A clinical role for pharmacists has developed in response to the societal need to improve the use of medicines. Clinical role development has been led by initiatives in the hospital sector which have enabled Schools of Pharmacy to make shifts in the pre-graduate education of pharmacists. The increasing complexity in the management of drug therapy has given pharmacists clear roles that integrate within the healthcare team. The history is one in which the development of changing roles of pharmacists is an example of progress in healthcare delivery creating the need for revision of the curriculum for a whole profession. Milestones in the changing roles and in the preparation of pharmacists for those roles have been; Establishment of clinical pharmacy in the US hospitals and the doctorate (PharmD) as the professional entry qualification; postgraduate clinical pharmacy education in UK and elsewhere, notably Asia and Australasia; hospital pharmacist specialisation across the wide range of medical specialties; the clinical teaching of pharmacists; the concept of ‘pharmaceutical care’ as a factor in public health; changes in Schools of Pharmacy – with professors of pharmacy practice and a shift to patient-centred teaching. Future evolution of pharmacist roles will follow the wider use of quality systems to address errors in prescribing and drug administration; the automation of systems of drug prescribing and administration and improved documentation of care; widening of prescribing roles; increased patient education and higher patient expectations; patient-centred research in Schools of pharmacy; development of primary care and improved accessibility to pharmaceutical advice; integration of pharmacists’ public health roles in strategies to address prevention and management of disease.