薬剤師(やくざいし)

A 薬剤師(やくざいし) is a licensed pharmacist. In Japan the licence is national and hard-won, and it is the pharmacist — not the prescribing doctor — who dispenses against a 処方箋(しょほうせん) and explains how the medicine is to be taken.

Formation: 薬剤(やくざい) 'pharmaceutical' + 師(し), the suffix for a trained professional (as in 医師(いし), 看護師(かんごし)).

Where you meet one

• 調剤(ちょうざい)薬局(やっきょく): a dispensing pharmacy, usually next door to a clinic
• 薬局(やっきょく): a pharmacy or drugstore, where a pharmacist must be on duty to sell certain 市販薬(しはんやく)
• 病院(びょういん): hospitals employ their own pharmacists

Collocations

• 薬剤師(やくざいし)に相談(そうだん)する: to consult a pharmacist
• 薬剤師(やくざいし)の資格(しかく): pharmacist qualification
• 薬剤師(やくざいし)免許(めんきょ): pharmacist's licence