About Pharmacy

Pharmacy involves preparing and dispensing drugs, providing tailored advice and assisting with long-term patient care. As well as working directly with the public from a retail pharmacy, studying Pharmacy can also help you get into a variety of other roles that contribute to the betterment of society and people’s lives. Depending on your role, some of your responsibilities could include helping customers find the best medication for their needs, interpreting orders from physicians and studying new medications and products.

　　For a career path that truly makes a difference, look no further than Pharmacy.

　　

Is Pharmacy right for me?

Pharmacy is ideal for people who are detail-oriented, have excellent scientific knowledge and love to work in the community. A genuine concern for people’s welfare and an approachable personality are also excellent traits to have, as are the ability to work under pressure, communicate with people from all walks of life, and stay organised even when busy.

　　On a day-to-day basis, you’ll be supporting your coworkers, interacting with customers and meticulously preparing customers’ orders, all while spending a lot of time on your feet. Some pharmacists also provide vaccinations and conduct routine medical tests.

　　Pharmacy is an ideal career path for people who value stability, as most pharmacists work standard full-time hours. However, part-time work is becoming more common and some roles may also require you to work nights and weekends in order to provide round-the-clock care to customers, so some flexibility is needed.

　　Studying Pharmacy can open you up to a variety of different workplaces, with the most common being retail pharmacies. Some other work settings also include hospitals, specialty clinics, long-term care facilities and even government or military organisations.

　　

Pharmacy study options and costs

　　It takes between six to eight years to become a pharmacist, with the exact educational requirements varying from country to country. Typically, a Masters or Doctorate is required as well as professional licenses. Studying a Master of Pharmacy in the UK can cost £30,000 a year, while a Bachelor of Pharmacy with Honours can cost around AUD$40,000 a year in Australia. Often, an industry placement is also needed, during which you will learn valuable hands-on skills and boost your employability. In some cases, these industry placements will be paid positions, which is certainly a fantastic perk! Given the high salaries and stability of pharmacy careers, these educational costs and the time investment you’ll make are certainly justifiable.

　　If you’d like to be more involved in scientific research or development, you could choose to study a Masters or PhD in Pharmacy, Biomedical Sciences or Chemical Sciences after your basic Pharmacy education.

　　

Future outlook

The need for prescription medicine and medical advice will always remain consistent, and perhaps even increase as the global population grows and ages. As the Baby Boomer generation grows older and conditions such as diabetes continue to affect communities, pharmacists will be required to compound and dispense medications as well as provide basic medical advice and conduct routine tests. In fact, a 7.6% increase in pharmacy jobs is expected in Australia over the next five years, and there’s currently a significant shortage of pharmacists in the UK.

　　While retail pharmacy jobs will remain stable, there’s expected to be particularly strong demand for pharmacists in hospitals, physicians’ offices, outpatient care centres and long-term care settings. These settings require more pharmacists as they are burdened by greater demand, with pharmacists being needed in order to dispense medicines and oversee routine tasks such as testing blood sugar and cholesterol levels. US statistics point to a 37% growth in outpatient care centre pharmacy jobs, 30% growth in long-term care pharmacy jobs, 12% growth in physicians’ office pharmacy jobs and 4.4% growth in hospital pharmacy jobs.

　　

Career pathways for Pharmacy graduates

　　

Community Pharmacist

　　Community pharmacists work within communities to dispense prescriptions, provide advice and educate customers on disease prevention and the safe use of medicine. Community pharmacists usually work at retail pharmacies, supermarkets or health centres. Some may even choose to set up their own business or partner with other community pharmacists.

　　

Consultant Pharmacist

　　Consultant pharmacists are hired by pharmacies, hospitals or other healthcare facilities to assist in the care of patients. This involves performing medication regimen reviews based on a patient's history to determine the suitability of their treatment program or the medicines they’ve been prescribed.

　　

Hospital Pharmacist

　　Hospital pharmacists work within a greater healthcare team to monitor medication usage, provide advice, conduct clinical trials, counsel patients and prepare products for patient use. You’ll also be responsible for purchasing and quality testing medications for the hospital as a whole.

　　

Industrial Pharmacist

　　Industrial pharmacists are responsible for researching, developing, manufacturing, testing and analysing pharmaceutical products. They’ll work with chemists, engineers and other professionals to manufacture products, as well as develop standards for the pharmaceutical industry as a whole.

　　

Clinical Trials Pharmacist

　　Clinical trials pharmacists run clinical trials for new medicines, ensuring that strict protocols are adhered to. As well as conducting trials, clinical trials pharmacists are responsible for ordering supplies, storing medicines and destroying unused supplies.