What Is a Pharmacist?

Recent changes in the health care industry have created new, high-profile roles for pharmacists. Always a friendly staple of the neighborhood in cities and in small towns, the pharmacist now offers more direct advice to patients. These new roles, combined with strict industry regulations, have created a record number of new job opportunities for graduates of pharmacy certificate programs.

What Pharmacists Do

Pharmacists fill prescriptions by dispensing medicine or compounding drugs. This specialized health care career requires professionals to perform routine tasks with accuracy, while maintaining strong personal relationships with doctors, nurses, patients, and drug suppliers.

Where Pharmacists Work

Pharmacists work in a variety of settings, including the following:

• Hospitals
• Health care centers
• Drugstores
• Grocery stores

Opportunities for significant profits in the health care sector have turned pharmacies into a big business. Traditional, mom-and-pop pharmacies have made way for large drugstore chains like CVS and Walgreen's. In the meantime, those stores face competition from big box retailers like Target and Wal-Mart. As more Americans require regular medication, a relationship with an experienced pharmacist can cement a shopper's loyalty to a store or to a shopping center.

Expanded Roles for Pharmacists

Pharmacists have become increasingly important in the nation's health care system. FDA regulations have tightened and competition between drug companies and their generic counterparts has heated up. Therefore, pharmacists help their patients navigate the tricky process of choosing the right medication to fill a prescription.

With managed care programs causing patients to see many doctors, a pharmacist is often the last line of defense against dangerous drug interactions. Many pharmacies add value for customers by offering free health screenings, insurance discounts, and other referral services.

Pharmaceutical companies also hire pharmacists to help them develop and test new drugs. Some pharmacists decide to leave the counter and use their knowledge to market new medications to doctors and their patients. Other pharmacists obtain teaching degrees to help share their knowledge at pharmacy colleges.

A Pharmacist's Education

A basic pharmacy education requires a strong foundation in chemistry, anatomy, and physiology, as well as pharmacy law and drug interactions. Pharmacy students also learn basics of diagnosing illnesses, so they can collaborate with doctors more effectively.

More and more pharmacy students pursue master's degrees or doctorate level degrees, often called a PharmD. A PharmD requires at least two years of undergraduate study and four years of graduate coursework.

All pharmacy students pursuing health care degrees must spend at least a few semesters as interns in pharmacies. All states require licensure for pharmacists, who must graduate from an accredited pharmacy program and pass the North American Pharmacist Licensure Exam. Forty-three states also require students to pass a national pharmacy law exam.

A growing number of pharmacy education programs prepare students for nationally certified pharmacy certificates. These health care certificates authorize pharmacists to directly oversee patients' drug therapy in place of or in addition to a primary care physician.

Salaries and Job Outlook

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary for a pharmacist is $84,900, while some senior pharmacists earn as much as $110,000. Pharmacists that volunteer for unusual shifts can earn pay differentials of up to 35 percent, as well as lucrative profit sharing incentives.

Now is a great time to become a pharmacist. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects job openings for pharmacists to grow faster than average, since statistics show that more pharmacists will be retiring in the next few years than there are students pursuing pharmacy degrees. New online and part-time pharmacy education programs, combined with local internships and certifications, make it easier than ever to launch a career as a pharmacist.

Sources For Those Interested in Pharmacy Careers Found on WorldWideLearn.com
Bureau of Labor Statistics
U.S. Pharmacist