Which of the following is NOT a primary role of a pharmacist?

The primary role of a pharmacist encompasses various responsibilities that are crucial to patient care, which include dispensing medications, counseling patients, and ensuring the safe use of medications. Each of these roles plays a significant part in promoting effective therapeutic outcomes and enhancing patient safety.

Dispensing medications involves accurately preparing and delivering prescriptions to patients, ensuring the correct dosage, form, and instructions are provided. Counseling patients is pivotal, as it allows pharmacists to provide critical information regarding medication use, side effects, and adherence, which directly impacts patient health outcomes. Additionally, pharmacists are tasked with ensuring safe medication use, which includes monitoring for drug interactions, conducting medication reviews, and confirming that therapies are appropriate for individual patients.

In contrast, performing surgery is not within the scope of practice for pharmacists. This is typically reserved for trained surgeons and medical doctors, as it requires specialized surgical skills and training that pharmacists do not possess. Thus, identifying performing surgery as the option that does not align with the primary roles of a pharmacist is accurate and underscores the distinct boundaries of pharmacy practice in relation to other healthcare professions.