Introduction
Pharmacists are professionals who are responsible for providing drug knowledge and pharmacy services. Pharmacists prepare and also distribute drugs according to physicians’ prescriptions and also assists physicians in rational drug use. They are experts in medicine and the most appropriate person to answer questions of the general public about medications.
Pharmacists are responsible for monitoring whether there are drug interactions among several drugs prescribed by doctors; and recommending the most suitable dosage forms for patients based on the patient’s needs.
Responsibilities
- To guide and participate in the preparation of drugs
- Responsible for drug inspection identification and also the use
- Maintenance of drug testing instruments to ensure that the quality of drugs conforms to the provisions of the Pharmacopoeia
- Cooperate with clinical research and make new drugs
- Check the use and management of poison, anesthesia, and also restricted drug
- Dispensing medicines for customers according to the prescription and explaining how to take them.
- Answer the consultation of patients and also other professional medical personnel
- Engage in research, development, and also participation in the production of pharmaceutical products.
- Responsible for the medical efficacy experiments of new drug products,
- And also conduct a series of work such as production quality control of new drugs.
- Pharmacists working in pharmaceutical factories are engaged in research, development, and participation in the production of pharmaceutical products.
They participate in clinical drug treatment and adverse reaction monitoring: They also provide medical staff and patients with adequate drug use counseling and conduct health care.
Education and Licensure
You must obtain a Doctor of Pharmacy degree (Pharm.D) to practice as a pharmacist in the United States. The program usually spans four (4) years: however, some institutions offer a six-year program. And the degree coursework includes pharmacology, medical ethics, chemistry, and pharmaceutics. After graduation, you must obtain a license to practice.
Potential pharmacists must pass the North American Pharmacist Licensure Exam (NAPLEX) and also the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam (MPJE) to be licensed. Pharmacists must also undergo internship training for several hours: During the internship, intern pharmacists work under the supervision of senior pharmacists.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has however projected that the employment rate of pharmacists will decline by 2% between 2020 to 2030.
Salary
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, pharmacists earn a yearly income of $128.710 on average. However, the salary ranges from $85,210 to $164,980, which is due to the place of work and experience level
Knowledge Background
Industry knowledge background:
Familiar with the professional knowledge of pharmacists and related medical knowledge, such as pharmaceutical management and regulations, pharmacology, pharmacy.
Professional knowledge background:
The basic knowledge that pharmacists need to master is mainly pharmacy professional knowledge and medical-related knowledge, such as
- Pharmaceutical management and also regulations,
- Pharmacology,
- Pharmacy,
- Drug analysis,
- Clinical pharmacology,
- Prescription science, etc.
Professional skills
- Familiar with the normative requirements of prescriptions
- Familiar with the formulation process of prescriptions
- Skillfully use the theoretical knowledge of pharmacy to review prescriptions.
- Familiar with hospital drug information: such as drug type, name, dosage form, dosage, specification, usage, etc.
- Proficient in prescription dispensing skills:
- Be able to prepare medicines correctly according to the records of the prescription;
- Determine medicines by generic names, trade names, aliases, and also brand names;
- Identify appropriate packaging and storage requirements.
- Master the management of drugs.
- Familiar with drug-drug interactions
General skills
- Proficiency in computer operation.
- Teamwork ability: All aspects of drug dispensing require the cooperation of all pharmacists. Good teamwork ability helps to carry out the work and also avoid mistakes.
- Practical software: hospital drug information management system (his), drug consultation, and also drug safety detection system.
- Common tools such as:
- Medicine spoon
- Turnover basket
- Medicine cart
- Weighing balance
- Mortar
- Medicine
- Dispensing basket
- Cutting knife, etc.
- Professional books: Pharmacopoeia, newly compiled pharmacology, modern clinical pharmacology, practical infectious drug therapy, medication during pregnancy and lactation, application guidelines for commonly used clinical drugs, drug manuals, etc
Working Environment
Workplace:
Pharmacists work primarily in pharmacies or clinical pharmacy rooms.
Environment specific description:
Due to the particularity of medicines, different types of medications have their storage requirements. To prevent the denaturation of pharmaceuticals, pharmacies have particular control standards for ambient temperature and humidity. The clinical pharmacy room is where clinical pharmacists use the hospital HIS system to check medical orders and receive face-to-face or telephone drug consultations from doctors, nurses, and patients. Therefore, the environment must be independent, quiet, warm, and clean to ensure safe and effective task
Professional ethics
- Be faithful to duty, and also ensure the quality of medicines
- Take public medication safety as the primary criterion.
- Take each prescription seriously and strictly implement the operating procedures.
- Strictly abide by the patient’s privacy, and do not disclose any information of the patient to the outside world.
- Respect colleagues and also pay attention to teamwork.
- Abide by the law, strictly prevent commercial bribery, and never take advantage of occupational convenience for personal gain.
