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Sports Pharmacy

The practice of medication expertise in sports medicine, major event organization, travel, avoiding accidental doping for competitive athletes with medical conditions, self-treatment selection for any exercise enthusiasts, and medication or dietary supplement guidance for all those on a path to wellness.

Sports Pharmacy clinicians, leadership, scientists, and students advocate for integrity of the pharmacy profession in sports and for the health and wellness of athletes at any level of competition. Sports pharmacists support athlete health information privacy and rights, including mental health. Integral to the movement against doping, trained pharmacists promote competition without the misuse of drugs or illegal (or banned) substances and encourage additional education of pharmacists to recognize and report doping.

Sports pharmacy includes the work of pharmacists, pharmacy students, pharmacy support staff, pharmacy operations, and pharmaceutical researchers.

A consortium of medical professionals work together to support elite athletes, which includes pharmacists with additional specialized training in antidoping and the care of athletes. Athletes may benefit from having a sports pharmacist that knows them personally as a patient and is also certified in sports to provide personalized drug and dietary supplement information. Pharmacists help navigate the risks of using dietary supplements since they are not well-regulated and can be unsafe.

Foundational Education: Doctor of Pharmacy or equivalent (e.g. BS Pharm in USA before 2008, PharmB in other nations).

Board Accreditation: Not yet available.

Postgraduate Training: Certification is not standardized and can be obtained through several courses, with widely varying degrees of time commitment, cost, and depth of information.

Japan is home to the largest number of Sports Pharmacist(R), as the PlayTrue2020 launched ten years prior to the planned Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Many pharmacists on Japan received training in sports medicine and anti-doping. This campaign increased awareness among pharmacy professionals and reduces the athletes risk of accidental doping with prescriptions, non-prescriptions (over-the-counter medications or self-treatment) or supplements. Pharmacists became more aware of the need for competitive athletes to apply for medical exemptions.

International Olympic Committee Drugs in Sport Certificate from sportsoracle offers six months of online courses recorded from world-leaders in antidoping and pharmacy personnel experienced in Major Events, World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List, and medical treatment of athletes.

ADeL Academy offers interactive free courses for athletes and their support personnel, including a course designed for medical professionals who work with athletes. Medical professionals traveling with a competitive athlete or team may be required to complete this course. Course completion is mandated prior to volunteering as a medical professional at the Olympics or Paralympics. WADA offers other valuable medication-related resources online for free that sports pharmacists access when assisting in athlete care or drug monitoring.

NCAA offers resources on Drug-Testing Performance Enhancing Drugs and Dietary Supplements and several other online courses. Resources on recognizing substance misuse or abuse, such is another important contribution of sports pharmacists who remain aware of trends in prescribing and use of drugs in the frontlines.

HealthPro Advantage offers a free continuing education program through Sanford University intended for physicians and other licensed prescribers that work with elite athletes.

Aspetar Medical Campus offers a Sports Pharmacy introduction.

Gazi University School of Pharmacy includes Sports Pharmacy education courses in the masters degree program. In July 2021, the university hosted the first international sports pharmacy symposium.

Professional Pharmacy Organizations Guidance Documents:

International Pharmaceutical Federation published Guidance in 2005 and updated in 2014.

International Sports Pharmacists Network published Integrity Standards in 2019 and exists to bring together practicing sports pharmacists and those interested in sports pharmacy and antidoping. This business offers an apprentiship for pharmacy students, but only one student per year.

Comprehensive medication services for athletes should be done by personnel well-trained in antidoping and the prohibited substances lists, since not all medications are listed by the agencies  that test athletes. Identifying what is ok or not okay for an elite athlete to take, and knowing when an second-line therapy that is not prohibited should be tried first, is an important part of the sports pharmacy in ambultory care and community pharmacy practices.

NCAA student-athletes, professional athletes and Olympians or Paralympians have differences in the lists of prohibited or banned substances, which pharmacists can recognize. In addition, certain sports have additional restrictions for substance use, such as cycling requirements on tramadol use or automotive sports with use of alcoholic beverages.

Pharmacists assist patient-athletes and the physician in gathering the proper documentation individual athletes need to submit medical exemptions to use a medication that is banned.