Pharmacists
Overview
Salary
Demand
Core Tasks
Technology Skills
Tools Used
Top 10 Knowledge Required
Top 10 Skills
Top 10 Abilities
Top 10 Work Activities
Detailed Work Activities
Work Context
Education
Majors
Interests
Top 10 Work Styles
Work Values
Related Careers
Overview
Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Experience
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Education
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Job Training
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Examples
These occupations often involve coordinating, training, supervising, or managing the activities of others to accomplish goals. Very advanced communication and organizational skills are required. Examples include pharmacists, lawyers, astronomers, biologists, clergy, neurologists, and veterinarians.
Dispense drugs prescribed by physicians and other health practitioners and provide information to patients about medications and their use. May advise physicians and other health practitioners on the selection, dosage, interactions, and side effects of medications.
Salary Salary
Salary at 10th Percentile: $85K
Salary at 25th Percentile: $112K
Median Salary: $128K
Salary at 75th Percentile: $147K
Salary at 90th Percentile: $164K
Demand
Core Tasks
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.
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.
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.
Prepare sterile solutions or infusions for use in surgical procedures, emergency rooms, or patients' homes.
Order and purchase pharmaceutical supplies, medical supplies, or drugs, maintaining stock and storing and handling it properly.
Advise customers on the selection of medication brands, medical equipment, or healthcare supplies.
Analyze prescribing trends to monitor patient compliance and to prevent excessive usage or harmful interactions.
Compound and dispense medications as prescribed by doctors and dentists, by calculating, weighing, measuring, and mixing ingredients, or oversee these activities.
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.
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.
Update or troubleshoot pharmacy information databases.
Publish educational information for other pharmacists, doctors, or patients.
Technology Skills
Technology
Example
Hot Technology
Tools Used
Tool
Example
Top 10 Knowledge Required
Medicine and Dentistry
86%
Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Customer and Personal Service
82%
Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Mathematics
77%
Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Chemistry
75%
Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Biology
73%
Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
English Language
73%
Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Law and Government
67%
Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Administration and Management
66%
Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Therapy and Counseling
66%
Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Computers and Electronics
65%
Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Top 10 Skills
Reading Comprehension
83%
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Active Listening
80%
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Critical Thinking
78%
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Instructing
78%
Teaching others how to do something.
Monitoring
78%
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Service Orientation
78%
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Speaking
78%
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Writing
78%
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Judgment and Decision Making
75%
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Science
75%
Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
Top 10 Abilities
Oral Comprehension
85%
The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Written Comprehension
85%
The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Near Vision
83%
The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Oral Expression
83%
The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Problem Sensitivity
83%
The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Deductive Reasoning
78%
The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning
78%
The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Speech Clarity
78%
The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Written Expression
78%
The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Category Flexibility
75%
The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Top 10 Work Activities
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
95%
Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
Interacting With Computers
93%
Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
Getting Information
92%
Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Processing Information
92%
Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
Documenting/Recording Information
89%
Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
85%
Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
Assisting and Caring for Others
84%
Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
Making Decisions and Solving Problems
84%
Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Performing for or Working Directly with the Public
84%
Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
81%
Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
Detailed Work Activities
Verify accuracy of patient information.
Communicate detailed medical information to patients or family members.
Advise patients on effects of health conditions or treatments.
Maintain inventory of medical supplies or equipment.
Order medical supplies or equipment.
Maintain medical facility records.
Treat chronic diseases or disorders.
Recommend types of assistive devices.
Collaborate with healthcare professionals to plan or provide treatment.
Advise medical personnel regarding healthcare issues.
Prepare medications or medical solutions.
Refer patients to other healthcare practitioners or health resources.
Determine protocols for medical procedures.
Merchandise healthcare products or services.
Manage healthcare operations.
Train medical providers.
Present medical research reports.
Instruct patients in the use of assistive equipment.
Work Context
Indoors, Environmentally Controlled
How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions?
Telephone
How often do you have telephone conversations in this job?
Face-to-Face Discussions
How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job?
Importance of Being Exact or Accurate
How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job?
Contact With Others
How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it?
Consequence of Error
How serious would the result usually be if the worker made a mistake that was not readily correctable?
Frequency of Decision Making
How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization?
Electronic Mail
How often do you use electronic mail in this job?
Deal With External Customers
How important is it to work with external customers or the public in this job?
Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results
What results do your decisions usually have on other people or the image or reputation or financial resources of your employer?
Education
Majors
Major
Interests
Investigative
100%
Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
Conventional
77%
Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Social
62%
Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
Realistic
48%
Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Enterprising
39%
Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
Artistic
19%
Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.
Top 10 Work Styles
Attention to Detail
97%
Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Dependability
94%
Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Integrity
94%
Job requires being honest and ethical.
Stress Tolerance
93%
Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
Concern for Others
92%
Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Self Control
91%
Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Cooperation
89%
Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Adaptability/Flexibility
87%
Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
Achievement/Effort
83%
Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Initiative
80%
Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Work Values
Recognition
81%
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer advancement, potential for leadership, and are often considered prestigious. Corresponding needs are Advancement, Authority, Recognition and Social Status.
Support
77%
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
Relationships
72%
Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
Achievement
67%
Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.
Independence
67%
Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
Working Conditions
67%
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions.
