Pharmacy Discourse
Community: What it
Takes
Refaela Beqi
ENG 3010
ORP
All About Discourse
Community
Discourse community: A group of people who share a set of understood values, assumptions, goals, and
ways of communicating a specific purpose for these discourses.
•
Pharmacy discourse community is comprised of several types of individuals: pharmacists,
pharmaceutical industry employees, researchers, business men and women, students, doctors and
practitioners, and many more.
•
Among the many goals, improving healthcare and providing affective medicine to individuals is a
very important and difficult one. All of these individuals work interdependently in many different
settings to contribute to healthcare.
•
The values for this discourse community are focused around business and pharmacy ethics. In
order to meet their goals, these individuals are limited in order to insure that their work does not
negatively impact the health of individuals, sometimes causing a problem for researchers.
•
However, simply making findings is not sufficient in this discourse community. As the scientific
process explains, procedures must be done by several others in the discourse community to make
sure that the findings are not coincidental or harmful in other aspects. This involves a process of
communication among the members, something that is possible through genre.
All About Genre
Genre: the written or oral forms of communicating ideas, which are
historically explained and changing with time. Like discourse
communities, genres also have a purpose and goal.
There are several genres in the pharmacy discourse, some of
which include: writing prescription orders, interpreting
prescription orders and translating them into a medication
label, writing research reports, and understanding scientific
information, such as organic molecular structures.
Genres change with time in the pharmacy discourse community
because laws are continuously changed, discoveries are
frequently made, medications are changing, and new diseases
are arising. That is why it is important to be familiar with genres
and changes.
Genre & Logic
Ethos: this refers to the credibility of the author. When studying
genre it is important that your information comes from a
reputable source. The point is to find more truth or answers to
questions so getting inaccurate or false information leads you
farther than where you were from the truth.
Pathos: this refers to emotions and how authors can persuade
their audience. Genre tone can be analyzed to determine wither
the author’s own emotions are clouding their judgement and
are they using this type of tone to induce that same feeling.
Logos: this has to do with reasoning. Audience emotions are a
powerful tool in genre analysis but it is logic that really provides
evidence for claims.
The Relationship
Some people may think that pharmacists do not really
use genres but this is completely wrong. Pharmacists,
and other members of this discourse community use
different genres on a daily basis; in fact, it would be
impossible to perform their jobs or fulfill their discourse
community goals without it.
Genres are also used to communicate with members of
other discourses, such as: government officials or
insurance companies, lawyers, and patients who are all
members of different discourses.
Purpose
For my Research Project, I decided to investigate
different genres in my discourse community and their
importance. To begin my research process, I thought of
issues that arise in my discourse community that are
also issues detected by members of other discourse
communities, which shapes my theoretical framework.
The purpose of this project is to better familiarize
myself with different genres in my discourse community
and to inform prospective members of these concepts.
Methods and Procedure
Although I am a member of this discourse
community, I am not considered an expert, I am a
novice. An expert is an individual that has several
thousands of hours performing a specific task. They
are knowledgeable enough that they are confident to
answer questions or perform a task without using
reference guides.
As a result, it was appropriate to interview experts of
my discourse community as well as included
information from experts of secondary research.
Research Question
As it frequently occurs in research, the research
question is adjusted based on the data and information
gathered. Below is my new and improved research
question:
To what extent do different genres of pharmacy
discourse community impact the practice of pharmacy?
Interview Questions
Have you ever felt that your job was limited by government regulations? If so, please share a story or example.
How are drugs made and presented in the pharmaceutical industry?
Do insurance companies make pharmacy practice easier or more difficult?
How do pharmacy-patient communication differ in retail pharmacy, pharmaceuticals, and hospital pharmacy?
In what ways do pharmacists inform patients about the use of medications, potential risks associated with use, and other
important instructions?
Do you think there are or know of any cures to deathly diseases that are not released in America?
Why or why shouldn’t pharmaceutical research be regulated and limited by members of other discourse communities?
Do the genres of pharmacy marketing differ from genres of Pharmacist-Patient interaction? If yes, how so?
Compare and contrast the genre of drug classification. Why is necessary to have different classification systems?
What is the significance of pharmacological classification and therapeutic classification?
Do the genres of pharmacy practice in America differ from those of other countries, such as Canada? What causes the
differences?
Is there a significant gender wage gap in pharmaceuticals despite qualifications and experiences?
Classification:
Therapeutic classification is the method used to organize
drugs based on usefulness for a specific disease.
Pharmocological classification is how an agent works at the
molecular and body system levels. It is important and crucial
for pharmacists to know both forms. Most pharmaceutical
communications with customers include getting feedback
about their medication use. In the pharmacy, most customers
consult their pharmacists about medication uses and
insurance inquiries. Information such as irritation, side
effects, or other issues with the use of drugs can be brought
to a pharmacist’s attention; however, they may be directed to
contact their physician or go to the hospital.
Research:
Pharmacists and pharmaceutical industry employees do a lot of marketing
and business analysis in the pharmaceutical industry. Pharmacies also do
this because they need to determine their profits and expenses and keep
track of insurance issues.
However, direct advertising on specific drugs are done by pharmaceutical
companies, not pharmacies . In finding new cures, it is hard and
controversial to determine how much evidence necessary to actually start
selling it. For example, a drug is released to help individuals with down
syndrome. Advertising it as a cure could be misleading. It may cure some,
and not others. It may also do more harm than good, which would cause
others to blame doctors, pharmacists and many others for the hard
In doing research for drugs, pharmaceuticals search nature for specific
enzymes or other material that is believed to be relevant in finding a cure.
Next, it is added to laboratories with other chemicals and compounds. Then
it is tested and the results are analyzed by others in the industry.
Regulations:
Drugs are able to be dispensed for a specific amount of
time. Most prescription orders expire usually within a
year, except for specific drugs.
Prescription orders must indicate refills or pharmacies are
not permitted to give individuals refills.
Prescription orders must be filled out accordingly and by a
licensed physician.
State and federal laws can permit or inhibit the selling of
specific drugs or their uses.
Analyzing Genre 1:
In the first genre chose, a doctor’s prescription form is turned in to
a pharmacy. The Free Medical Assistant Pharmacology program
offers a good explanation of the parts of a written prescription:
At the topmost left corner, there is a physician’s phone number,
which is usually printed by a computer. On the top rightmost
corner, there is a DEA number. In the middle, there is the
prescriber’s information (address, name, title). Below, there is
patient information, such as: name, age, date of birth, and address.
Then, the most important bits of information is in the middle of the
paper: a superscription-usually Rx, subscription-instructions to
pharmacist, inscription-the medication prescribed, signa-directions
for patient, and finally special instructions, such as refills. The
doctor also signs the prescription at the end.
Prescription Order
Example
Analyzing Genre 2:
Next, we analyze the actual bottle label and notice
lots of print. Similar to the prescription, you see your
name, your doctor’s name, and the drug name in the
same general area. On the upper rightmost corner
the Rx number is clearly labeled for easy reference.
Then there are a lot of numbers, an expiration date,
some instructions, and the number of pills in a bottle.
Prescription labels also have other instructions and
warnings such as instructions for use if drinking
alcohol or smoking, or even specific instructions for
pregnant women.
Prescription Label
Example
Analyzing Genre 3:
Finally, pharmacists distinguish prescription drugs in ways such as color, shape, size,
and chemical structure. Pharmacists study lots of structures and organic chemistry—
arguably, a second language for pharmacists. The structures and groups attached to a
compound, dictate what the compound will do. Consider the example below from
Jack Scanlan’s chemistry review material:
From the structures above you see three compounds ethane, ethene, and ethyne
(respectfully) and are very similar in structure, differing only in the number of bonds:
single, double, triple, respectfully. However, because of these differences in structure
we learn something very important: there is also a difference in pKa, hence, a
difference in acidity. Knowing the acidity of a compound is important in determining
how it reacts: the lower the pKa, the higher the acidity. Just as mathematicians
communicate with numbers as their genre, or historians use recovered documents for
their genre, pharmacists use structures as a new genre to give details and short cuts
about important information.
Putting it All Together
Overall, different genres are crucial for communication
within a discourse community and between discourse
communities. Doctors and pharmacists may not be
involved directly into one discourse community, but
they intercommunicate through another, bigger
discourse. A patient, pharmacist, and doctor may not be
in the same discourse community, but they become
knowledgeable of those discourses through their
experiences. As a result, genres help discourse
communities meet their goals and fulfill their functions.