Career as Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the science and technique of preparing as well as dispensing drugs and medicines. It is a health profession that links health sciences with chemical sciences and aims to ensure the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs. The scope of pharmacy practice includes more traditional roles such as compounding and dispensing medications, and it also includes more modern services related to health care, including clinical services, reviewing medications for safety and efficacy, and providing drug information. Pharmacists, therefore, are the experts on drug therapy and are the primary health professionals who optimize use of medication for the benefit of the patients. Pharmacists are healthcare professionals with specialized education and training who perform various roles to ensure optimal health outcomes for their patients through proper medication use. Pharmacists may also be small-business proprietors, owning the pharmacy in which they practice. Since pharmacists know about the mode of action of a particular drug, and its metabolism and physiological effects on the human body in great detail, they play an important role in optimization of a drug treatment for an individual. Pharmacists are represented internationally by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP).
Job Profile
- Prepares medications by reviewing and interpreting physician orders; detecting therapeutic incompatibilities.
- Dispenses medications by compounding, packaging, and labeling pharmaceuticals.
- Controls medications by monitoring drug therapies; advising interventions.
- Completes pharmacy operational requirements by organizing and directing technicians' work flow; verifying their preparation and labeling of pharmaceuticals; verifying order entries, charges, and inspections.
- Provides pharmacological information by answering questions and requests of health care professionals; counseling patients on drug therapies.
- Develops hospital staff's pharmacological knowledge by participating in clinical programs; training pharmacy staff, students, interns, externs, residents, and health care professionals.
- Complies with state and federal drug laws as regulated by the state board of pharmacy, the drug enforcement administration, and the food and drug administration by monitoring nursing unit inspections; maintaining records for controlled substances; removing outdated and damaged drugs from the pharmacy inventory; supervising the work results of support personnel; maintaining current registration; studying existing and new legislation; anticipating legislation; advising management on needed actions.
- Protects patients and technicians by adhering to infection-control protocols.
- Maintains safe and clean working environment by complying with procedures, rules, and regulations.
- Maintains pharmacological knowledge by attending educational workshops; reviewing professional publications; establishing personal networks; participating in professional societies.
- Contributes to team effort by accomplishing related results as needed.
Skills required
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
- Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
- Community Pharmacy and Consultant Pharmacists
- Hospitals and Other Institutional Settings
- Managed Care Pharmacists
- The Pharmaceutical Industry
- Academic Pharmacists
- Other Fields in Pharmacy
Earnings
Range of typical starting salaries: £15,000-£20,000 per annum
Recruiting Companies
Hospitals
Clinics
How do I get there?
Option 1:
Bachelors -B-Pharm
Masters-M-Pharm
Pathway Courses
Where to study?
- Andrews University
- Aston University
- Auckland University of Technology
- Bard College
- Charles University
- Clemson University
- Colorado School of Mines
- De Montfort University
- Edge Hill University
- Erasmus University Rotterdam
- Florida International University
- Glasgow Caledonian University
- Gonzaga University
- Grand Valley State University
- Holland International Study Centre
- Indiana University of Pennsylvania
- James Cook University
- Kingston University
- Klaipeda State College
- Lancaster University
- Lincoln University
- Lithuanian University of Health Sciences
- Liverpool John Moores University
- London Metropolitan University
- Manchester University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Memorial University of Newfoundland
- Miami University
- National College of Ireland
- Principia College
- Purdue University
- Riga International School of Business and Administration
- Robert Gordon University (ICRGU)
- Ryerson University
- Stockholm School of Economics in Riga
- Swansea University
- The University of British Columbia
- The University of Sheffield
- The University of Sydney
- The University of Texas
- The University of Western Australia
- Tilburg University
- University of Birmingham
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of Canterbury
- University of Central Lancashire
- University of Delaware
- University of Derby
- University of Essex
- University of Hertfordshire
- University of Huddersfield
- University of Iowa
- University of Kentucky
- University of Leeds
- University Of Limerick
- University of Lincoln
- university of LUHS
- University of Michigan
- University of Minnesota- Twin Cities
- University of Otago
- University of Padua
- University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences
- University of Rhode Island
- University of South Wales
- University of Strathclyde
- University of Surrey
- University of Technology Sydney
- University of Warwick
- University of Waterloo
- University of Westminster
- Vanderbilt University
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam