Should veterinary pharmacy become a recognized specialty?

CURRENT BRIEF VERSION: Veterinary pharmacy is getting more formal recognition, even if it still sits outside the best-known pharmacy specialty pathways. The Society of Veterinary Hospital Pharmacists’ affiliate, the International College of Veterinary Pharmacy, says it was incorporated in 2022 and now offers a veterinary pharmacy board certification credential, Diplomate of the International College of Veterinary Pharmacy, while also overseeing PGY1 veterinary pharmacy residency accreditation guidelines. Clinician’s Brief framed that development as a bigger question for the profession: should veterinary pharmacy become a true specialty, given how often veterinarians and pharmacists already intersect in daily practice? (svhp.org)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the case for specialization is tied to safety, workflow, and trust. Recent pharmacy commentary and prior reporting point to persistent training gaps: a 2023 scoping review found just 16 published studies on veterinary pharmacy education in U.S. schools and colleges of pharmacy, and a 2021 survey found only 27% of pharmacy programs offered a didactic veterinary pharmacy course, though 60% reported experiential opportunities. Experts interviewed by dvm360 have argued that pharmacists often receive little formal veterinary training, even as community pharmacies fill a meaningful share of companion-animal prescriptions and must navigate species-specific dosing, compounding, and regulatory issues such as AMDUCA and FDA guidance on compounding from bulk drug substances. Better pharmacist preparation could also support broader veterinary priorities Clinician’s Brief has highlighted elsewhere, including antimicrobial stewardship, clearer client counseling, and fewer treatment delays when prescriptions move outside the clinic. (sciencedirect.com)

What to watch: Watch for whether veterinary pharmacy moves toward broader recognition through mainstream pharmacy credentialing bodies, expanded pharmacy-school curricula, or more formal veterinarian-pharmacist collaboration standards. As more novel therapeutics such as monoclonal antibodies enter practice and stewardship conversations evolve around tools like delayed or “wait-and-see” prescribing, the pressure for pharmacy partners with species-specific expertise may only grow. (svhp.org)