Pharmacist Career Opportunities

By Dave Lashier


Pharmacists are one of the most important members of any health care team. They are responsible for the accurate and safe preparation and distribution of the prescription drugs to the patients. They work closely with the physicians to ensure the effective and safe use of medicines. However, with changing times, they are not just mixing and dispensing various medications. Pharmacists are now actively participating in health care teams and deciding the administration of medications, dosages, and their side effects.

As Healthcare is constantly changing so are the roles of the professionals that work in healthcare. The pharmacist is no exception and is becoming a more important figure in the care of patients in any hospital setting. Today pharmacists are more involved in the patient care and they actually determine their medication needs and also share the necessary information about the effect of each medication.

When choosing to become a pharmacist you can select where and when you would like to work. Different shifts are available since many healthcare settings work round the clock to provide patient care. Pharmacists are currently employed in various industries and fields. They can also work in the community pharmacies where they can dispense the medication and counsel the patients about the proper drug intake and its use. Pharmacist have important role in the numerous health care facilities and act as reliable source of information on the drugs for the physicians and various other members in the health care team. If they want to, pharmacists can also specialize in certain area, such as nutrition support, geriatric pharmacy, psychiatric pharmacy and so on. They can also work in various pharmaceutical industries, where they can work on drug research and its development, its marketing, sales and quality control.

Like all medical professions being a pharmacist offers many employment opportunities that make for job stability found nowhere else. There is an estimated 10,000 position shortage for this pharmacy profession thus ensuring a job for any pharmacist applicant. There is a considerable shortage of pharmacists and the job outlook is very strong with numerous opportunities for career growth. It is definitely a professionally and financially rewarding career. However, one should not build his or her career in pharmacy just on the basis of attractive compensation offered in this profession. It is a demanding career as lives of people are involved. Quite often, pharmacists are involved in the critical situations where one's accuracy and performance can make all the difference.

This profession is a very rewarding profession but does come with a great deal of responsibility and accountability! Not very many careers give a person the ability to positively impact the lives of people they interact with as much as the pharmacist. If you've decided to pursue a career in this field, then you should be detail oriented and attentive in your work. As actions of a pharmacist are critical as they involve lives of patients, so one has to be clear in thinking and should be capable of working under pressure. One should have the highest respect for the law and should have genuine desire to work for the improvement of the lives of people. One should be capable of interacting and communicating with various types of people so that they can make positive difference to their lives.




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