A Career as a Pharmacist

Author: Nihit Aurora

If you are looking for a rewarding career in the pharmaceutical industry, you might want to think about becoming a pharmacist. Pharmacists dispense drugs that doctors prescribe for patients. Additionally, they advise patients on dosages and side effects. Pharmacists also monitor the health and progress of patients to ensure that patients use prescribed drugs safely and benefit from them. Currently, most pharmaceutical companies manufacture drugs in standard dosages, reducing the need for compounding drugs in the pharmacy.

Overview

Many pharmacists choose to work in retail and community settings, while others prefer to work in-house for health clinics or medical institutions.

Pharmacists who work for healthcare facilities often choose to obtain training in specialty fields like intravenous nutrition support, geriatric pharmacy, oncology, or nuclear pharmacy. Many pharmacists also prepare and administer intravenous drugs to patients, especially those suffering from cancer and other advanced diseases. Additionally, pharmacists are responsible for keeping accurate records of drugs administered to patients. Many senior pharmacists work as faculty members at academic institutions, where they teach, conduct research, and prepare students for graduation and licensure.

Many pharmacists find work with pharmaceutical companies, where they can become involved in research and development. Other pharmacists work in marketing and sales, promoting their companies' products to doctors, hospitals, and allied health professionals. Other employers include government bodies and public healthcare services.

Employment Opportunities

In the United States, a significant number of pharmacists work part time. Most full-time pharmacists work 40 hours per week with occasional overtime. However, many self-employed pharmacists put in more than 50 hours per week. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were about 230,000 pharmacy jobs in the U.S. in 2004. Around 24% of salaried pharmacists work in hospitals, while others work for retail and community pharmacies, clinics, healthcare agencies, or the federal government.

Salaries

Pharmacy is a relatively high-paying professional field. In May 2004, the median earnings of pharmacists were between $75,700 and around $95,000 per year. Pharmacists working for department stores earned the highest salaries, followed by those employed by grocery stores, health and personal care boutiques, hospitals, and other general outlets.

Qualifications and Licensure

In the United States, all pharmacists need to have licenses to practice. Prospective pharmacists are also required to possess degrees accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) and pass the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX). Furthermore, 43 states, including the District of Columbia, require candidates to pass the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination (MPJE). Additionally, candidates licensed in one state may need to pass a reexamination in another state. It is always advisable to check the examination requirements of other states before applying for a licensing examination.

Summary

Pharmacists should be practical and methodical and should have scientific aptitude. They should also have a strong desire to help others. Aspiring pharmacists can conduct independent searches online to find relevant educational institutions and prospective employers in this field.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/a-career-as-a-pharmacist-201591.html

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Biotechnology Careers

Biotechnology refers to technological applications that employ living organisms and biological systems extensively in the field of medicine, food science and agriculture. Biotechnology is successfully applied to produce organic products as well as biological weapons. Applications of biotechnology include recycling and treating waste. Using biotechnology can effectively clean areas that are contaminated owing to continuous industrial activities. Red biotechnology is a branch of biotechnology that is utilized in a variety of medicinal processes to produce different antibiotics. While white biotechnology is applied to industrial processes, green biotechnology is incorporated in agricultural processes. Blue biotechnology has been applied in marine and aquatic processes; however, this form of biotechnology is not very common. Statistics reveal a growth rate of 24% in the sales figures of biotechnology products, with maximum growth being witnessed in Latin America. Out of the estimated 4000 biotechnology firms around the world, about 30% of them are located in the United States. Due to widespread application of biotechnology, this field has also become a vital career option for many people.

Career Options

Individuals interested in biotechnology can find an array of career choices, as this field is rapidly expanding. It is important for such individuals to be aware of the various disciplines of biotechnology before deciding their field of specialization. Typically, biotechnology students can specialize in any of the six major fields of biotechnology.

a. Biological Scientists - Biological scientists conduct a detailed study on living organisms by effectively employing advanced technology. This field comprises of the study of animals, plants and microscopic organisms. Individuals can have a promising career in this field as food and agricultural scientists, pharmacists, veterinarians, biomedical engineers, conservation and forensic scientists and general practitioners. b. Biomedical Engineers - Biomedical engineers have the knowledge and expertise to form artificial body parts, commonly known as prostheses. Individuals specialized in this field can pursue a career as physical therapists, computer hardware engineers, mechanical engineers and surgeons. c. Clinical Laboratory Technologists - Individuals can obtain expertise to detect body fluids and tissues, to check for symptoms of any disease after conducting various tests. Such individuals can pursue a career as a pathologist, biological scientist, chemist or a materials scientist. d. Forensic Scientists - Forensic scientists or crime laboratory analysts are instrumental in providing vital scientific information that can be crucial for criminal proceedings. Career options for such individuals include detectives, archaeologists, anthropologists, and detectives. e. Medical Scientists - They conduct intensive research on bacteria and various viruses that are the root cause of various diseases, and utilize their research to create a variety of medicines and vaccines to treat or eradicate these diseases. There are plenty of career options such as statisticians, internists, chemists, and material scientists. f. Pharmacists - Pharmacists are responsible for distributing medicines and also guiding patients in terms of correct medication and appropriate dosage. Career options are unlimited and include advanced practice nurses, anesthesiologists, psychiatrists, and pharmacy technicians.

Biotechnology schools are found everywhere and they impart knowledge to students about various aspects of this field. Some of best known universities in America that offer courses in Biotechnology include Northeastern University, Yale University, American University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Florida, Iowa State University, and University of Minnesota.

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Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Pharmacy Careers

Becoming a pharmacist is a rewarding career move with many challenges. If your goal is to become a pharmacist or pharmacy technician, there are several pharamcy schools in the United States that provide courses to accomplish that goal.

Your decision to become a pharmacist or pharmacy technician is a great career decision and can be achieved through educational courses. A bachelor's degree is not required in many states to become a pharmacist.

You must first complete your pre-pharmacy education, take a pharmacy college admissions test and possibly attend an interview before beginning your pharmacy degree.

Since many colleges, universities and vocational technical schools offer pharmacy courses, students desiring to be involved in the pharmacy industry have many options for career paths. Most higher learning institutions offer a doctor of pharmacy or pharmd degree as well as a non traditional pharmd degree.

The non traditional pharmd degree is for currently practicing pharmacists with a bs in pharmacy from an accredited pharmacy school that wish to practice at a more advanced level without starting over. The degree offers flexible scheduling as well as courses with internet access for working pharmacists that cannot take courses during the time they must work.

Pharmacy is chosen as a career skill because of the importance of pharmaceuticals in today's society. It is doubtful that their importance will be any less in the future. Pharmacists and the pharmacy schools that produce them benefit education, society and modern medicine.

Serving as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician is both challenging in learning the effects of medicines and understanding their effect on the human body as well as rewarding in helping people manage their lives. This is an exciting career choice.

Whether you are working towards becoming a pharmacist or pharmacist technician, you do not have to take prerequisite courses that have nothing to do with your goal. Pharmacy schools offer courses that strictly pertain to pharmacy work. Advanced courses such as pharmaceutical calculations, pharmacy law ethics, and clinical pharmocokinetics are required for pharmd degrees. The United States has always required a license to practice pharmacy.

Attending pharmacy school will give you rewards that benefit you directly and quickly. The skill of catching medicines that are prescribed by doctors that have bad effects when mixed in a human may save the life of someone. In your daily routines, you will be enriching the health and well being of your patients while giving advice and recording information.

Pharmacy schools teach skills to help you in your pharmacy job and also intuition deal with people in general. Your skills will be beneficial and give you positive rewards during your career as a pharmacist or pharmacist technician.

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About the Author
Gail Metcalf writes about careers in pharmacy technician on her Personal Finance website Household Wealth

Available Careers in Healthcare

Physicians and surgeons are not the only available careers. In fact, physicians need trained healthcare professionals to help them to provide the best quality care to patients at an efficient and affordable price. For this reason there are more and more entry level careers that have great prospects and require a minimal amount of training. Below are listed some of theses careers and how you can get started.

Nursing-RN, LPN, CNA. healthcare-trainingcenter.com/programs-nursing.asp>>Nursing is a job field that is expected to grow much faster than average for all positions. The shift to provide quality healthcare that is also cost efficient is a growing trend across the nation. Nurses are able to provide healthcare that once required a physician. Nursing positions range from nursing assistant positions to nurse practitioner, with training programs ranging from two years for Certified Nursing Assistants, to four to six years for Registered Nurses and up to eight years for Nurse Practitioners.

Assistant Positions-There are numerous jobs available in various healthcare-trainingcenter.com/Certification-Training.asp">assisting positions. Some titles include dental assistant, pharmacy assistant, medical assistant, veterinary assistant, and physical therapy assistant. These are all entry level positions for healthcare with their own degree programs that prepare graduates in the correct technical skills and working practices.

Technicians- There are many tech level positions available in the medical field. In health related fields, there are cardiovascular technician, health information tech, nuclear medicine tech, radiology tech, and surgical tech positions. For those interested in laboratory work there are positions as cytotechnologist, medical lab tech, and phlebotomy tech. Training programs include hands on training and coursework to work under technologists, physicians, or surgeons in healthcare and laboratory settings.

Administration- healthcare-trainingcenter.com/programs-health-care-administration.asp">Administrative jobs in healthcare are also increasing in demand. There are healthcare information jobs including medical billing and coding, and medical transcription. Administration careers including health information technology management, health services officers, and medical office management. Typical programs consist of a diploma or associates degree program that trains student in medical terminology, and related systems and standards of healthcare administration.

Salary- Salaries for healthcare jobs vary greatly depending on type of job, level of specialization, certification, and many other factors. Salary for entry level positions generally range from $15,000 to $30,000 annually, while highly specialized healthcare professionals can earn upwards of $100,000.

Employment opportunity for healthcare jobs is expected to be excellent for the next eight years, so now is the time to begin training and enjoying a career a healthcare. Visit Healthcare-TrainingCenter.com for more information about the healthcare career that interests you.

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About the Author
This article was written by Angela Oliver. For more information about healthcare careers, training, and continuing education, please visit http://HealthCare-TrainingCenter.com. Find healthcare-trainingcenter.com/FindJobs.asp">jobs and available training programs in your area that can help you begin a career in nursing, healthcare administration, and a number of other fields.

career in Paramedical Science

Paramedical science is an upcoming career that promises high salaries and a bright future, not only in India, but also overseas. Since there is still a dearth of professionally qualified paramedical professionals, there are several institutes, which have initiated courses in this field. These sources are basically designed to train dental technicians, physiotherapists, x-ray specialists, MRI specialist, nurses and many more. Without the help and focused insight of these professionals, doctors would find it hard to perform their duties.

Job Prospects

Many companies like Pfizer, Dr. Batra's and Ranbaxy, are indulging in setting up corporate paramedical centers across the country, while Roche, Lab India and other medical instrumentation companies are also employing paramedical specialists to add to their expertise. Dr. Sudhakar Mishra employed with a popular instrumentation brand avers, "Since market competition is suffering, there is a need for more paramedical professionals. Though there is only a sight link between professionals and brands, we are now panning our focus in adding to our excellence and showing commitment to our brand, by ensuring all possible functions with the help of these professional."

Its not just the Indian scenario; even countries in Europe and in the US need more paramedical professionals from India consistently, as they are considered to be at par with the best in the world. The demand for Indian nurses and physiotherapists is so high that the professionals can get very lucrative jobs like the USA, England, Switzerland Germany and others.

Written by Akash at Pharma Hub

Career in Academic Pharmacy

Why Academic Pharmacy?

Some people might think that the career of pharmacist in academics is just upto teaching, but it isn't so. Educators are also involved with research, public service, patient care along with teaching. Pharmacy Educators has major role in inspiring the individuals coming in pharmacy. Some pharmacy educators also work as pharmacy consultants for some organizations.

Fighting against Shortage of Pharmacy Faculty
Lot of surveys have been done and every survey adds to the same point that the number of qualified and well trained faculties is less than it is actually needed. There are several subjects where Pharmacy faculties are needed like, biological sciences, medical products, clinical sciences, continuing education etc. Since the work of pharmacy faculties is not limited to teaching, the well qualified people are always in demand.

What Pharmacy Faculty do?
Generally the work of pharmaceutical science faculty is related to research and teaching. Researches may be related to drug discoveries, procedures and methodologies related to drug use, affects of drugs on human or animal etc. The qualification expected from the candidates are degree in pharmacy, some post degree education and research work related to pharmaceutical science, and decent experience in teaching. The work of clinical faculties is more related to patient care along with their usual work of teaching and research.

Written by Akash at Pharma-Hub

Careers More Than Medicines

For a long time, students who graduated in biology adopted the traditional career route of pursuing medicine. However with professional courses dedicated to emerging fields in science, opportunities are abundant.

According to a recommendation by the World Health Organization, a population of one thousand people needs at least one sufficiently qualified doctor. And every doctor in turn, requires eight, skilled paramedical professionals and biotechnologist. Thus, according to recommendations, India, which has crossed the one billion-population mark, requires approximately 12 lakh doctors and total of 96 lakh paramedical personnel and biotechnologist to build the right kind of medical infrastructure.

However, today, the country has four lakh doctors, and surprisingly, an equal number of paramedical personnel, i.e., qualified nurses and pharmacists, technicians and physiotherapists and biotechnologist, who are even fewer in number.

This brings us the conclusion that India require more than 75 lakh such professionals to bring stability to its medical infrastructure, especially if we keep in mind the upcoming concept of medical tourism.

Although medicine has always been a popular choice with students and their parents, due to the monetary gains and the prestige attached to the title of 'doctor', the scope of opportunities for a student who pursued biology in Higher Secondary School has increased tremendously. With the career options ranging from nursing, optometry, pharmacy, physiotherapy, to even genetic research, students of biology have an array of options to look forward too.

Career in Military Pharmacy

Why Military Pharmacy?

One of the best careers in pharmacy field is Military Pharmacy. Here you not just earn money but also the satisfaction for your soul that your work is those who fight for country. Military, Army or force, call it whatever but it promises you some of the best things that you won't find in any other Pharmacy Career. It is well known that the work of people in Military is related to risks, physical care and extreme conditions sometimes and no doubt pharmacists have a major role in healthcare of these brave people and their families.

what do Pharmacists do in Military Pharmacy

Generally the workings of Military departments are separate and they have special recruitment, training and working procedures. Broadly we can categorize work of military pharmacists, providing facilities for working people in Military, families of military people, pharmacist who can be well trained to be a actual military, pharmacist who can contribute in missions as team members, pharmacists who can teach military people how to take care in different situations, etc.

Salaries in Military Pharmacy

Salaries in Military pharmacy are generally expected to be high. Also Military Pharmacist gets more facilities like easy student's loan repayment, bonuses while they are workings. Some Countries also provides permanent jobs to military pharmacists.

What is expected from Pharmacist in Military Pharmacy

In Military, pharmacists are expected to be more than a general pharmacists. They need to do more things than dispensing and providing clinical services as they normally do. Also pharmacists with leadership qualities are preferred because they may need to train other people around them and accept any responsibility.

Career Opportunities In Clinical Research

India is a fast developing country with second largest population in the world. India is an ultimate source of main power and offers disease diversity and heterogeneity. India clearly provides an opportunity in terms of availability of large patient populations highly educated talent, a vide spectrum of disease, lowers costs of operations and a favorable Economic and intellectual property environment this specialties have become attraction for many MNCs to conduct their business operations and several medical research studies in India. There has been an increasing focus on India’s capabilities for quality clinical trials (research) over the last decade. Though clinical research outsourcing (CRO) is a young industry worth about $120 million a year in India but it is fastest growing. Analyst predict that it will be worth $380 million by 2010,As American and European companies are looking to India for clinical research trials to cut the cost of drug development. India has been identified by MNCs as an emerging center for conducting clinical trials for development of drugs, chemicals and biotechnology. The CR business is largely driven and managed by people. A company with good, qualified, experienced and trained people demonstrates sufficient credibility and capability to attract projects from sponsors.

Similarly the industry needs GCP (Good Clinical Research Practice) trained and experienced investigators, co-investigators, clinical research coordinator and study nurses at hospitals and clinics. As the demand for these professionals grows training institutes and trainers in different segments of clinical research business are absolutely essential.

The following career pathways help professionals to understand the broad range of career option with a range of vertical growth opportunities available. This also helps professionals to select a career based on their personal strengths, abilities and interests. Rapidly changing work environment and increasing requirements to meet these changes, reminds professional to continue learning appropriate skills.

The CR business in India has created several career models for graduates and post graduates. This gives a plethora of opportunities to professionals from science pharmacy, biotechnology and medical sciences seems to look for a promising future career.

Career as Analyst and Technician

Any drug or dosage form for human use has to be of excellent quality and purity, free from any impurities. The permissible limits of impurities, which either occurs through the manufacturing process, equipment, raw materials, handling or storage, are very stringent. Therefore, Quality control (QC) and Quality Assurance (QA) are the most integral areas of the drug & pharmaceutical industry. Highly specialized and trained staff is required to handle sensitive analytical procedures & sophisticated equipment. MPharm & PhDs in Pharm Analysis /Q.A. are highly preferred for this job.

Career in Documentation, Library Information Services & Pharma. Journalism:

The Regulatory Affairs as well as, Patenting Processes and Issues involve a lot of documentation work to be done and submitted to the concerned Regulatory Authorities, in a highly specialized and technical manner. Pharmacy professionals are again fitting in the bill. Most of the major Indian Pharma companies have established separate Documentation Departments with a highly technical & skilled staff for this purpose.
Similarly, the R & D & Q.C. Departments of the Pharma. Companies need a wealth of Technical information, which needs to be updated regularly, in order to match the pace of global competition. Therefore, Library Information services is another field in much demand as far as the Pharma. industry is concerned. Furthermore, with the advent & boom of the Information Technology, Bio-Informatics and Electronic Data Retrieval Systems, this field is already scaling new heights.
Pharma-Journalism is another area filled with great potentialities. This requires specialist technical personnel like pharmacy graduates on the editorial staff to cover the various aspects. There is already a very lucrative business in this field.

Pharmacy Technician Careers

Author: Tony Jacowski

Pharmacy Technician- a Career Option

Becoming a pharmacy technician can be a rewarding career choice. This field has good career prospects, monetary benefits and rewards. Pharmacy technicians assist licensed pharmacists in providing health care products and medications to patients. They routinely prepare prescribed medicines for the patients; for example, counting the tablets and fixing labels to bottles. The pharmacy technician refers questions regarding drug information, prescriptions or health matters to the pharmacist.

Certification

A National Pharmacy Technician Certification Examination, conducted by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board, which is held at various examination centers at a national level, has to be passed in order to become a Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT). Candidates are required have a high school diploma/GED, and must not have any record of felony. Once qualified, pharmacy technicians need to be recertified every two years.

The eligibility criteria for recertification is to have completed twenty contact hours of pharmacy related topics, within the two-year certification period. Attending lectures, college course work and on-the-job training are all considered for awarding contact hours. It is mandatory to have a minimum of one contact hour in pharmacy law. Flexibility allows contact hours to be earned from different sources. Up to ten contact hours can be earned by working under the direct supervision of a pharmacist.

Other sources are attending pharmacy colleges, belonging to pharmacy associations, and pharmacy technician training programs. However, presently, there is no federal requirement for formal training and certification of a pharmacy technician, although there may be some states that do have such a requirement. Many employers provide on-the-job training to people and recruit them as pharmacy technicians.

As reliance on pharmacy technicians continues to grow, more states and employers require pharmacy technicians to be formally educated and certified. Many employers offer to reimburse the cost of the examination as an incentive. Formal education programs are offered by the military and some hospitals. Proprietary schools, community colleges and vocational or technical colleges also offer education programs.

Place and Nature of Work

Pharmacy technicians generally work in hospitals, general medical and surgical stores, health and personal care stores, and retail or mail order pharmacies. Their job responsibilities differ accordingly, and are dependent on applicable laws and other regulatory mandates of the state. They receive prescriptions in writing and requests from patients for prescription refills. A doctor's office may also send a prescription electronically.

The pharmacy technician has to verify the information in the prescription, for completeness and accuracy. The preparation of the prescription requires the pharmacy technician to retrieve, count, pour, measure, weigh and occasionally mix the required medication. They have to select the type of prescription container, and create and fix the labels on it. After it is filled, they price the prescription and file it. The pharmacist then checks this before it is given to the patient. Pharmacy technicians may be required to prepare insurance claim forms, maintain patient profiles, and take an inventory of over-the-counter prescription medications.

They must be aware of the latest medicines and their availability. At times, they also need to advise the patient about diet and health requirements. According to available records for 2004, pharmacy technicians earned median hourly wages of $11.37. The highest figure was $16.61 and the lowest was $7.96.

A career as a pharmacy technician can be pursued even without formal certification in most states, and allows working in clean, organized work areas. It offers a reasonably good salary and benefit package.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/pharmacy-technician-careers-78819.html
About the Author:

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.