Career Profile: Pharmacists

Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 323,500 people employed as pharmacists in the United States. The median annual salary is $128,570. Entry level employees earn approximately $76,840 per year and senior employees earn approximately $164,590 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• Contact insurance companies to resolve billing issues.
• Teach pharmacy students serving as interns in preparation for their graduation or licensure.
• Refer patients to other health professionals or agencies when appropriate.
• Work in hospitals or clinics or for Health Management Organizations (HMOs), dispensing prescriptions, serving as a medical team consultant, or specializing in specific drug therapy areas, such as oncology or nuclear pharmacotherapy.
• Prepare sterile solutions or infusions for use in surgical procedures, emergency rooms, or patients' homes.
• Update or troubleshoot pharmacy information databases.
• Publish educational information for other pharmacists, doctors, or patients.
• Manage pharmacy operations, hiring or supervising staff, performing administrative duties, or buying or selling non-pharmaceutical merchandise.
• Provide specialized services to help patients manage conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, smoking cessation, or high blood pressure.
• Offer health promotion or prevention activities, such as training people to use blood pressure devices or diabetes monitors.
• Review prescriptions to assure accuracy, to ascertain the needed ingredients, and to evaluate their suitability.
• Provide information and advice regarding drug interactions, side effects, dosage, and proper medication storage.
• Maintain records, such as pharmacy files, patient profiles, charge system files, inventories, control records for radioactive nuclei, or registries of poisons, narcotics, or controlled drugs.
• Plan, implement, or maintain procedures for mixing, packaging, or labeling pharmaceuticals, according to policy and legal requirements, to ensure quality, security, and proper disposal.
• Assess the identity, strength, or purity of medications.
• Collaborate with other health care professionals to plan, monitor, review, or evaluate the quality or effectiveness of drugs or drug regimens, providing advice on drug applications or characteristics.
• Order and purchase pharmaceutical supplies, medical supplies, or drugs, maintaining stock and storing and handling it properly.
• Analyze prescribing trends to monitor patient compliance and to prevent excessive usage or harmful interactions.
• Advise customers on the selection of medication brands, medical equipment, or healthcare supplies.
• Compound and dispense medications as prescribed by doctors and dentists, by calculating, weighing, measuring, and mixing ingredients, or oversee these activities.

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