Pharmacy Careers

Pharmacists are medical professionals whose work — often in collaboration with a health care team — encompasses a variety of roles and responsibilities. They work in home, community, clinical, or hospital care, in specialized health care settings, or in laboratories. A pharmacy professional’s median annual salary in 2020 was $128,710.¹ To excel in meeting their communities’ unique health needs, pharmacists need to be culturally sensitive, ethical, and service-minded.

There are a number of career pathways that pharmacists can pursue, depending on their career goals, professional interests, and ideal environments. Explore some of the options below.

Community pharmacists work directly with patients and collaborate with prescribers. They dispense medication, explain its use, and provide basic, preliminary clinical services. Community pharmacists also give advice to their patients on nutrition, physical activity, pain and chronic pain management, wellness, or stress management, creating a well-rounded and holistic care experience.

Where they work:

Back to ‘Careers in Pharmacy’

Hospital pharmacists consult with doctors and nurses to ensure that patients receive the correct medication and dosage at the right time, by monitoring drug therapy, including reactions and outcomes.

Pharmacists in this setting may make purchasing decisions for the hospital and implement hospital regulations. They also provide patients with the critical medication information they need during their stay at the hospital and for after they are discharged.

Where they work:

Back to ‘Careers in Pharmacy’

Compounding pharmacists prepare customized medication to meet a patient’s specific needs and preferences, or a prescriber’s request. These medications are often not commercially available.

Compounding pharmacists may add medications to flavored liquids or topical creams, design alternative dosage forms, or prepare dye-free medication. They work in highly sterile and controlled environments.

Where they work:

Back to ‘Careers in Pharmacy’

Oncology pharmacists collaborate with other health care specialists to provide direct patient care for individuals who undergo treatment for cancer. Their services include treatment assessment as well as monitoring for potential adverse medication reactions and interaction. Additionally, they help manage cancer-related and medication-related adverse events.

Where they work:

Back to ‘Careers in Pharmacy’

Pharmacy informaticists are pharmaceutical technology experts. They work on developing and maintaining management systems and electronic tools that improve patient care, and streamline the services a given pharmacy provides.

A background in pharmaceuticals gives them the necessary insight into the unique technological needs of pharmacies.

Where they work:

Back to ‘Careers in Pharmacy’

Cardiology pharmacists are experts on medications designed for patients with, or at risk of, cardiovascular disease. They work as integral members of a health care team and are involved in all aspects of cardiac care, which may include heart transplants, artificial heart pumps, or anticoagulation (blood clot prevention).

Where they work:

Back to ‘Careers in Pharmacy’

In collaboration with other health care professionals, geriatric pharmacists dispense medication to older patients and provide clinical counseling about their use.

Geriatric pharmacists ensure that drug therapy for older adults is safe, effective, and cost-effective, and that it complies with state and federal regulations. They perform thorough medication regimen reviews based on their patients’ health histories and provide alternative treatment options where necessary.  

Where they work:

Back to ‘Careers in Pharmacy’

Infectious disease pharmacists focus their work on the use of microbiology and pharmacology to develop, implement, and monitor medication regimens that optimize therapy for patients.

They work on interprofessional health care teams to provide direct patient care, and they design appropriate antimicrobial therapies to help resolve infections while decreasing adverse events, complications, and resistance.

Where they work:

Back to ‘Careers in Pharmacy’

Pediatric pharmacists ensure safe and effective medication use, as well as optimal medication therapy outcomes, in patients up to 18 years of age. They advocate for and educate children and their families on medications, assisting with pain management and monitoring of side effects.

Where they work:

Back to ‘Careers in Pharmacy’

Emergency medicine pharmacists (EMPs) specialize in the delivery of direct patient care at the bedside of an emergency patient. They are critical members of the interprofessional emergency medicine team.

These pharmacists anticipate pharmacotherapy needs in the fast‐paced environment of the emergency department (ED), and have expertise in the management of time‐dependent emergencies, pre‐hospital medicine, emergency preparedness, public health, and toxicology.

Where they work:

Back to ‘Careers in Pharmacy’

¹ Pharmacists: Pay. “Occupational Outlook Handbook,” Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved March 10, 2022.arrow_upwardReturn to footnote reference