I'd been wondering for a while why it takes so much training to be a pharmacist. All I ever see pharmacists do is dispense the number and type of pills written on the prescription. Why should that require so much study, beyond a 4 year degree and with such stringent entry requirements?

The other day I saw a pharmacist display actual knowledge for the first time. I said that I was allergic to erythromycin, and the medication history she gave me said that I'm allergic to macrolide antibiotics. So she must have known that erythromycin was a macrolide antibiotic (I didn't know this). First time I've ever seen a demonstration of medical knowledge on the part of a pharmacist.