As important members of the health care team, pharmacists work collaboratively with patient’s other health care providers in all types of patient care settings ranging from community pharmacies to hospitals and long-term care facilities. Across these settings, pharmacists take specific actions that regularly contribute to improving patient safety. In addition, to training on medications, pharmacist education and training includes assessing health status of patients, providing education and counseling, managing diseases and using health care technologies. Pharmacists use this education and training to prevent medication errors, drug interactions and other adverse medication events from reaching patients. With the expanding number and complexity of medications, pharmacist’s roles and responsibilities have expanded broadly beyond medication distribution. Pharmacists are providing patient care in almost all health care settings to help people of all ages get the most from the medications that are prescribed to them. Examples of pharmacist’s patient care services include providing health and wellness screenings, managing chronic diseases, assisting patients with medication management, administering immunizations and working with hospitals and health systems to improve patient care and reduce the number of patients who are readmitted to the hospital following their hospital stay.

Pharmacovigilance is the science and activity relating to the collection, detection, assessment, monitoring and prevention of adverse effects with pharmaceutical products. Pharmacovigilance basically targets safety of medicine. Pharmacists have crucial role in health systems to maintain the rational and safe use of medicine for they are drug experts who are specifically trained in this field. The perspective of pharmacy students on pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting has also been discussed with an aim to highlight the need to improve content related to ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance in undergraduate pharmacy curriculum. Globally, although, the role of pharmacists within national pharmacovigilance systems varies it is very well recognized. Incorporation of ADR reporting concepts in education curriculum, training of pharmacists and voluntary participation of pharmacists in ADR reporting is very crucial in achieving the safety goals and safeguarding public health. Also, these knowledge gaps can be fulfilled through continuous professional development programs and reinforcing theoretical and practical knowledge in undergraduate pharmacy curriculums. Without adequately identifying and fulfilling training needs of pharmacists and other health care professionals, the efficiency of national pharmacovigilance systems is unlikely to improve which may compromise patient’s safety.