"Careers in Chemistry"
Retail Pharmacist
What is a retail pharmacist?: Many pharmacists today are working in the retail industry. Retail pharmacists must work under legal and ethical guidelines to make sure the safe and correct supply, or dosage, of medical products are given out to the general public. They help to maintain and improve people's health by giving advice and information, and they also supply prescription medicines to patients. This is what makes a retail pharmacist different from other pharmacists. Retail pharmacists deal with the general public every day. This is unlike government pharmacists, industrial pharmacists, nuclear pharmacists, and pharmaceutical industry pharmacists who spend most of their time in a lab studying medications. A retail pharmacist is like a doctor but does no hands on work with a patient. They have most of the knowledge that a doctor does, but instead of knowing about the body and what makes certain symptoms appear, a pharmacist's knowledge revolves around medications and how they interact with the patient's body and other medications a patient might be taking. To do their job efficiently, pharmacists must have a healthy knowledge of chemistry. Being a retail pharmacist is more than just putting pills into a bottle and handing them over the counter.
How does a retail pharmacist use chemistry?: The pharmacy industry is a profession in the health industry that links health and chemical sciences. Being a pharmacist means one is charged with ensuring the safe use of medication. Retail pharmacists should have a complete knowledge of a medication's:
Chemical Composition
Structure
Properties
Chemical processes
Transformations
Knowing these chemical properties of medications allow pharmacists to understand or predict interactions, signs of danger, production techniques, and methods for disposal. Without all of this knowledge, a retail pharmacist could easily make a mistake in a dosage or prescription that could have deadly consequences on the patient. Chemistry is the main component of a retail pharmacist's job.
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Requirements of a Pharmacist: Pharmacists are required to have a License to Practice Pharmacy. To receive a license, one must graduate from a college of pharmacy that is recognized and accepted as a Pharmaceutical Institute by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) and pass an examination, otherwise known as "state boards." The courses in a pharmacy college revolve around chemistry. Two of the core courses to graduate many pharmacy colleges are Medicinal Chemistry I and II. Other classes such as Pharmaceuticals and Nuclear Pharmacy also revolve around drug interaction and composition. In order to know how one drug interacts with another, its properties and structure must be known. This information comes from chemistry.
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Benefits of the job: Currently there is a great need for pharmacists in all possible fields. This means there are many employment opportunities for retail pharmacists. Companies such as Wal-Mart, Walgreens, and Super D are always looking for new pharmacists to hire because of the growing industry their businesses are involved in. Another benefit is the pay for being a pharmacist. In 2006, most graduates from UAMS obtained jobs with starting salaries of over $90,000 per year, right after graduation. Retail pharmacists also get to work closely with doctors and patients, which gives them opportunities to keep up in the development of medicinal knowledge.
References
http://www.careerplanner.com/Job-Descriptions/Pharmacists.cfm
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos079.htm
http://spirit.dos.uci.edu/pharmacy/faq.htm
http://www.educationinfoindia.com/pharmafaq.htmhttp://www.cop.ufl.edu/courses/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmacy
http://www.pharmacy-schools.us/types-of-pharmacists.php
Images
http://www.adultschool.seq.org/images/pharmacy_tech.gif
http://www.legacymed.com/images/pharmacists.png
http://www.chip.state.il.us/April_05/Print_Small/j0409126.jpg
Page Prepared by: Marinda Hutchison