What is pharmacy?
Pharmacy is a profession which revolves around manufacturing of medicines, supplying them, their use and effects. It is a health profession that combines chemical sciences with health sciences to ensure that ultimate benefits are received from the appropriate use of medicine. Pharmacy is practiced in community, industry and hospitals.
Who are pharmacists?
These are experts and professionals who dispense pharmaceutical drugs to patients. These pharmacists' technicians have complete knowledge on clinical services, medication use, safety and efficacy of drugs.
Pharmacist schools
Pharmacists have to go through training and have to gain certain qualifications through study and practical work in a pharmaceutical setting. Pharmacist schools are institutions where individuals can earn a degree in pharmacy. It is the most basic requirement for becoming a pharmacist or a pharmacist technician.
Degrees in pharmacy
There are many degrees and programs that can be obtained to become a successful pharmacist technician. These degrees can be earned from various pharmacist schools. A Bachelors degree in pharmacy is the most basic undergraduate degree that has to be earned to register as a pharmacist. This degree is a 4 year program of full time study in the field of pharmacy. Students learn about biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences. Apart from this, they spend time in hospital pharmacies, clinical placements and community pharmacies where they get practical experience of becoming a pharmacy technician. The main courses studied in a bachelors of pharmacy program include:
- Chemistry
- Microbiology
- Molecular genetics
- Basic sciences
- Physiology
- Anatomy
- Organic agents
- Medical agents
- pharmacokinetics
A bachelor in pharmacy degree is followed by attaining a master of pharmacy (MPharm),. This is a post graduate degree and in many countries is essential before becoming a practitioner. This is a 2 year program with advanced coursework and research. Students in masters programs can major in the following courses from any pharmacist school:
- Clinical pharmacy
- Medical pharmacy
- Pharmaceutics/drugs delivery
- Toxicology
- Pharmacokinetics
- Bio nanotechnology
- Pharmaceutical chemistry
A doctor of pharmacy is a professional doctorate degree in pharmacy. This is a requirement to obtain a license for professionally practicing pharmacy. This degree mainly consists of research work. Without a PhD in pharmacy, an individual is not allowed to practice pharmacy in any kind of a set up. This is a pre requisite for obtaining a license to become a pharmacist technician.
Career prospects
The annual salary of pharmacists ranges from $58,000 to $124,000. Pharmacist technicians can work for government bodies, private institutions or open up a drug store. Following are some of the areas pharmacists can work in:
- Primary care pharmacists
- Industrial pharmacists
- Hospital pharmacists
- Academic pharmacists
- Veterinary pharmacists
- Regulatory pharmacists
- Community pharmacists
- Army/medical corps