Background: As Korea’s current socioeconomic status is becoming higher than ever before, the patients’ level of knowledge and healthcare quality which they demand of healthcare professionals is also increasing. Pharmacists, as a member of the healthcare team, are asked not only to supply medicine and ensure accurate dispensing but also perform as health professionals to provide better care to the public. Therefore, the current role of pharmacists is developing rapidly to meet the expectations of the people. Methods: To retrieve information for competencies enhancing the professionalism of medicine and performing the role of health professionals effectively, we looked through the guidelines published by the World Health Organization (WHO)/International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and compared the standard of the Korean pharmaceutical association (KPA) and other related associations. Results: Based on the study, we found that WHO suggests seven roles for pharmacists: a caregiver, decision-maker, communicator, manager, life-long learner, teacher, and leader. KPA set the standard as pharmacist obligation/role but difficult to find required competencies to address the obligation/role. Conclusion: Thus, by establishing guidelines in detail to meet obligation and stretching the role as vision in Korea, pharmacists will be able to deliver more value to the patient as well as the community.

Keywords: seven star pharmacist, FIP, WHO, pharmacist role, Korean pharmacist competency