There are many opportunities within the pharmacy field for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians alike. The big box retail chain pharmacies are just the start, although these do occupy the majority of those in the pharmacy industry. Below we’ll explain in detail the wide range of options and settings available to choose from in the pharmacy industry.
Community and Retail Pharmacies
Sixty percent of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are employed at these large retail and community pharmacies. These are not only the most widely staffed, but the most widely used among consumers. That’s because everyone from the ill to the healthy, the browsers to the information seekers frequent these types of pharmacies. Pharmacists are being increasingly relied on to council consumers on preventative care techniques.
They provide information and advice on general health, medications and associated services, and by referring patients to other care providers such as physicians if needed.
If pharmacists and pharmacy technicians wish to work in a rather fast paced community pharmacy, then the retail chain pharmacies are a possibility.
Hospitals and Nursing Facilities
As society’s health care needs have evolved, an increased reliance on organized health care settings has developed. This has resulted in a growing number of pharmacists and pharmacy techs working in hospitals, extended care facilities, nursing homes, and assisted living centers. There is a greater emphasis on patient care for pharmacy workers, along with other health care professions such as, doctors, nurses, and nursing aids.
Hospital pharmacy practice consists of a many specialized areas, including intravenous therapy, nuclear pharmacy, and drug and poison information. Additionally, pharmacists and pharmacy workers provide services with ambulatory care, oncology, adult medicine, psychiatry, and pediatrics. The extent of these particular pharmacy services are needed depends on the sophistication and size of the facility. Demand for pharmacy staff in facilities where more patient interaction is needed continues to grow.
Managed Care
Pharmacy workers are increasingly employed in various capacities within managed care organizations (MCOs). Managed care is a system uses techniques that are intended to reduce costs, while improving quality of care (managed care techniques) for organizations using them, or providing them as services to other organizations. Managed care programs have attracted an increasingly large number of individuals in recent years. At the end of 1995, an estimated 130 million individuals in the U.S. received some form of managed health care. As managed care taks on a larger role in our health care system, opportunities for pharmacy work in managed care settings are on the rise. Areas in which managed care pharmacists can play a role include:
Pharmaceutical Industry
The pharmaceutical industry which produces chemicals, prescriptions drugs and other health products is another area where pharmacy staff are required. Though pharmacists would handle a different set of responsibilities, including marketing, research, product development, quality control, sales, and administration. Pharmacists who are more entrepreneurial, or have an interest in sales can combine this with their technical background in pharmacy as medical service representatives. In this role, pharmacists call on various medical organizations to explain the merits an uses of the products the company produces. This can lead to supervisory or executive positions within the industry. Pharmacists can also operate as sales reps, supervisors, and administrators in wholesale drug firms.
Academics
Pharmacists are also employed throughout the nations colleges and universities that have schools of pharmacy. Duties include teaching, patient care, research, public service. Becoming a faculty member at a university school of pharmacy usually requires post graduate degrees, or training, such as a Ph.D, residency, or fellowship training. There is actually a shortage of pharmacists who pursue careers in education, so this opportunity is wide open.
These individuals are often called “educator practitioners” and act as role models for students in various education/practice settings. As educators, pharmacists can lay the groundwork for the future of the pharmacy profession.
Other Fields
Pharmacists can use their expertise and backgrounds in various federal, state, and professional positions. They can hold posts in United States Public Health Service, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, the Food and Drug Administration, and the armed services.
Various state agencies have the responsibility of regulating the practice of pharmacy to protect public health. Pharmacists can be employed as executive officers and inspectors in this capacity. There are pharmacy careers in purchasing of pharmaceutical and medical supplies at the state level. Pharmacists in involved in various advertising, packaging, technical writing, magazine editing, and science reporting posts. There are pharmacists with legal training that act as patent attorneys or pharmaceutical law experts. There are pharmacists in space laboratories and aboard armed services ships, others work at large manufacturing firms or in medicinal plant cultivation.
As you can see, Pharmacy is an extremely diverse career field which offers a vast amount of opportunity. Careers in any of these fields are wide open for individuals with ability, education, and desire.
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