Pharmacist in Spanish

What does a pharmacist do?

MedlinePlus describes the work this way: the pharmacist prepares and processes medicine prescriptions that were written by a primary or specialty care provider, and pharmacists provide information to people about medicines. They also consult with providers about dosages, interactions, and side effects of medicines. A pharmacist may also follow a person's progress to check that the medicine is being used safely and effectively. MedlinePlus adds that pharmacists also can evaluate health and prescribe medicines.

Training

MedlinePlus says licensed pharmacists have graduate training from a college of pharmacy. The NCI dictionary describes a pharmacist as a health professional with special training in preparing and dispensing prescription drugs, who has been taught how drugs work, how to use them, and their side effects.

What it means

A pharmacist is a health professional who has special training in preparing and dispensing (giving out) prescription drugs. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) dictionary adds that pharmacists have been taught how drugs work, how to use them, and their side effects. According to MedlinePlus, licensed pharmacists have graduate training from a college of pharmacy. A pharmacist prepares and processes medicine prescriptions that were written by a primary or specialty care provider, provides information to people about medicines, and consults with providers about dosages, interactions, and side effects of medicines. A pharmacist may also follow a person's progress to check that a medicine is being used safely and effectively. In Spanish the term is farmacéutico or, for a woman, farmacéutica.

Spanish term: Farmacéutico
Gender and article: masculine: el farmacéutico; feminine: la farmacéutica
Pronunciation: far-mah-SEH-oo-tee-koh

Other Spanish terms	Where it is used	Note
farmaceuta	General	The NCI Spanish dictionary says the farmacéutico is also called farmaceuta; the MedlinePlus en español encyclopedia lists the plural, farmaceutas, among its alternative names.
boticario / boticaria	General	Listed by the RAE dictionary among the synonyms or related words (sinónimos o afines) of farmacéutico.

The RAE dictionary enters this word as farmacéutico, ca. As an adjective it means belonging or relating to pharmacy (farmacia). As a noun the dictionary marks it "m. y f." and defines it as a person legally authorized to practice pharmacy, so the word changes with the person: el farmacéutico for a man and la farmacéutica for a woman. Both MedlinePlus en español and the NCI Spanish dictionary use farmacéutico as their main term.

The NCI Spanish dictionary adds that this professional is also called farmaceuta, and the MedlinePlus en español encyclopedia lists farmaceutas among the alternative names of its article on types of health professionals. The RAE lists boticario, farmacopola and apotecario as synonyms or related words. Vocabulary from the same pages: recetas (prescriptions), medicamentos de venta con receta (prescription drugs), dosis (doses), interacciones (interactions) and efectos secundarios (side effects).

Phrases for an appointment

What a patient or a clinician might say, in English and Spanish:

Who	English	Spanish
Patient	May I speak with the pharmacist, please?	¿Puedo hablar con el farmacéutico o la farmacéutica, por favor?
Clinician	Do you have any questions about how to take this medicine?	¿Tiene alguna pregunta sobre cómo tomar este medicamento?
Patient	Should I take it with food?	¿Debo tomarlo con comida?
Patient	I take other medicines. Can you check whether they interact?	Tomo otros medicamentos. ¿Puede revisar si tienen interacciones?
Clinician	Are you allergic to any medicine?	¿Tiene alergia a algún medicamento?
Patient	What side effects can this medicine cause?	¿Qué efectos secundarios puede causar este medicamento?
Clinician	Your prescription will be ready in twenty minutes.	Su receta estará lista en veinte minutos.
Patient	The pharmacist at my pharmacy speaks Spanish, and she explained everything to me.	La farmacéutica de mi farmacia habla español y me lo explicó todo.

In 9 languages

Language	Term
English	Pharmacist
Spanish (Español)	Farmacéutico
Chinese (中文)	藥劑師
Korean (한국어)	약사
Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt)	Dược sĩ
Filipino (Tagalog)	Parmasyutiko
Portuguese (Português)	Farmacêutico
Thai (ภาษาไทย)	เภสัชกร
Japanese (日本語)	薬剤師

Where you'll see it

prescriptionpharmacy receiptchart

Related terms

Your right to an interpreter in the United States

If English is not your primary language and you have difficulty communicating in English, you may need an interpreter or a translated document when you visit a doctor or dentist, go to the emergency room or pick up a prescription. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights states that two federal laws, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, require programs that receive its funding to provide language access services free of charge.

You can ask when you make the appointment or at the front desk: "I need an interpreter, please." «Necesito un intérprete, por favor.»

More terms: General care: tests, procedures and medicines

All terms in this area: General care: tests, procedures and medicines — Atención general: pruebas, procedimientos y medicamentos

Sources

This page is a language reference. It is not medical advice.