Developmental Disability

The history of pharmacy is divided into distinct eras. In the Apothecary Era (prior to the 1940s), pharmacists were primarily responsible for harvesting raw materials and manually compounding them into elixirs or powders. With the Industrial Revolution, the focus shifted to the mass production of standardized "ready-made" medications by pharmaceutical companies.

By the 1960s, the Clinical Pharmacy Movement emerged. This shift redefined the pharmacist's role from a "dispenser of pills" to a "therapeutic consultant." Today, pharmacists are recognized as medication experts who work alongside physicians to optimize drug therapy, minimize side effects, and improve patient quality of life through a model known as Pharmaceutical Care.