I noticed many people looking online for information on how to become a pharmacist, so I decided to put together a step by step plan including some helpful resources that will shortcut the process. Pharmacists are responsible for distributing and explaining proper usage of prescription drugs ordered by a physician on behalf of patients. They have a thorough understanding of drug chemistry, drug interactions, and how they react with each other. Of critical importance is the accuracy and dosage of medications to ensure the patients safety. Pharmacists are not to prescribe medications, only to dispense and explain how to take the medication and how to avoid adverse reactions.

It used to be that pharmacists could practice with a bachelor of pharmacy degree, but are now required to obtain a doctorate of pharmacy or pharm.D. The pharm.D program requires a four year Bachelor degree and passage of the Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT). So steps two and three below can be interchanged, depending on whether you’re still in high school or have graduated from college already.

Steps to Become a Pharmacist

1. Carefully consider your career choice – One of the hardest things to do in life is deciding what career to pursue, especially at a young age. Beyond deciding what you’d enjoy doing, consider your personal character, skills and proficiencies. Pharmacists must be detail oriented, excel in science and math, and have decent communication and interpersonal skills. A great way to test the waters in a pharmacy setting is to do volunteer work, get a part time job, or do in internship at a local pharmacy.
2. Decide which Pharmacy school to attend – In order to be accepted into a Pharmacy school and enroll in a Pharm.D program, you must meet their acceptance requirements. Often courses in specific subjects need to be completed before you apply. So narrowing down your school choices and becoming familiar with each school’s requirements is your next step.

Resources

• See the list of top pharmacy schools according to the 2008 U.S. News Pharmacy School Rankings.
• The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) also has a list of accredited programs.
• Here is a list of accelerated 3 year pharmacy programs, which reduces the program duration by one year. The list includes these schools below:
• Albany College of Pharmacy, Albany NY
• Duquesne University: Mylan School of Pharmacy, Pittsburgh, PA
• Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI
• Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine School of Pharmacy Erie, PA
• Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science – Manchester Manchester, MA
• Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science – Worcester Worcester, MA
• Midwestern University – Chicago Chicago, IL
• Midwestern University – Glendale Glendale, AZ
• South University Savannah, GA
• University of Southern Nevada Henderson, NV
• University of Appalachia Oakwood, VA
• University of the Pacific Stockton, CA
3. Complete Your Bachelor’s Degree – Some Pharm.D. programs require completion of a specific degree before acceptance. Though it may not be required, a bachelor’s degree is preferable and will look favorable to your Pharmacy school acceptance board.
4. Apply for Pharmacy School – If you’ve completed step one above and have researched and decided on which Pharm.D. program to apply for, this should be straightforward. Depending on the school, you may need to pass the PCAT. Otherwise, refer back to step one and research programs and apply to the school of your choice
5. Complete Pharmacy School and obtain your Pharm.D. – This is normally a four year process, unless you’ve decided to attend the list of three year programs above.
6. Consider a one or two year residency or fellowship – To work in a clinical setting, you may want to complete a residency, and if you decide to specialize in a single area of pharmacy, you may complete a fellowship program.
7. Become a Licensed Pharmacist – Take the North American Pharmacist Licensure Exam (NAPLEX) and the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam (MPJE). Eight states have their own pharmacy exam in favor of the MPJE. Depending on your state, you may also be required to fulfill other requirements such as additional exams, a certain number of hours experience practicing in a pharmacy setting, and a criminal background check.
• If you attended a foreign pharmacy school, you can get licensed in the U.S. by applying for certification through the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Committee (FPGEC), followed by passing the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Exam (FPGEE), Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam, and Test of Spoken English (TSE) exam.

Once licensed, you are qualified to work in a number of settings, depending on whether you’ve met the continuing education requirements, including retail pharmacies (CVS, Walgreens, Target, etc), corporations, hospitals, long-term care facilities and many more. The duties and work schedule can vary depending on the pharmacy setting, so reviewing each setting in order to make an educated choice is recommended.