But potentially that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Over the past decade or so pharmacists have been given more and more responsibilities in the NHS, just as nurses have.
It means many now offer blood pressure checks, and cholesterol and blood glucose level tests alongside pregnancy testing and sexually transmitted infection services.
Colds and flu can often be dealt with there, without bothering a GP at all, while some even provide stop smoking services and prescribe drugs and treatments.
But despite their expanding remit, much of the public is oblivious.
Less than a third of people asked in a recent YouGov poll of over 2,000 people were aware of what pharmacists could offer.
So now Pharmacy Voice, which represents the industry, is launching a drive to change perceptions.
It is running a two-year promotional campaign, Dispensing Health, to promote what the UK's 13,000 community pharmacies can do.
"Pharmacy is the third largest health profession (in the health sector) after medicine and nursing," says Pharmacy Voice chief executive Prof Robert Darracott. "Yet people still don't really know who we are and what we can do."
He says the aim of the campaign is to "challenge the traditional view of pharmacies as simply dispensers of medicine" so that they are seen as a place where illness can be treated and good health promoted.
The push has received the backing of GPs with both the Royal College of GPs and NHS Alliance, which represents community services, putting their names to the campaign.
Making sure the potential of pharmacies is realised could also have important implications for the rest of the health service too.
A review by NHS England into the A&E system, which was published in November, said pharmacies were an "under-used" resource that if tapped into could take the pressure off GPs who in turn would then have time to take on some of the workload of hospitals.
Dr Mike Dixon, of the NHS Alliance, says: "Community pharmacy is perfectly positioned to take the strain from GPs and A&E departments that are bursting at the seams."
It is thought as many as one in seven GP appointments could be dealt with by pharmacies - about 40m a year.
If that was to happen it could have a profound effect on the entire NHS.

The Loyalist Community Council (LCC) has created the flag to commemorate the centenary of the World War One battle.
It says the flag is supported by three paramilitary groups, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Red Hand Commando.
"We hope this is the only flag that is flown along arterial routes alongside the Union flag and the Ulster flag," Winston Irvine of the LCC said.
"I think this flag will hopefully reduce the amount of perceived paramilitary flags."
Mr Irvine said he did not expect nationalists "to be screaming in support of the flag from the rooftops".
But he added: "I do hope people see this is an attempt to lessen the impact of flags and to command a wider support for the respectful and dignified commemoration to mark the anniversary of the Somme.
"The Somme means something to everyone, regardless of your community background, both in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland, given the scale and severity of that battle on the people of this island."
Members of the 36th Ulster Division were among 100,000 Allied soldiers who fought at the Somme in 1916.
A private benefactor has paid for the purchase of the flags.
The group has also drawn up a set of protocols for the flying of flags.
Mr Irvine said people were "fed up with torn and tattered flags flying from lamp posts and buildings".
The protocols give guidance on the period of time flags should be flown, suggesting a three-month spell starting in June.
Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Martin of the Police Service of Northern Ireland said the flying of flags in public places "provokes a range of strong responses and very different viewpoints".
He added: "We hope [the LCC's new flag and its protocols] can be a positive development in improving the overall context in which flags are flown."

Michael Stead, 34, suffered serious head injuries during the attack in Brady Street in the Pallion area of the city on 21 March. He died last week.
Daniel Mould, 25, of Chester Terrace North, remains in police custody charged with murder.
Michael Young, 25, formerly of Rutherglen Road, Sunderland, has also been charged with murder, police said.
To many people, their local pharmacy is the place where they pick up their medicines and perhaps their toiletries.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
A new flag to mark the Battle of the Somme has been unfurled in Belfast.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
A second man has been charged with murder after a man died nine months after being assaulted in Sunderland.