Why Choose Pharmacy as a Career?

If you love science, medicine, and serving humanity then pharmacy is the ideal field for you. To
know more about why choose pharmacy as a career, read this article, as it shares some insights
on career options in pharmacy that you can choose from.
Gone are the days when only being a doctor was considered as a noble profession as today
pharmacy is also one of the noble and reputed professions you can enter in. The duty of the
doctors is to analyze the patient, find out the cause of the ailment, and prescribe the medication.
But, the pharmacists are people who provide you with right medication. They are the people who
conduct different research and studies on various kinds of drugs and make them more effective,
efficient, and useful. If the doctors are main actors, then pharmacists are like backstage artists
who make the show a success. But like theater show, doctors win the accolades and pharmacists
remain unnoticed. But, this scenario is changing rapidly as career opportunities in pharmacy are
expanding more and more.
Reasons for Choosing Pharmacy as a Career
A pharmacist gets an opportunity to deal with different kinds of people every day that makes his
job less monotonous. So if you have good interpersonal skills and love to be with people then
pharmacy is a good profession for you. Pharmacists have the wide range of options when it
comes to choosing the stream of pharmaceutical jobs. A professional person can choose one for
himself as per his likes, lifestyle, knowledge, and skills.
Given below are some of the career options in pharmacy that will well answer your question,
why choose pharmacy as a career:
Hospital Pharmacy: Professionals who wish to be associated with hospitals can go for hospital
pharmacy. Here they work as the essential part of clinical ward and provide
doctors and nurses with effective advice on medicine.
Industrial Pharmacy: A person with interest in research can go for industrial pharmacy that
allows them to work with different pharmaceutical companies where their
job is more like scientists. They can conduct various experiments and
analyze the end results of the drugs and medicines.
Academic Pharmacy: People who love to teach can go for academic pharmacy where they can
combine teaching and researching and have great career with some good
universities. It is a great opportunity to share and pass on your knowledge
with willing students
Retail Pharmacy: People interested in private stores can go for retail stores where they can work
as authorized distributors of medicine once they get the license for it.
Basically, it is like a shop where people will come and buy whatever
medicines they need.
Community Pharmacy: Those who are interested in primary health care can go for community
pharmacy where their role is to use and apply their knowledge, skills, and
expertise for the effective implementation of the primary health care. They
make sure that health care professionals make the right, safe and
appropriate use of available medicines.
Regulatory Pharmacy: Those who are interested in working on the policy levels can go for
regulatory pharmacy. Here, the professionals work with government bodies
to protect and improve the public health. They make sure that the drugs

manufactured by the companies are safe and before they are marketed to
the public.
Veterinary Pharmacy: Pharmacy technicians having passion for animal health can try veterinary
pharmacy. They deal with medicines and drugs manufactured, marketed
and dispensed by veterinary doctors. In rural settings they help farming
industry by providing right medication to livestock.
You can choose a field or career as per your preference and as per your personal style, be it
taking up a job, starting a business, or a joint venture. With an advance in the medical field, the
demand for pharmacists is increasing and the scope of application of this field too is widening.
But, becoming a pharmacist requires a basic degree in pharmacy along with commitment, hard
work and passion for the job. So if you are game for it, go ahead. All the best!
Pharmacist Job Description
Aspiring a career in pharmacy? Pharmacists are becoming key members of every hospital and
health care units. This article discusses pharmacy job description and educational requirements.
We all are aware of the fact that medicines and drugs play a vital role in maintaining the health of
the patients. While the doctors prescribe the right medicines, it is the pharmacist who make it
available for the patients. There are various medical jobs that have a lot to offer, both in terms of
career opportunities and learning. The job of a pharmacist is one of the jobs that gives an
opportunity to learn the complexities of medicines and also earn some decent pay package.
Job Description
Pharmacists are the professionals who dispense medicines to the patients, as prescribed by the
medical expert. In most of the cases, the experienced pharmacists can even prescribe some better
drugs and medicines to the patients. The management of medicines and drugs in health care units
and hospitals forms a crucial duty of pharmacists. Their work also includes assisting the patients,
advising the medical experts and helping the patients by recommending the right medicine. Let's
check out the duties of pharmacists.
Responsibilities and Duties
Some of the job duties of a pharmacist are as follows.
Give advise and assist doctors or surgeons in matters relating to dosages and prescriptions to the
patient.
Monitor and analyze the health of the patient, with respect to the drugs that have been given to
the patient.
Answer the queries of the patients about the probable side effects and benefits of the drug
therapy.
Seek immediate help from the doctor in case the drug shows some side effects on the patient.
Recommend drugs to visitors with minor ailments.
Advise and help patients about stress management, diet and exercise.
Help patients with asthma, diabetes and other diseases to get relief. Advise about medications.
Help the doctor in medical billing and paperwork of medical health insurance.
Supervise the medicine store and take proper care of the medicines.
Job Outlook for Pharmacists

The career development path of the pharmacists is quite steady and with substantial amount of
work experience one can open independent pharmacies. Many pharmacists, also become parttime owners of some drug stores, in case they have saved certain capital. Many pharmacists who
have worked in the drug stores for certain number of years, may move on to handle larger roles
in the firm, like that of drug store supervisor or drug store manager. Even some may rise to
become regional managers and manage branches of various chain drugstores. There is a huge
potential for the pharmacists in the pharmaceutical companies and industries, where they are
expected to handle diverse challenges. Pharmacists can work in marketing, sales, medicine
research and quality control departments.
Educational Requirements
To become a pharmacist, one should plan out their career path early in the high school. High
school education in subjects related to sciences and medicine are helpful. However, the main
years of pharmacy education are the graduation years. The degrees and requirement for various
pharmacy schools vary significantly. Some require just a bachelor's degree in medical or similar
subjects, while other prefer a B.S. in pharmacy. To get admission in reputed pharmacy schools,
you need to crack the Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT) exams.
The job of pharmacists in today's scenario encompasses a wide range of activities and
responsibilities. It is not that this job is limited in assisting patients in medications only, instead a
pharmaceutical job requires multitasking skills and a good personality. The salary for a
pharmacist can be more than USD 100, 000 after a few years of work experience. So, if you are
interested in this career, then you can go for it! Plan out your career path and all the best for a
bright future!!