Role of a pharmacist in improving rational drug therapy as part of the patient care team.

The pharmacist's role in improving rational drug therapy when he is a part fo the patient care team is to guarantee the patient the proper use of the best drugs available. Experience at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center has proven to the nursing and medical staffs, as well as to pharmacists that a need for the pharmacist in the clinical area does exist. The author maintains that new drug distribution systems allow the pharmacist to perform new duties in the patient care area and that the clinical pharmacist will be an important participant in drug information retrieval and dissemination in the hospital.