Healthcare is one of the leading industries in the United States, employing over 14 million people in 2006, and it’s estimated another three million by 2016 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). One of the most rewarding and lucrative healthcare careers is that of the pharmacist. The BLS further states that pharmacist jobs will increase by a whopping 22%, making it one of the fastest growing job sectors in healthcare. This is reflected in the numbers of people applying for pharmacy schools to learn how to become a pharmacist.
As compared to many healthcare jobs, a pharmacist is very well paid, which reflects the level of education and training required. As with most careers, the more training that’s required, the higher the compensation.
Pharmacists primarily dispense prescription drugs and medications to patients after being prescribed by their doctor. They also educate clients on medication usage, dosage, and possible reactions they may encounter. They are trained to calculate proper drug dosages, which can be quite demanding with some medications as any dosages that are even slightly too little or too much can sometimes make a dramatic difference in the medication’s effectiveness.
Other areas of expertise for a pharmacist must include compounding, storing, formulating, and dispensing pharmaceutical drugs. However new areas of expertise are required for pharmacists to learn on a continual basis. For instance, lately they have needed extensive training on drug therapy, educating diabetics on administering insulin, assisting patients with hypertension who need to manage their blood pressure, and of course treating those with common colds, skin irritations, the flue, etc. They even administer vaccinations, which is a very recent role they have taken on.
Considering all the training required to become a pharmacist, it goes without saying, they are very well compensated for their expertise and professionalism. A starting salary for pharmacists can be over $100,000, however, there are many factors involved, including state, locale, work environment (retail pharmacies such as CVS don’t pay as much as hospitals for example).
For those wanting to possibly get into the pharmacy field, but without committing to the extensive education required to become a pharmacist, another option is becoming a pharmacy technician, who is an assistant to pharmacists and who do a wide variety of administrative and pharmacy duties. Although a starting pharmacy technician salary is anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000, there is much less training required.
As stated above, being a pharm tech is perfect for those who just want to get their feet wet in pharmacy field without the extensive education requirements of pharmacists. The schooling required to be a tech is just a fraction of pharmacists – in fact a pharmacy technician certification only takes about 1 year to complete at a local community or junior college.
A typical day for pharmacy technicians basically includes handling everything the pharmacist does, minus the discussions of proper drug usage with patients. These duties include preparing medications, customer service functions, taking prescription requests, counting tablets for dispensing, labeling prescription bottles, answering phones, weighing medications, occasionally mixing medications (compounding), manage patient files, and much more.