Community Pharmacists

• Fill prescriptions, verifying instructions from physicians on the proper amounts of medication to give to patients.
• Check whether the prescription will interact negatively with other drugs that a patient is taking or conditions the patient has.
• Instruct patients on how and when to take a prescribed medicine.
• Advise patients on potential side effects they may experience from taking the medicine.
• Advise patients about general health topics, such as diet, exercise, and managing stress, and on other issues, such as what equipment or supplies would be best for a health problem
• Complete insurance forms and work with insurance companies to be sure that patients get the medicines they need.
• Oversee the work of pharmacy technicians and pharmacists in training (interns).
• Keep records and do other administrative tasks.
• Place of work: Community pharmacies (chains like CVS and independent pharmacies), hospitals.
• Downside: Will probably have to work weekends.

Clinical Pharmacists

• Direct patient care. Assists doctors in recommending medications to patients and monitors therapeutic outcomes.
• Place of work: Hospitals and ambulatory care clinics.

Nuclear

• Measure and deliver the radioactive materials which are used in digital imaging (MRI, CT, etc).
• Place of work: Medical offices and hospitals.

Consultant Pharmacists

• Advise healthcare facilities or insurance providers on how to make pharmacy services more efficient and ensure they are compliant with all applicable state laws.

• Lots of schooling!
• Will be on your feet for many hours of the day.  
• Might work nights/weekends.

• For the past 10 years or so, pharmacy has been moving towards getting even more involved with direct patient care meaning there are more clinical pharmacists.
• Knowing more than one language is quite useful, especially Spanish.  “I can't tell you how many times I've needed a translator when trying to communicate with patients!” – Tony Bui, Licensed Pharmacist
• The industry is continuing to grow and that there's still a demand for pharmacists; however, because more and more pharmacy schools keep opening up, it's only a matter of time before the market might get too saturated.