subject: Three Different Types Of Pharmacy Jobs [print this page] Working in pharmacy provides you with lots of options to consider. There are many different environments you can work in such as hospitals, primary care, industry, academia and the community.
When people choose to work in a community pharmacy they will work in a customer facing role usually in a pharmacy located in a village, town or city. Community pharmacists will be assisting people by assessing their medical conditions and deciding what drugs to prescribe. Community pharmacists will also be involved in the dispensing of medicines and offer advice on a range of topics. Often community based pharmacists are able to take blood pressure tests and screen for high cholesterol and diabetes. They also aid people attempting to stop smoking and give advice to people about leading a healthy lifestyle.
Those working in a hospital pharmacy environment will be expected to assist with the smooth running of the dispensary in the hospital. Whether it be an NHS hospital or one in the private sector you will be required to focus on sorting out medicines for the needs of the patients.
Hospital pharmacy departments have many areas that you can get involved in. Pharmacists often attend wards and have now become more involved in the selection of drugs for patients. Manufacturing sterile medicines, helping patients manage their care and providing information about medicines.
Often hospital based pharmacists opt to specialise in a certain area such as haematology, cardiology, urology and care of the elderly.
Pharmacists working in academia have a number of options open to them. Careers in research institutes, universities and other organisations are all open to pharmacists.
People wishing to teach in the field of pharmacy often find themselves working in a hospital, industrial or community pharmacy for 60% of their time and spending the remainder of their time in the classroom teaching.
As an alternative lots of people working in academia decide to devote their time to working in research. Drug design is a popular field of study and can be extremely rewarding. Academic pharmacists are involved in a lot of important areas of medicine creation and have a lot of scope for specialising in an area they enjoy.
