Pharmacy Degree, Its Career and the Qualities You'll Need
Pharmacists aren’t just there to count pills and dispense medicine. Whenever you pop a pill to ease your headache, know that the manufacturing and drug composition of that pill was carefully monitored by a qualified pharmacist.
The pharmacist you see in common drugstores like Watson and Guardian is different from the one you see in the hospital.
Common Pharmacist Careers Are:
Academic Pharmacy
In Academic Pharmacy, you will require at least a PhD in order to work in educational institutions to teach, to conduct research or evaluate the findings of clinical studies. You will get the opportunity to teach and nurture a new generation of pharmacists!
Community Pharmacy
Community pharmacists are in charge of dispensing medication to customers in retail stores, such as Caring and Guardian pharmacies. You will evaluate the dosage of prescription to the common public.
Hospital Pharmacy
In addition to dispensing medication, hospital pharmacists also prepare intravenous medications, participate in ward rounds, and purchase and quality test medication used in the hospital. Pharmacists must also be able to decide what medication is appropriate for each patient and identify any errors by physicians in prescribing medication to patients.
They must also review other medications which patients are taking prior to filling new prescriptions to ensure there are no possible harmful drug interactions between medications.
Industrial Pharmacy
Industrial pharmacists are involved in drug production for pharmaceutical companies, ensuring that the medication produced is of high quality and is safe
What Qualities Should a Pharmacist Have?
There are many important qualities that individuals will need to excel in this position:
Interest In Maths and Science
Pharmacy students have both a passion and proficiency for these subjects—both are essential to making informed decisions on proper dosage, utilization, and distribution of medications to people and animals alike. Have you always excelled in chemistry, biology, or statistics? Are you interested in studying drug metabolism, veterinary pharmacy, or even conducting pharmaceutical research? If so, a career in pharmacy may be for you.
Passion for Building Relationships with Others
Pharmacy students want to pursue a career where they can build relationships directly with patients. Pharmacists provide patient-centered care. They consider the relationship between medical conditions, lifestyle, and other variables to help choose the best medications. Pharmacists also work with colleagues to conduct research, establish new pharmaceutical practices within specific business entities, and collaborate with doctors to ensure that patients are receiving the correct medications.
Desire for Flexibility in Career Choice
The variety of career pathways that exist within pharmacy is another compelling reason students enrol in pharmacy school. From nuclear pharmacy, which uses radioactive drugs to treat diseases such as cancer, to veterinary pharmacy, which hand-makes medication for animals; you can easily select a career that most interests you. Additionally, it’s important to keep in mind that you don’t have to know what you want to do right now. A pharmacy degree (PharmD) is prestigious, and therefore opens the door to countless possibilities and grants you time to explore the fields that interest you most.
Unique Approach to Healthcare
While the majority of students enroll in pharmacy school because they want to help others, some students pick pharmacy because they want to stay far, far away from typical doctoral activities. Believe it or not, several pharmacy students suggested that they were drawn into the field because they didn’t want to interact with blood. If this rings true to you, a career in pharmacy can serve as the best of both worlds, as pharmacists can assist patients without dealing with blood and guts.
Other useful skills:
Analytical skills – they must provide medications safely, with efficiency and accuracy.
Communication skills – they must be able to provide clear advice to patients about safe medication use.
Detail oriented – they carry the final responsibility for approval of medications leaving the pharmacy, so there’s no room for error.
Managerial skills – this is especially important in the retail pharmacy setting, where supervision of others is part of the job.
If you like to view tertiary programs related to this article, click here to go to the list of recommendation. If you are not sure which path you want to pursue for your tertiary education, you should find this psychometric test here to be helpful in providing some aptitude breakdown and course suggestions upon completion of the test. Feel free to proceed to the test, it's free after all.
