What is the pharmacy?
The word pharmacy derived from ‘Pharma’. Pharmacy is the interlink between health and chemical sciences. The entire philosophy of pharmacy revolves around the discovery, development, production and distribution of drugs. Pharmacists are the medication experts who help the patients in their medication therapy with the least side effects.
Job opportunity in pharmacy
- Pharmacist
- Retail/ Wholesale chemist
- Preparing prescription to patients
- Drug Therapist
- Drug Inspector
- Drug analyst
- Teaching professions in colleges and universities
- Drug technician
- Pathological Laboratories
- R&D
- Biotech industries
- Sales and Marketing
- KPO
- Pharmaceutical industries
- Clinical research field
Types of Pharmacist
- Hospital Pharmacist: Their main job profile is to procure stock and dispense medicine and drugs. Their duties include stock control, storage, placing orders, labeling on drugs and dispensary budgeting and accounting.
- Retail pharmacist: They dispense drugs to the customers as the prescription of the doctors. They advise how to use the drugs to the consumers.
- Industrial pharmacists: They focus on clinical trials wherein drugs are tested for new formulations. Their job also includes packaging, storage, delivery and quality control.
- Research pharmacist: Their main jobs encompass research & development for new drug formulations.
- Community pharmacists: They work in retail stores or work independently.
- Clinical pharmacists: They work in hospitals and clinics and directly engage in inpatient care.
- Consultant pharmacists: they give advice regarding healthcare facilities and insurance to the patients.
Career opportunity in pharmacy
Some of the job-oriented career opportunities in pharmacy are:
- Nuclear pharmacy
- Oncology pharmacy
- Psychiatric pharmacy
- Forensic pharmacy
- Nutritional support pharmacy
- Poison pharmacy
- Geriatric pharmacy
- Pediatric pharmacy
Qualifications and courses in pharmacy
There are the courses, which start after 12th standard. The courses and education in Pharmacy are:
- Diploma in Pharmacy (D.Pharm) of the 2 years duration.
- Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm) of 4 years duration.
- Master of Pharmacy (M.Pharm) of 2 years duration.
- Ph.D programmes
Duties of Pharmacist
There are some duties and responsibilities of pharmacists are:
- Guide the patients regarding proper medication of drugs.
- Instruct the patients how and when to take the medicines.
- Play an important role during vaccination and flu.
- Check whether the medicines interact negatively with other drugs.
- Give tips regarding diet, exercise, and other health-related issues to the patients.
- Help the pharmacy technician and interns.
- Documentation and administrative works
Registrations for Pharmacists
In the United States of America, those who wanted to be a pharmacist and required a license, need to pass two exams viz. the North American Pharmacist Licensure Exam (NAPLEX) tests pharmacy skills and knowledge. While the Multi-state Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam (MPJE) tests pharmacy law. Those pharmacists who are involved in vaccinations and immunizations need to be certified.
Skills of Pharmacists
Certain skills are needed to excel in the field of a pharmacist.
- Analytical skills
- Communication skill
- Computer skill
- Managerial skill
- Administrative skill
Pharmacist salaries
The average annual salary of a pharmacist is $126, 120. It means that 50% of them earned more than that of the average salary while rest of them earned less than of the average one. The highest 10% earned more than $161, 250 while the lowest 10% earned less than $87, 790.
Top universities and colleges for pharmacy
- Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
- LM college of pharmacy, Ahmedabad
- Jadavpur University, Kolkata
- Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani
- Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra
- Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research University, New Delhi
- Bombay College of pharmacy
- NIPER, Mohali
- University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Punjab University
- Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal
- JSS College of Pharmacy, Ooty
- University College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kakatiya University, Warangal
- Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai
- JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysore
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi
Top 10 pharmaceutical companies in India
- Sun Pharmaceutical
- Lupin
- Reddy’s Labs
- Cipla
- Aurobindo Pharma
- Cadila Healthcare
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Glenmark Pharmaceuticals
- Divi’s Laboratories
- Torrent Pharmaceuticals
Pharmacy specializations
There are varied specializations available after M.Pharma and Ph.D. programmes. Some of the important specializations are being given below.
- Pharmaceutical chemistry
- Pharmaceutical technology
- Pharmaceutical analysis and quality assurance
- Clinical pharmacy
- Pharmaceutics
- Pharmacy practice
- Pharmacognosy
- Pharmacology
- Pharmaceutical marketing management
- Quality Assurance
- Phytopharmaceuticals and Natural products
- Drug discovery and development
- Medicinal chemistry
- Bulk drugs
- Drug regulatory affairs
- Biopharmaceutics
- Industrial pharmacy
Best books and study materials in pharmacy
- Pharmacy Practice by David A. Holdford, Thomas R. Brown
- Clinical Pharmacy: Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment by Paul Rutter
- Drug Store and Business Management by VN Raje
- Introduction to General Pharmacy by Gaurav Agarwal
- Physical Pharmacy by SP Agarwal, Rajesh Khanna
- Introduction to Pharmaceutical Calculations by Judith A. Rees, Ian Smith, Jennie Watson