Pharmacist Careers Information
Pharmacists work to develop, prepare, and distribute prescription medicines, as well as explaining their use to patients. While many pharmacists work at local drug stores or grocery stores, others work in hospitals, where they help prepare sophisticated drug treatment regimens for patients.
Pharmacist Careers & Degrees
- Everest Institute: Columbus
National American University: Bloomington, MN
Everest University: Brandon
Hospital pharmacists play a vital role in preventing harmful drug interactions by carefully monitoring the various medications patients are using. Some hospital-based pharmacists even specialize in specific treatment areas, such as oncology or geriatrics.
Pharmacists also act in administrative and management role, carefully managing paperwork, forms, and the pharmacist’s counter at their place of work.
Finally, pharmacists play an important role in recommending and dispensing over-the-counter medications and various home-based medical products and treatments. Finally, some pharmacists work in drug development, often at pharmaceutical companies.
Pharmacist Careers Path
After completing a Bachelor’s degree, aspiring pharmacists go on to a graduate Pharm.D program. (In some cases, students without a Bachelor’s degree, but with necessary undergraduate coursework can move straight into a Pharm.D program without graduating.)
Pharmacy school programs teach a wide selection of courses, emphasizing medical knowledge, ethics, clinical practice, and the nuts and bolts of running a pharmacy. Some students move on to a Master’s degree or PhD in pharmaceutical science, but this option requires further years of school, and is usually for those interested in teaching or research work in the pharmaceutical industry.
In order to become practicing pharmacists, newly minted graduates must pass the North American Pharmacist Licensure Exam (NAPLEX) and a legal exam, usually the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam (MPJE). Some pharmacists, especially those who go on to work in hospitals, will complete one- or two-year residency programs prior to beginning full-time staff work.
Pharmacist Careers: Salary Expectations
Especially when considered in regards to the profession’s relatively modest educational requirements, pharmacists receive extremely competitive compensation & salaries. According to the Department of Labor, the median annual salary for pharmacists is $106, 410.
There is plenty of room for advancement for successful pharmacists. Management positions within individual pharmacies or within chains are available, as are positions in research and business at hospitals and pharmaceutical companies.
Pharmacist Careers: Compatible Personality Traits
Calm, perceptive, careful, caring, observant, understanding, patient, detail-oriented, hard-working, observant, courageous, focused, diligent, friendly.
Interview with a Professional Pharmacist
To learn more about a pharmacist career, Read More from a Professional Pharmacist…
Pharmacist Careers: Job Outlook
The Department of Labor anticipates 17% job growth for pharmacist positions by 2018. As with the growth in much of the rest of the healthcare industry, this growth is due to rising demand for medical services as America’s population ages. As the “baby-boom” generation ages, it will require more drugs, and so demand for pharmacist’s services will rise.
Slightly Off the Footpath
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition, Psychologists, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos079.htm (visited November 1, 2011).
