Pharmacist- Career Opportunities 5/1/17

Education requirements 4 year undergraduate studies – inclusive of the prerequisites General/organic chemistry Human Anatomy and Physiology Molecular and Cellular Biology Microbiology Statistics Calculus English 2 year post graduate- focused on the area of future career goals Doctor of Pharmacy degree upon graduation

Traditional- What everybody thinks Dispensing Pharmacist roles- Retail- Working in a retail pharmacy interpreting prescriptions, counseling patients, and ensuring your client base gets the help needed with the many over the counter options available. The pharmacist is an integral part of the healthcare team which includes the doctor, the insurance company and the patient. Hospital- The pharmacist performs many of the same tasks as the retail pharmacist with one big important difference. Medications used in a hospital setting are often injectables which have to be manufactured in the pharmacy. Most of the medicines need to be created based on patients weight and age which require the pharmacist to use the skills learned with calculus and pharmacology classes Long term care facility- This is the location where patients live when they are not quite sick enough to be in a hospital but are no longer able to live at home independently or are recovering from an illness or injury and still need to be monitered. Pharmacists here ensure that the patients are getting the right medications prescribed by the doctors.

Careers you may not be aware of Pharmacovigilance- Where a pharmacist plays a critical role capturing drug interaction events after a drug has come on the market Drug Safety- a subset of pharmacovigilance where pharmacists work directly with patients or doctors counseling and advising on medication interactions and utilization Research and Development- Pharmacists work in pharmaceutical companies in the creation and testing of new medicines Sales- Pharmacists work to promote and sell medicine for the pharmaceutical company

Careers- Continued Insurance Industry- Pharmacy Benefit working for a PBM or a Health Plan helping to create benefits that make clinical sense for the clients and patients helping to reduce the cost of overall healthcare. Many different roles inside of this industry. Forensic Medicine- Pharmacists can work inside of law enforcement helping to identify cause of death from drugs Legal System- Pharmacists can advance their education and get a law degree on top of the pharmacy degree and work in the legal aspect of drugs and drug enforcement