There is more to working in the pharmaceutical career than simply becoming a pharmacist. Pharmacy jobs range in availability and location. There are pharmacy technicians, salespeople, and managers. Pharmacy jobs are located in hospitals, drug stores, science labs, schools, the military, and veterinary offices. Working in a pharmacy job has many opportunities for the individual to make a living doing something that is exciting and personally fulfilling.
• Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have a great number of responsibilities. They prepare and dispense medication and engage in patient care. They are responsible for making sure that all newly prescribed medications do not counteract with any medications a patient may currently be taking. They keep track of the drugs contained within the pharmacy, reporting weekly inventories of narcotic drugs to the state. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are the meat and potatoes of the pharmacy job market. Pharmacy managers perform most of the clerical work in the pharmacy, sometimes taking over inventory responsibilities for the pharmacist. Pharmacy managers make the employee schedule, handle payroll, and deal with customer complaints. They also sometimes deal with insurance companies and doctors. Pharmacy salespeople are responsible for making sure that the correct prescriptions are sold to the right clients. They handle transactions and general customer service duties.
• Pharmacy jobs are found in a variety of places. In hospitals, pharmacists prepare medications directly for the doctors who prescribe them. They work under the supervision of the Dean of Medicine, and have much more responsibility in tracking medications and dosages. In the military, pharmacists can work either directly with soldiers in combat situations, or in RX centers on military bases. In veterinary hospitals, pharmacists work directly with veterinarians to help sick animals, dispensing medications along with special instructions for the owners. It can be a real challenge trying to get a cat to take a pill. There is typically no salesperson in hospitals, veterinary hospitals, and the military since these are not the typical retail situations.
• School and science lab pharmacy jobs are unique because there is less dealing with patients and more dealing with actual medications. These jobs are more researched based, with pharmacists working to together to find additional uses for already existing medications, as well as new medications to combat more complex and not yet cured diseases. Pharmacy jobs in science labs are exciting since the everyday goal is to discover something new about medicine, testing theories and conducting research trials. Educational pharmacy jobs focus on training new students in the field, teaching them how to practice medicine in the real world.
Pharmacy jobs are as diverse as the people that work them. Some are more challenging than others, and all of them can be rewarding depending upon the type of job one chooses. Whether one prefers to work in patient care, in sales, in management, with animals, in the military, or with the medications directly, there is a perfect pharmacy job for everyone interested in the field.