Career options for those with a degree in pharmacy

Most of us think of pharmacists as the persons who are behind the counter when we go to a drug store with a prescription. While retail pharmacy is a common career choice for pharmacists, there are many other options available to those who have completed their Pharm.D degree and the necessary licensure requirements. Although there are a variety of practice settings, compensation remains relatively consistent across all of these employment options with minor variations according to hours of work and call.

Here are the some career options in this field:

Retail Pharmacy/ Chemists 

A pharmacist in medical retail store prepares and dispenses drugs on prescription to the general consumer. With the growing availability of pre-packaged doses, the pharmacists now monitor the drug sale on the basis of prescriptions and dosage and give over-the-counter advice on how to use the prescribed drugs.

In the retail sector pharmacists run chemist's shops. As medical representatives, they inform and educate medical practitioners about the potential uses of the drug or health product and its administration along with the side effects or precautions for its use. The job entails regular visits to medical practitioners, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, health centres. There is usually a lot of touring to be done in this case.

Hospital Pharmacy

The primary role of a hospital pharmacist is to provide medication and medication management services to patients who are hospitalised or are visiting hospital-based clinics, and to provide medication services to health professionals who care for patients in the hospital set up.

Hospital pharmacists have exposure to many complicated and unique therapy needs, including intravenous medication therapy, nutrition, and the specific needs of newborns and the elderly. Pharmacists in the practice find working with other health professionals, work variety and focused clinical care opportunity rewarding. This is the second most common practice area.

Industrial Pharmacy 

While most firms are involved in the production of pre-formulated preparations, a growing number of firms are developing new formulations through autonomous research work. Industrial pharmacists carry out clinical trials, where drugs are tested for safety and effectiveness work in research and development to develop new formulations the production job entails management and supervision of the production process, packaging, storage and delivery work in marketing, sales and quality control.

In addition to the many opportunities for graduates in the many areas of pharmacy practice there are increasing numbers of opportunities within the pharmaceutical industry in advanced and specialised areas, as the depth and breadth of education in pharmacy increases opportunities in industry. This includes the promotion of pharmaceuticals to health professionals, marketing, development of new drugs and dosage forms, clinical studies in patients, monitoring pharmaceutical use on a population scale, and managing regulatory and legal issues.

Government Services

Pharmacists are hired within the central and state government departments - the Health Protection Branch of the Department of Health and Welfare, the Pest Control Division of Agriculture, the Department of National Defense, Provincial Research Councils, and the Provincial Departments of Agriculture or Environment. There are employment opportunities available also within the food and cosmetic industries or within any other industry that requires an assurance that new products are as safe and effective as possible. In government departments, a pharmacist maintains proper records according to various Acts governing the profession.

Pharmaceutical Education 

Many pharmacists work as faculty in colleges of pharmacy. These pharmacists enjoy influencing the future of pharmacy by educating future pharmacists and may participate in direct patient care and/or scientific research as well. Academic pharmacist practice has its rewards in disseminating and discovering new ideas that change medication use, pharmacist practices and healthcare policy. Career as a teacher is satisfying as it allows interaction with people, especially students, and provides them with the flexibility to pursue their own ideas in the field.

Nuclear Pharmacy 

Nuclear pharmacists are responsible for measuring and delivering radioactive materials which are used in digital imaging (MRI, CT, etc) and other procedures in medical offices and hospitals. Due to the nature of the radioactive materials and how they are handled, nuclear pharmacists are typically required to start each work day very early, sometimes pre-dawn, as the radioactive materials must be delivered within a few hours of their use, or they lose their effectiveness

Clinical Research

Recently, Clinical research has also opened its door for B.Pharma graduates as medical underwriter, CRO, data validation associate, clinical research associate etc. A clinical research associate plays an important role in monitoring and overseeing the conduct of clinical trials, which are conducted on healthy human volunteers. They have to see that the trials meet the international guidelines and the national regulatory requirements.

Community pharmacy

The primary role of a community pharmacist is to provide medication and medication related services to patients. In most settings, pharmacists provide prescription drug services to their community of patients, working with the patients and a broad spectrum of healthcare providers to achieve the best possible healthcare outcome of medication.

Quality Control & analysis

A pharmacy graduate can play a crucial role in controlling product quality as an analytical chemist or a quality control manager. The Drug and the Cosmetics Act (1945), Rules 71(1) and 76(1) says that the manufacturing activity should be taken up under the supervision of a technical man whose qualification should be B PharmA, B Sc, B Tech or medicine with Bio-Chemistry.

Research and Development

New and expanding knowledge in healthcare and biomedical sciences provides tremendous opportunities for the pursuit of research careers for pharmacists. Graduates with Pharm.D degree can pursue a research career directly or go in for additional education either in the form of residency and fellowship training or in formal graduate programmes leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.

With a clinical focus one can be involved in the conduct and analysis of large-scale human drug studies in academic, industrial, and governmental settings. Pharmacists are also highly qualified to pursue additional training in business, public health, or pharmaceutical socioeconomics in order to become involved in research in drug utilisation, healthcare outcomes, and the provision of pharmacy services.

Sales and Marketing

Ambitious achievers with pleasant personality and good communication skills can opt for the job of Medical Sales Representative. Companies prefer pharmacy graduates for this job, as they have a good knowledge about the drug molecules, their therapeutic effects and the drug -drug interactions.

by

Akshaya Srikanth

Pharm.D Intern

Hyderabad, India