The Department of Pharmaceutical Services provide a full range of services for patients cared for by the Medical Center at UCSF as well as its providers and payors. These services include, but are not limited to: drug procurement, storage, and security; safe, accurate and timely preparation and distribution of drugs; clinical pharmacy services for patients; development of drug use policies within the Medical Center; drug information services for clinicians and patients; and participation in technology assessment and quality assurance programs. The Department encompasses with the UCSF Department of Clinical Pharmacy, an academic unit within the School of Pharmacy, which has primary responsibility for teaching professional courses in the Pharm.D. curriculum, research, and public service, as well as the Drug Product Services Laboratory (DPSL), another unit within the School of Pharmacy which provides Home Therapy Services. The Department of Clinical Pharmacy, DPSL, and Department of Pharmaceutical Services share its philosophy of pharmaceutical care.

Under the Department of Pharmaceutical Services, Inpatient Pharmacy provides pharmaceutical care to patients at Moffitt and Long Hospitals, Parnassus Ambulatory Care Clinics, Mount Zion Urgent Care, MZ Comprehensive Cancer Center, and specialized services to researchers on campus. The Per Diem Pharmacist perform a wide range of pharmaceutical care functions to assure that drugs prescribed for and used by patients are safe and effective. These include, for example, obtaining therapeutic histories, reviewing and assessing medication profiles, providing drug information to patients and health care providers, consulting with prescribers and recommending drugs of choice, counseling patients in the proper use of medications and ensuring that patients understand cautions, adverse reactions, and interactions related to their therapy.