Pharmacy, practice of compounding and dispensing drugs and providing drug-related information to consumers; also the place where such medicinal products are prepared. Pharmacy is an area of materia medica, that branch of medical science concerning the sources, nature, properties, and preparation of drugs. Pharmacists share with the chemical and medical profession responsibility for discovering new drugs and synthesizing organic compounds of therapeutic value. In addition, the community pharmacist, or druggist, is increasingly called upon to give advice in matters of health and hygiene.