The Discourse Community of Clinical Pharmacists Explained

Introduction to Pharmaceutical Discourse Communities

Many professions have a specific set of terms—arguably a full linguistic code—that enable faster and more precise communication between members of the profession, yet that obscure the meaning of these communications to outsiders. This is one example of a "discourse community," and such communities can be found in many different professions. The medical industry is home to many professions that have their own individual discourse communities, and the industry as a whole can also be thought of as one large discourse community to some degree. Each different area of the medical world, however, has its own specialized language and terms specific to the functions and experiences of its branch of knowledge and expertise. Pharmacists form one such area in the field of medicine, and this particular discourse community is further explored in this paper.

Community Members and Shared Knowledge

Practicing pharmacists and pharmacy technicians (on a somewhat more limited basis) obviously make up the bulk of the members of the pharmacist's discourse community, but there are many other peripheral members as well. Anyone with a solid grounding in basic medical terminology would necessarily be able to participate in the pharmaceutical discourse community to some degree, meaning that virtually all medical practitioners are part of this community in some capacity. Pharmaceutical sales representatives and engineers, certain chemists, and even many well-informed patients would also be peripheral members.

A common knowledge of how various chemicals can be combined and how they interact with different processes in the human body binds this discourse community together. Terminology used within it includes the brand names and generic names of many common pharmaceuticals, a host of medical terms including the names of certain ailments and disorders, and the names of many tools and descriptive terms used almost exclusively in the pharmaceutical trade. All members of this discourse community will necessarily have had some level of formal education in medical and/or pharmaceutical terminology, with most members having received higher education degrees and often professional certification as well. Certain preconceptions and assumptions arising from the cause-and-effect model that comprises Western views of health are a definite part of this discourse community, along with an attendant belief in the efficacy of proper pharmaceutical treatment. This discourse may, however, be beginning to shift.

Current Conversations in the Pharmaceutical Industry

The pharmaceutical industry—and thus the pharmaceutical discourse community as a whole—is driven by a great deal of innovation in ongoing research, meaning there are always a large number of conversations occurring within the community. Current issues, some of which suggest a fundamental shift in the discourse community, include changing demographics in medication use and pharmaceutical consumption, new sources of pharmaceutical compounds that had previously gone underutilized or summarily discounted, and a host of other changing trends in pharmaceutical production and delivery (Humer, 2005).

A large part of the discourse in the wider pharmaceutical community is concerned with the long-term profitability of pharmaceutical endeavors. Ongoing profitability requires ongoing innovation—not simply in improving production methods to lower costs, but also in developing new products to treat conditions more effectively and more safely, or even to find new purposes for older pharmaceuticals (Humer, 2005). New sources for molecules and compounds to be used in pharmaceuticals are continuously proposed as solutions to the ongoing innovation challenge, and new compounds can also open up new demographics by addressing different conditions and creating different cost profiles for various types of pharmaceuticals (Humer, 2005). With new pharmaceuticals emerging at an ever-faster rate, even local pharmacists necessarily find themselves engaged in global trends of the pharmaceutical industry and in changes to the broader pharmaceutical discourse community.

Conclusion

The pharmaceutical discourse community is itself a broad and diverse community with many smaller communities, yet with a great deal of overlap in linguistic codes and discourse areas between them. Becoming a part of this large and diverse discourse community is at once encouraging and slightly overwhelming; there is such a wealth of information and a plethora of research areas involved in developing pharmaceutical knowledge that maintaining a narrow focus can seem at times impossible. The discussion and specific areas of focus presented above help to narrow the field of discourse in which this researcher hopes to become more permanently engaged.

References

Humer, F. (2005). Innovation in the pharmaceutical industry: Future prospects. Zürcher Volkswirtschaftliche Gesellschaft.

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