component is the four conceptual dimensions, which outline the disciplines including social and administrative sciences, community pharmacy, clinical pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences. The second component of the model describes the "acts of practice": teaching, research and professional advocacy; service and academic enterprise.

conclusionsThis model aims to expose issues relating to defining pharmacy and its practice and to create dialogue. No model is perfect, but there are implications for what is posited in the areas of policy, education and practice and future research. The main point is the need for increased clarity, or at least beginning the discussion to increase the clarity of definition and consistency of meaning in-and-across the pharmacy sector locally, nationally and internationally.

Indexed as

conceptual modeldefining pharmacyglobal standardizationnormative practices

Identifiers

PMID29354558
PMCPMC5774311

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.