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Kaden Sellers

Ms. Amanda Tibbitts

Language arts 12

8 march 2019

Pharmacist

A pharmacist is regarded as a awesome career for many people. This paper will talk

about things like the different work environments, The pay of a pharmacist, the educational

process of a pharmacist, and the possible future for the career of a pharmacist. The job as a

pharmacist has a lot more to it than most people believe.

Pharmacists are known for having a good paying job that is stable and very reliable.

According to the american journal of pharmacy the average yearly salary of a pharmacist is

$124,400. However the average debt for a pharmacist out of college is ​$114,422. The wages can

vary depending on the type of pharmacy they work at how much experience they may have. The

American Journal of pharmacy education says lower 10% of pharmacists of pharmacists make as

low as $89,000 per year when the top 10% of pharmacists make as much as $147,350 per year.

The average salary has actually increased from $75,000 per year in 2002 to $112,000 per year.

This shows that the career has become a lot more popular in the recent years because of the

recent wage raises. This evidence proves that the job of a pharmacists does seem to consist of a

good pay as well as a stable job that has had a recent wage raise.

The pay varies for a pharmacist depending on the place that you get a job as well as the

type of pharmacy they work in. The American Journal of Pharmacy education states most that a
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pharmacist will get paid is working as a pharmacy manager making around $140,000 per year.

The next most you will make is as a clinical pharmacist they make around $127,500 per year.

The next most would be a hospital pharmacist and make around $125,000 per year Below that

would be a retail pharmacist which makes $122,300. The next most would be a nuclear

pharmacist at about $127,000 per year. The one below that is a satellite pharmacy pharmacist

making on average about $119,700 per year.The lowest looks like a mail order pharmacist

making $117,900 per year. Those are the different wages per year at each different type of

pharmacy.

Pharmacist is not only great for the money that they make per year but also because they

are a very necessary part of modern health care. A pharmacist is a specialist in any medication,

almost all people in this world have needed a medication at least once in their life to help them

out. A pharmacist is the person that ensures that the medication is safe for the patient to be

taking. This step in the process of modern health care is essential to ensuring safety of patients

who need medications. This is why the job of a pharmacist is essential to health care.

Another great thing about the career field of a pharmacist is that every day on the job is

different according to Alvin B. Oung a pharmacist and a pharmacist professor. “Every day is a

little bit different, that’s the exciting thing about being a pharmacy professor! Some days I’m in

the clinic conducting one-on-one visits with patients (or simply being available to providers for

questions). And on other days, I’m on the university campus giving lectures to PharmD students.

Finally, there are days when I’m doing neither—instead, I’m attending committee meetings,

doing research, and preparing for lectures.” this is what Alvin B. Oung said on the topic. This is
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good because a job with the same thing every day would get boring. That is another reason why

the career of a pharmacist is very respectable and a solid career.

The other big thing between a pharmacist and any other health care job is that they don’t

need to deal with touching patients and get fluids on them or cutting people open. This is perfect

for those who want to help in the health care but don’t like touching people. This is also a very

nice perk of a job of a pharmacist.

The job of a pharmacist and the healthcare system as a whole is constantly changing and

adapting. “Thirty-five percent of Forecast Panelists (FPs) agreed that it is very likely that

pharmacists in at least 75% of health systems will have prescribing authority within the next five

years”(“Pharmacy Workforce :Shifts in Roles, Responsibilities, and Training”) this quote proves

that the work for a pharmacist is changing. In this changing possible happening it will give

pharmacist a greater responsibility.

There are also many different work environments for a pharmacist. The types of work

environments are a retail pharmacy, Clinical pharmacy, long term care pharmacy, nuclear

pharmacy, home infusion pharmacy, and a pharmacy manager position. There are many different

responsibilities at each one of these different jobs. A retail pharmacist dispenses medication at

drug or grocery stores. A clinical pharmacist works in a hospital as part of a medical team. In a

long term care pharmacy a they would be preparing medications for those who are not able to

pick up there medications for themselves also known as a “ Closed Door” pharmacy. In a

Nuclear pharmacy the pharmacists days start early and are working with radioactive material to

make medications. In a ​Home infusion and Chemotherap​y ​pharmacy a pharmacist is responsible

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for mixing chemotherapy drugs for cancer patients. Those are just some examples of different

places a pharmacist can work.

The career of a pharmacist does require a decent amount of education. The education to

get a Doctor of Pharmacy Degree usually requires about three to four years worth of schooling.

Some of those courses include: Pathophysiology, Toxicology, Disease Treatment,

Biopharmaceuticals, Pharmacy ethics and laws, Drug absorption rates, patient care, medicinal

chemistry, etc. To get into pharmacy school must have 2 years of undergraduate. In pharmacy

school there add clinical care into their pharmacy training courses. After getting educated to be a

pharmacist you; still must do a internship for 1-2 years to get experience in the field of pharmacy

and to get familiar with dealing patients. That is the education to be a pharmacist.

One of the many jobs of a pharmacist is to make sure that patients are not abusing

controlled substances especially opioid painkillers which are a controlled substance class two.

This means they are a medication with the highest likeliness to be abused but still has medicinal

uses. Painkillers are becoming a huge issue now a days “According to published statistics, the

number of opioid prescriptions increased 700% between 1997 and 2007” (Impact of a

pharmacist-directed pain management service on inpatient opioid use, pain control, and patient

safety). As a result, the more deaths we are seeing because of this huge increase of the use of

opioid drugs. According to the article Impact of a pharmacist-directed pain management service

on inpatient opioid use, pain control, and patient safety “47,055 medication overdose-related

deaths in 2014.”. It is a pharmacists job to try and reduce chances of overdose and addiction to

these pain killer drugs. That is another responsibility that a pharmacist holds while working.
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Another thing about working in a pharmacy is that when working in a retail pharmacy

people come to you in the worst state of mind mainly because they come to a pharmacy when

they are sick or in pain and are not patient at all because of this. When working in this type of

environment the pharmacist must be very understanding of people's situations. Also must be

extremely patient because if the pharmacist doesn't act patient neither will the person trying to

pick up their medication. Also when working the pharmacist must work to the best of his ability

to fill medications quickly and get customers out of there quick so they can take their medication

and begin feeling better. Also a pharmacist must be very kind to people and never act annoyed to

ensure that a customer is happy with the service and will come back to the pharmacy again.

These are some of the things a pharmacist must do while working.

That is a lot more about the career of a pharmacist. The job of a pharmacist has its ups

and downs but definitely seems like a very solid career for whoever is willing to put in the work.

The job has a awesome pay as well as many different responsibilities in many different kind of

work environments. A pharmacist is a specialist in medication and is truly helping people out in

this world and making the world a lot of a better place for people with medical issues. A

pharmacist is also the first line for stopping drug abuse among people and make sure that drugs

are being prescribed properly and that it is safe for the patient to be taking. The job of a

pharmacist is also a job that could be adapting to a more modern health care system and I can't

wait to see what the future holds for this career.

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Works Cited

Scheckelhoff, Douglas J. “Pharmacy Work Force: Shifts in Roles, Responsibilities, and

Training.” ​American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy,​ vol. 74, no. 2, Jan. 2017, pp.

48–50. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=120636686&site=ehost-live

Poirier, Richard H., et al. “Impact of a Pharmacist-Directed Pain Management Service on

Inpatient Opioid Use, Pain Control, and Patient Safety.” ​American Journal of

Health-System Pharmacy​, vol. 76, no. 1, Jan. 2019, pp. 17–25. ​EBSCOhost,​

doi:10.1093/ajhp/zxy003.

Smith, Kelly M. “Our Pharmacy Profession: Are You All In?” ​American Journal of

Health-System Pharmacy​, vol. 75, no. 16, Aug. 2018, pp. 1239–1242. ​EBSCOhost​,

doi:10.2146/ajhp180361.

“Pharmacist Occupational Outlook Handbook.” ​U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics​, U.S. Bureau of

Labor Statistics, 13 Apr. 2018, www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/pharmacists.htm#tab-1.

"The Pharmacist Salary Guide." ​Pharmacy School HQ.​ N.p., 14 Feb. 2015. Web. 21 Feb. 2019

"Home." ​Pharmacy Schools​. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2019.

"A Day in the Life of a Pharmacist and PharmD Professor." ​Pharmacy for Me.​ N.p., 16 Jan.

2019. Web. 21 Feb. 2019