Pharmacist Job Description, Skills and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a pharmacist. Feel free to use our job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a pharmacist.
Who is a Pharmacist?
Pharmacists are medical professionals that specialize in the safe and effective use, storage, and distribution of drugs. They can explain how to take medications and alert you to any potential negative effects. Prescriptions are written by doctors and other healthcare experts, who then fill them.
Pharmacists also assist in the creation and testing of drugs. They are employed by pharmacies, medical clinics, hospitals, universities, and government entities.
They assist in the supply of medicine to patients in every way. They will prepare and package prescription medications as well as offer over-the-counter medications. Pharmacists will explain what your prescription is for, how it works, what to expect when taking it, and what to avoid. Your pharmacist will be able to assist you if you do not understand any parts of your health condition.
A pharmacist can work in either a hospital or a community pharmacy. They’ll have a pharmacy degree, which will teach them about drug biochemistry, drug uses, therapeutic functions, side effects, probable drug interactions, and monitoring measures.
Pharmacists are one of the few easily accessible health care providers in the medical profession. A certified pharmacist can be found in every pharmacy, and you can chat with one without booking an appointment.
Pharmacist Job Description
Below are the pharmacist job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a pharmacist job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
- Compounding and delivering drugs according to doctor’s orders.
- Customers’ drug regimens are monitored, actions are recommended, and customers are informed of any potential negative effects.
- Instructing consumers on how to take prescribed medications and when to take them.
- Performing health and wellness examinations.
- Providing vaccines as well as other medical services such as measuring blood pressure, temperature readings, and blood sugar readings.
- Maintaining up-to-date consumer records.
- Assuring a clean and safe working environment.
- Verifying order inputs, maintaining records of controlled medications, charges, and removing expired and/or damaged drugs from the pharmacy’s inventory are all part of the job.
- Following all relevant legal rules, regulations, and procedures governing pharmaceutical practice.
- Assisting with other administrative chores as needed.
- Checking for any unfavorable interactions with the patient’s existing drugs or other medical problems.
- Advising patients on general health themes such as food, exercise, and stress management, as well as specific matters such as the proper equipment or supplies to treat a health problem.
- Educating other healthcare professionals on how to administer suitable medication to patients.
- Filling out insurance documents and effectively communicating with insurance companies to ensure that patients receive the medications they require.
- Laboring alongside doctors, nurses, and other professionals to give effective medicine administration to patients.
- Performing and administering small health exams on a regular basis, such as blood pressure checks.
- Conducting research in order to develop new medications.
Qualifications
- A pharmacy or pharmacology bachelor’s degree is an important requirement.
- As a pharmacist, you have a lot of experience.
- Possess a valid pharmacist’s license.
- A thorough awareness of dosage needs and administration, as well as chemical components and pharmaceutical brands.
- Working understanding of Microsoft Office Suite as well as pharmacy-specific software products like MEDITECH and Mediware.
- Excellent ability to organize.
- The ability to communicate effectively is required, both verbally and in writing.
Essential Skills
- Skills in communication
Developing the interpersonal skills to deal with doctors who don’t want to be questioned and dissatisfied patients who are furious about having to wait for their prescriptions needs patience, diplomacy, and a great sense of humor. It’s critical to be able to soothe damaged egos and broken feelings if the process is to go successfully.
- Skills in mathematics
Numerical skills are required for everything from calculating how many tablets a patient requires to working out more sophisticated variable dosages. Indeed, as a pharmacist, you must be able to perform precise pharmaceutical calculations and administer the proper amounts, particularly when compounding medications and preparing specific solutions.
- Integrity
Doctors sometimes neglect to check for drug interactions, and nurses who submit computerized prescriptions occasionally make mistakes. Pharmacists are similar to proofreaders in that if something doesn’t make sense or if a mistake is made, they must have the confidence and integrity to speak up and ask questions.
- Accuracy
In the pharmaceutical sector, paying attention to detail is essentially a matter of life and death – and there is no room for error. Although human beings are prone to making mistakes, the repercussions may not always fall on the pharmacist; giving the wrong type of insulin to a diabetic patient, for example, could have disastrous implications. Accuracy is critical in a variety of situations, including interpreting the doctor’s illegible handwriting, inputting data into a computer system, and properly measuring ingredients.
- Aptitude for science
Even though it may be self-evident, many people underestimate how much pharmacists rely on practical science. Pharmacists must have a thorough understanding of chemistry and biology, as well as a strong desire to learn new and complicated material as it becomes accessible.
- Ability to think critically
It’s hard to know everything about how pharmaceuticals interact with the body and with each other, even if you’re an expert on the subject. Pharmacists must approach their profession with an analytical mindset, referring to the appropriate sources as needed, and making logical and accountable decisions.
- Prioritizing abilities
Pharmacists must be competent to appraise events and make quick decisions. For example, do you fill the prescription of the patient who has been waiting 10 minutes or the worried mother who has just arrived with a sick newborn and two sobbing toddlers? It’s tough to strike a balance between empathy and fairness when making a judgment call like this, but it’s vital when trying to prioritize duties.
- Management abilities
This is an often-overlooked component of the work. Pharmacists may be in charge of overseeing technicians and dispensers (with all the personnel management concerns that include), managing budgets, monitoring inventories, and keeping accountable records, depending on their place of employment and the structure in place.
- The ability to multitask
Pharmacists are busy not just executing life-or-death procedures, but also answering phones, dealing with other patients, and ensuring that tight regulatory processes are followed. This entails not only being able to multitask but being able to multitask perfectly.
- Confidentiality
Being a pharmacist needs the capacity to keep personal information private. You should be able to keep the patient’s information private. Medical history, diagnosis, and prescription information regarding the customer should be kept private. It involves you, the patient, and any other medical personnel who work with him or her. This private information should never be discussed with neighbors, especially if the neighborhood is small.
How to Become a Pharmacist
- High school
Students will benefit from having a strong math and science foundation as they pursue a Doctor of Pharmacy degree (PharmD). Biology, chemistry, physics, and arithmetic should all be taken at a high level for students. Pharmacists must communicate their understanding of drugs to medical professionals and patients, therefore effective written and verbal communication skills are essential.
- Complete a bachelor’s degree or a pre-pharmacy program to become a pharmacist.
A Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree is required. Although some schools prefer applicants to have a bachelor’s degree, a 2-year pre-pharmacy program or a 4-year bachelor’s degree in pharmacy science can both qualify you for a Pharm.D. program. Anatomy and physiology, biology, and chemistry are frequently covered in each program’s classes. Biochemistry, pharmaceutics, pharmacology, and occasionally toxicology are also covered in bachelor’s degrees.
- Acquire a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree.
The first year of a four-year Pharm.D. program emphasizes natural sciences – biological, chemical, and physical – as they apply to pharmaceutical science, regardless of whether you were in a pre-pharmacy or bachelor’s program. The curriculum shifts from a science-based to a clinical-based concentration after the first or second year, depending on the program. Pharmacokinetics, pathology, and therapeutics are likely to be among the topics you’ll learn about. You’ll get hands-on experience as a pharmacist in patient care settings throughout your fourth year of education. Community clinics, outpatient care centers, and hospitals are all examples of possible environments.
- Take into account postgraduate education.
You can pursue additional training through pharmacy residencies or fellowships after completing a Pharm.D. program. Individualize your career with these 1-2 year programs. If you wish to work in clinical settings, for example, you’ll need to complete a residency program. A fellowship could be beneficial if you want to work in a research lab.
- Licensing
A license from your state’s licensing board is required to work as a pharmacist. You must finish an internship and pass a series of exams in order to obtain a license.
To accomplish particular jobs as a pharmacist, you may need extra credentials. Most states, for instance, mandate that you finish the American Pharmacists Association’s Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery program if you deliver immunizations.
- Examine Potential Work Environments
There is a wide range of opportunities available to a pharmacist. As a pharmacist, your most likely employers will be retail health and personal care stores, grocery stores, and department stores. Pharmacists employed 135,070 individuals in health and personal care establishments as of 2020. Another 78,940 pharmacists worked in hospitals, while others worked for wholesalers and outpatient care clinics. You could potentially work for pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, or universities.
Where to work
- Ambulatory care clinics
Patients with chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes frequently visit outpatient clinics. These conditions usually do not necessitate the same level of attention and care as those encountered in hospitals.
Ambulatory care pharmacists work in a number of settings, including family physician practices, surgery centers, and dialysis centers. Pharmacists frequently serve patients as part of a collaborative practice agreement (CPA) with a physician who also resides in that facility, depending on the state and type of clinic. Pharmacists’ responsibilities include, but are not limited to, drug therapy.
- Hospitals
Hospital pharmacists are vital members of the healthcare team, ensuring that patients receive the best possible drug therapy. Rounding with the medical team to track a patient’s daily progress, recommending drugs based on patient-specific criteria, preparing patients for release, synthesizing IV medications and chemotherapies, and reacting to hospital codes are all examples of what you might do.
Hospital pharmacists can be found working alongside physicians in the following areas:
- Investigational drugs
- Critical care
- Internal medicine
- Oncology
- Infectious disease
- Emergency medicine
- Solid-organ transplant
In the hospital context, patients are frequently educated on treatments, complex pharmaceutical regimens are administered, and collaborative procedures are established. Pharmacists are also in charge of ordering and distributing medications throughout the hospital, as well as evaluating overall pharmaceutical use.
- PharmTech Industries
Many professions, including healthcare, are advancing their use of complex technologies, and pharmacy is no exception. Computer systems have become a vital element of pharmacy practice regardless of whether a pharmacist works in the community, hospital, ambulatory care, or any other location.
Pharmacists that specialize in informatics both lead and assist in the integration of technology into the healthcare workflow, particularly when it comes to pharmaceutical use. The demand for qualified professionals to support the usage of electronic health records (EHR) has increased at a similar rate.
Informatics teams include pharmacists who work on technologies like computerized provider order entry (CPOE) and barcode medication administration (BCMA), which improve pharmaceutical safety. When distance and convenience are factors in an individual’s healthcare, there are also telehealth and remote order input and review systems, which allow clinicians to give care via video, phone, and computers.
- Home Healthcare delivery
Patients’ capacity to receive medical care outside of the hospital has vastly improved as healthcare technology progresses. Patients can receive drug infusions at a clinic, a nursing facility, or even at their own home, as seen by the expansion of infusion clinics and home health services.
Because pharmaceuticals are frequently compounded to each patient’s particular needs, pharmacists play a critical role in delivery and safety in this field. Physicians, nurses, and technicians must work together to deliver the best dose regimens for patients with complex diseases, just as they do in most healthcare settings. IV antibiotics for patients with infectious diseases, drugs for patients with autoimmune diseases, and total parenteral nutrition (TPN) for those who require it are just a few of the services available.
- Research institutions
The research pharmacist’s main focus will be on two research axes: contributing to the development of medications and evaluating pharmaceutical care and services. He or she could work for a pharmaceutical research company, a university, a hospital, or another organization. The research pharmacist must be competent to oversee all parts of the study project, including finances and human resources (assistant nurse, statistician, clinician), as well as materials (technology, communication tools, medical supplies).
Pharmacist Salary Scale
As of December 27, 2021, the average Pharmacist income in the United States is $141,893, however, the range frequently ranges between $133,692 and $151,134. Salary ranges depend on many things, such as schooling, certifications, supplementary talents, and the number of years you’ve worked in your field.
Looking at what pharmacists earn on a national level, the average pharmacist in Nigeria earns between $120,000 and $170,000. However, a government pharmacist’s beginning wage ranges from $170,000 to $300,000, and it is renewed every four years with extra benefits.
