subject: Pharmacist Job - Career Explained [print this page] A pharmacist performs one of the most important jobs for the day-to-day health care of our communities. This well-trained professional works in a pharmacy dispensing drugs and providing related information to patients. Before you can get one of these jobs, you need to complete a fair amount of schooling and have an excellent understanding of pharmaceutical drugs, medical diagnoses, and treatments. Just what does a pharmacist do? If youre wondering, there is quite a bit more to the job.
Pharmacists have many career options these days. While more than 50 percent work in community pharmacies, you can find a pharmacist job in hospitals, clinics, mail order and Internet pharmacies, pharmaceutical wholesalers, physicians offices, and jobs with the federal government. Although the pharmacist job that pharmacists do may seem simple, they must receive advanced graduate degrees because they need to understand all the things that a doctors does in order to do their job effectively. While most of us never run the risk of combining medications that could be dangerous, many people have very acute medical needs and look to their pharmacists to give them advice and make sure theyre safe with any drugs they take.
Pharmacists degrees, which are typically the Doctor of Pharmacy degrees, typically take four years on top of two prior years of college classes such as math, chemistry, biology, physics, humanities, and social sciences. School applicants usually have to take the Pharmacy College Admissions Test, and after getting their pharmacy degrees they must pass the North American Pharmacist Licensure Exam to work in the United States. The median salaries for this career are very good, though, especially compared to other allied health careers that start fairly low. Career information may differ by state, and salaries vary depending on whether the pharmacist works in a department store, grocery store, drug store, or hospital, but the median range is above $90,000 annually regardless.
Pharmacists advise health care practitioners on the selection, dosage, interactions, and side effects of medications. They monitor the progress of patients drug therapy, answer patients questions, provide information, and make recommendations, among other duties that may apply to their specific pharmacy.
