Pharmacist (Training)
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How To Become A Pharmacist
The majority of pharmacists work within the community, such as at a drugstore, or in a health care facility, like a hospital, nursing home, mental health institution, or neighborhood health clinic. These pharmacists dispense medications, counsel patients on the use of prescription and over-the-counter medications, and advise physicians about patients' medication therapy.
Increasingly though, those who train how to become a pharmacist are pursuing non-traditional types of pharmacy work. Some are involved in research for pharmaceutical manufacturers, formulating new drugs and assessing their effects. Others work in sales or marketing, providing clients with expertise on the use, effectiveness, and possible side effects of drugs.
Courses offered at colleges of pharmacy are designed to teach you how to become a pharmacist and about related topics too, such as drug therapy. In addition, you learn about communicating with patients and health care providers about types of drugs and therapies. Classes on professional ethics, concepts of public health, and medication distribution systems will be included too. In addition to receiving classroom instruction, you spend about a quarter of the time in an assortment of practical situations under the supervision of already qualified pharmacists.
To be admitted to a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) course, you are required to have completed at least 2 years of post-secondary study. Other requirements typically include courses in mathematics and natural sciences, such as chemistry, biology, and physics, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences. As well as academic requirements, it is advantageous to have a desire to help others and good interpersonal skills.
A license is also required to become a pharmacist. To obtain this license, you should graduate from a college of pharmacy that is accredited by the ACPE, and pass a set of written and practical examinations. All U.S States require pharmacists to pass the North American Pharmacist Licensure Exam (NAPLEX), which evaluates your knowledge and expertise of pharmacy skills, and most U.S States also require that the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam (MPJE) be passed, which evaluates your competency regarding pharmacy laws.
Those who graduate from overseas pharmacy colleges may also qualify for a license to work in the U.S. To do so, they must first apply for certification from the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Committee (FPGEC) and then must pass all of the exams required by the licensing jurisdiction, such as the NAPLEX and MJPE.
On completing the Doctor of Pharmacy course, and having acquired a license, as a result of rapid growth, and the need to replace workers who leave the occupation, finding a pharmacy job should be no problem. The average starting salary is approximately $80,000 per year, based on a 40 hour week, and this will rise as you gain more experience.
Those who are newly qualified and have just become a pharmacist usually begin at the staff level. From there you may be promoted to managerial pharmacy jobs, and later on to executive pharmacy positions. After gaining experience and securing the necessary capital, it is also possible to become owner of your own pharmacy.