Career Guide for Pharmacy
There are many options
available to those who are pursuing a career as a pharmacist. Most of us think
of pharmacists as the person who is behind the counter when we go to fill a
prescription at the drug store or grocery store. While retail pharmacy is a
common career choice for pharmacists, there are many other options available to
pharmacists who have completed their degree and the necessary license requirements. Although there are a variety of practice settings, the
compensation remains relatively consistent across all of these employment
options, with minor variations according to hours worked and call.
Here
are the some career options which are as under:
·
Retail
Pharmacy / Chemists and Druggist:
In medical retail
stores, the pharmacist prepares and dispenses drugs on prescription to the
general consumer With the growing availability of pre-packaged doses, the
pharmacist monitors the drug sale on the basis of prescriptions and dosages,
and gives over the counter advice on how to use prescribed drugs. In the retail
sector, pharmacists run chemist's shops As medical representatives, they inform
and educate the medical practitioners of the potential uses of the drug or
health product and its administration along with 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.
·
Hospital
Pharmacy:
The
primary role of a hospital pharmacist is to provide medication and medication
management services to patients who are hospitalized or are visiting
hospital-based clinics, and to provide medication services to the health
professionals who care for patients in hospital settings.
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 preformulated 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 specialized 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 the Environment. There is also employment
opportunities within the food and cosmetic industries or within any other
industry that requires the assurance that new products are as safe and
effective as possible. In government departments, a pharmacist maintains proper
records according to various Government acts governing the profession of
pharmacy.
·
Pharmaceutical
Education:
Many pharmacists find
rewards 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 health care policy. Pharmacist faculty
find their careers to be pleasant in their interaction with people, especially
students, and provide them with the flexibility to pursue their own ideas about
pharmacy.
·
Nuclear
Pharmacy:
Nuclear
pharmacists are responsible for measuring and delivering the 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 open its door for B.Pharm graduates as medical underwriter, CRO,
data validation associate, clinical research associate etc.
The clinical research associate plays an important role of monitoring and
overseeing the conducts of clinical trials, which are conducted on healthy
human volunteers. They have to seethat 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 health care providers to achieve the best
possible health care outcomes of medications.
·
Quality
Control & analysis:
The
pharmacy graduate can play a crucial role in controlling product quality as a
Analytical chemist of 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 shouldbe B
Pharm, B Sc, B Tech or medicine with Bio-Chemistry.
·
Research
and Development:
New and expanding knowledge in health care and biomedical sciences
provides tremendous opportunities for the pursuit of research careers for
pharmacists. Graduates with the Pharm.D. degree can pursue a research career
directly or following additional education either in the form of residency and
fellowship training or in formal graduate programs 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 utilization,
health care 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. The 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
No comments:
Post a Comment