Life Cycle of a Pharmacist
Pharmacists are medication experts responsible for supplying quality medicines to patients as required to achieve best outcomes. He/she is a healthcare professional practicing pharmacy. Pharmacists play an important role in pharmaceutical market and pharmaceutical industry.
What does a pharmacist do?
The job of pharmacists involves the tasks such as supplying quality medicines, supplying medicines within the law, ensuring the suitability of prescribed medicines for the patients and also ensuring drug safety, purity and strengths besides advising patients about how to take medicine, the possible reactions and clearing any doubts they might have about the medicines.
Role of a Pharmacist
A pharmacist supervises the production, preparation and assessment of quality medicines before supplying to patients from pharmaceutical manufacturers. He also supervises the supply chain that helps in supplying medicines on time and monitors the fitness of pharmacy premises and systems. They provide services to patients like blood pressure measurement or cholesterol management. They alos provide expertise about composition of different drugs, chemical, biological and physical properties of any drug.
Jobs for Pharmacists
Pharmacists help patients to get well. They can practice in many areas and specialties in healthcare. Sometimes their work is not obvious to the public as they work behind the scenes. Pharmacists have many job opportunities. They can work in hospitals, clinics, retail industry, local state and more.
Here is a list of few job opportunities for pharmacists.
- Pharmaceutical industry or production units
- Community pharmacies
- Hospital pharmacy
- Primary care organizations
- Home infusion facilities
- Long-term care facilities
- Managed care facilities
- Public health service
- Armed services
- Mail service
- Universities – teaching and research
- Veterinary pharmacy
- Internet companies
- Veteran’s administration
Lifecycle
A pharmacist goes through few common stages in life, known as the life cycle of a pharmacist. Every stage in the life cycle offers opportunities and also a set of challenges that needs to be managed effectively. A pharmacist needs to be optimistic about challenges and enthusiastic about opportunities to be successful. He faces tough competition as pharmaceutical companies have a stronghold in the country.
As a pharmacist, you need to find ways and means to take advantage of opportunities and not getting discouraged by challenges to be successful during your life in pharmacy and life after pharmacy.
Importance of a Lifecycle system
Having an effective system helps pharmacists to manage and navigate through the life cycle with ease. It also offers information to his family, advisors and pharmacy team to understand at what stage of the life cycle he is in. If everyone is not aware of the direction, he/she is heading, then huge amount of time, money resources and opportunities are wasted. Creating a roadmap of future also helps to understand how to navigate on the path as a pharmacist. This creates clarity of purpose and balances personal and professional life.
Life cycle of a Pharmacist
Setting clear bench marks as a pharmacist effectively measures progress and performance. Creating accountability by having a clear game plan to navigate and become a successful pharmacist. This can be done by acquiring knowledge through workshops and programs and developing resources.
A pharmacist job provides mobility and stability. It also has an element of flexibility. He works with state-of-the-art technology and is a respected member of the community. If you like to interact with people, help them to get well, work with patients and have a wide variety of career options in varied healthcare settings, then pharmacy is just the right career for you.
