Pharmacist

REDIFINING HEALTH CARE

Nellie Sobhanian
Technical Writing
Ms.D
February 26, 2015

Table of Contents
Abstract................................................................................................................................................................................1
Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................................2
Methodology........................................................................................................................................................................2
Discussion.............................................................................................................................................................................3
Mission Statement...........................................................................................................................................3
Benefits/Rewards/Compensation...................................................................................................................4
Work Environment.........................................................................................................................................4
Social aspect.....................................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion (Recommendations)........................................................................................................................................5

Abstract
The job description of a pharmacist in the 21st century requires new, challenging responsibilities in order
to expand the roles of pharmacists and to become a part of the direct health care team. By expanding the
roles of pharmacists, it affects the community pharmacies to offer better services directly to patients
regarding their medication as well as altering the entire structural elements of the role of pharmacists for
the better. In order to have successful pharmacists for the future, those who enjoy their job, are
competent and up-to-date with new health related innovations and provide exceptional healthcare
services to the growing geriatrics population. It is vital to understand the dimensions of this field and
obtain more information about the current stats such as the benefits of being a pharmacist as well as
some disadvantages to consider before entering the field.

Introduction

Pharmacy is one of the prominent branches of healthcare. For most Americans, the pharmacy is their
local health resource center and convenient access to a trusted health professional. A pharmacist is a
medical professional who dispenses drugs to patients according to a prescription ordered by a physician
or other clinician. Pharmacists have an in-depth knowledge of the active ingredient of various drugs and
how they react, the rate of absorptions, potential interactions with other medications as well as the sideeffects. Pharmacists must accurately verify the physicians orders, ensuring the safety and dosage and
the proper route of administration. While pharmacist do not prescribe the medications, they make
recommendations to physicians if necessary and have the power to change the quantity, medications
within the same class and also counsel patients on how to take the medication and what reactions or
problems require immediate healthcare supervision. Today, pharmacists are moving from behind the
counters to play a larger role in patient care specifically known as Pharmaceutical Care which is rapidly
being redefined. With the expanding role in healthcare, pharmacists become in demand. In this report, I
am going to discuss the organizational culture in the pharmacy field and provide a glimpse of what it
takes to be a pharmacist in the 21st century.

Methodology
The concept of making new medicines and studying varieties of chemicals and their interactions are
intriguing to me. Growing up in Tehran, it was the norm to go to the pharmacy and ask the
pharmacists what would help with the symptoms of a minor cold or flu. I realized that pharmacists
help people just as much as physicians do by helping people heal when they are suck and vulnerable.
During my last year of High School, I had the opportunity to take didactic training to be a pharmacy
technician and completed my externship hours at University of Utah. After working for one year as a

Board Certified Pharmacy Technician with a Utah Licensure, I am certain that I wanted to pursue this
field.
In order to include more sources to solidify my information, I continued to seek out different
resources for my empirical resource, I interviewed with a very knowledgeable pharmacist that I have
had the pleasure of working with. I electronically researched about this field and found great
information with websites such as Best Health Care jobs-Pharmacists and Explore Health Careers as
well as American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists. A print resource that I used to obtain
information from was The Good Pharmacists-Characteristics, Virtues and Habits By: William N.
Kelly, Elliot M. Sogol. All of my resources gathered allowed me to obtain the most accurate and
current information to be compiled into this report.

Discussion
Mission Statement
In order to obtain an organizational culture for the pharmacy we have to distinguish one organization from
another to implement the sense of identity and unity. Building a strong culture is a fundamental base to unite
around, which is essentially the mission statement that serves to unite the staff in order to work towards
achieving a goal. One of the core function of an organizational culture is to enhance the team building within the
organization as it leads to efficient ways of working and achieving desired results. Another function of the
organizational culture is to establish a set of guidelines and beliefs. A control system is also beneficial to have, it
is assigning responsibilities to a specific member of the team-pharmacy technicians and this is all led by the
pharmacist whose responsibility according to the American Society of Healthcare Systems-Pharmacists is to

provide pharmaceutical care to all patients through the responsible provision of drug therapy for the purpose of
achieving definite outcomes that improve a patients quality of life. (ASHP)
Benefits/Rewards/Compensation
Pharmacist are able to have medical, dental, vision and 401K through most of the retail places that
they work with. Hospitals are also great are providing third-party insurance options for their
employees to choose from. Depending on the location and the number of hours that pharmacists work
with, they qualify for their employers to pay a portion of their benefits. According to the interview
that I had with Megan Reick, she had 20 days of paid vacation a year, that increases with the amount
of hours worked during a period of time. According to the Explore Health careers, pharmacists make
a salary of $107k a year.

Work Environment
According to Explore Health Careers, Pharmacists usually work in clean, well-lit and well-ventilated
areas. Many pharmacists spend most of their workday on their feet. When working with sterile or
potentially dangerous pharmaceutical products, pharmacists wear gloves and masks and work with other
special protective equipment.(Explorehealthcareers.org) In addition, most pharmacist are indoors all
day, in a box-like environment, it is very realistic for pharmacists to not take a break while working and
as Megan Reick confirmed that sometimes she manages to quickly eat her lunch while she is working.
The uniform that pharmacists wear are white coats which conveys professionalism, responsibility and
purity in regards of ethics. The difference between a retail setting vs a clinical setting, according to
explore careers is the number of hours worked. Although clinical pharmacists usually do not have to
stand on their feet for a prolonged amount of time, they may be required to travel to nursing homes and
facilities to monitor the drug therapy.

Social Aspect
The social aspect of working in a pharmacy consists of dealing with patients from diverse backgrounds.
A pharmacist must be able to counsel patients on their medications effectively and build a connection
with their patients on a day-to-day basis. Along with patients, comes the responsibility of supervising
technicians who also work long hours as well. Other types of social interactions include attending daily
meetings, seminars for continuing education and dinners with other pharmacists hosted by the employer.

Conclusion (Recommendations)
The job satisfaction among pharmacists given the above average stress level and flexibility is still quite
high due to working longer hours but having more days off, the salary is also appealing but mostly
because of the patient-pharmacist interaction bond results in the feeling of accomplishment in helping
patients with their healing process. The type of person who would be successful as a pharmacists would
have impeccable communication skills, be detail-oriented and have strong analytical skills to identify
any mistakes that may have occurred during the filling process and an impressive recall of the
interactions between medications along with side-effects.
According to Explore Careers, the job outlook for pharmacists are graded as Excellent; however,
during my interview, Megan Reick mentioned that there is an overflow of pharmacists in the market as a
result of new pharmacy schools opening, which means hundreds of applicants are competing with each
other in the job market which jeopardizes job security, which is one of the most important factors to
consider before entering the field as a pharmacist.

Reference
A. Empirical:
1.
Interview with Megan Reick at Smiths Pharmacy
2.
Personal experience as a Nationally Certified Pharmacy Technician
B. Electronic
1. Best Health Care jobs-Pharmacists Bratcher, E. (n.d.). Pharmacist. Retrieved February 16,
2015, from http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/pharmacist
2. Explorehealthcareers.org (Salary and Job outlook)
ExploreHealthCareers.org. (2012, June 9). Retrieved February 16, 2015, from
http://explorehealthcareers.org/en/Career/14/Pharmacist
3. ASHP.org (American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists)
C. Print
1. Kelly, W., & Sogol, E. (2011). The Good Pharmacists-Characteristics, Virtues and Habits. William N
Kelly Consulting.