Pharmacist vs clinical staff pharmacist

The differences between pharmacists and clinical staff pharmacists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a pharmacist has an average salary of $118,968, which is higher than the $77,646 average annual salary of a clinical staff pharmacist.

The top three skills for a pharmacist include patients, customer service and employee development. The most important skills for a clinical staff pharmacist are patients, patient care, and IV.

Pharmacist vs clinical staff pharmacist overview

	Pharmacist	Clinical Staff Pharmacist
Yearly salary	$118,968	$77,646
Hourly rate	$57.20	$37.33
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	50,943	162,262
Job satisfaction	3.67	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Doctoral Degree, 45%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	-	-

What does a pharmacist do?

Pharmacists are medical experts who distribute prescribed medications and immunizations to individuals. They are responsible for ensuring the quality of medicines supplied to patients, which should be within the law and prescribing only what is suitable to the condition of the user and provide proper knowledge on how to take them and possible reactions or side effects that may occur. Pharmacists could work in all environments where medications are used, or medication therapy is appraised as part of patients' care plan but most commonly in hospitals, community-based setting, and health systems.

What does a clinical staff pharmacist do?

A Clinical Staff Pharmacist is responsible for supervising pharmacy dispensing processes and the consultation of patients. They analyze prescribing trends to ensure patient compliance and to prevent excessive usage or harmful interactions.

Pharmacist vs clinical staff pharmacist salary

Pharmacists and clinical staff pharmacists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Pharmacist	Clinical Staff Pharmacist
Average salary	$118,968	$77,646
Salary range	Between $93,000 And $151,000	Between $44,000 And $136,000
Highest paying City	Sacramento, CA	Davis, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Safeway	University of California
Best paying industry	Retail	Health Care

Differences between pharmacist and clinical staff pharmacist education

There are a few differences between a pharmacist and a clinical staff pharmacist in terms of educational background:

	Pharmacist	Clinical Staff Pharmacist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Doctoral Degree, 45%
Most common major	Pharmacy	Pharmacy
Most common college	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Pharmacist vs clinical staff pharmacist demographics

Here are the differences between pharmacists' and clinical staff pharmacists' demographics:

	Pharmacist	Clinical Staff Pharmacist
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 43.2% Female, 56.8%	Male, 41.6% Female, 58.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.0% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 5.6% Asian, 20.9% White, 62.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 7.3% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 5.7% Asian, 22.2% White, 60.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between pharmacist and clinical staff pharmacist duties and responsibilities

Pharmacist example responsibilities.

Perform diabetes interviews along with physician collaboration agreement to manage therapy and optimal goals.
Dose and manage all Vancomycin and Aminoglycoside antibiotics throughout the entire hospital including overseeing, evaluating, and ordering antibiotic labs.
Perform critical care and oncology medication therapy management reviews for all patients assign to both satellite pharmacies.
Assist with transition to new computer system pending start of permanent PIC.
Deliver approximately 20K prescriptions per day to patients through budgeting Dr. Andy Nguyen, Pharm.
Provide small-group formal educational presentations for cardiac rehabilitation patients.

Clinical staff pharmacist example responsibilities.

Dose and manage all Vancomycin and Aminoglycoside antibiotics throughout the entire hospital including overseeing, evaluating, and ordering antibiotic labs.
Determine appropriateness of medications and monitor drug-drug interactions, drug-disease interactions, and allergies.
Analyze every drug order for potential drug-relate medical problems and implementing corrective action to ensure that patients receive optimal drug therapy.
Verify daily proficiency reports generate by the PYXIS dispensing system.
Serve as the preceptor for PharmD students in a clinical in-hospital pharmacy rotation.
Check against drug interactions, allergies, contraindications, and monitor for core measure compliance.

Pharmacist vs clinical staff pharmacist skills

Common pharmacist skills

Patients, 22%
Customer Service, 11%
Employee Development, 8%
Allergies, 6%
Patient Care, 6%
Drug Therapy, 5%

Common clinical staff pharmacist skills

Patients, 20%
Patient Care, 9%
IV, 7%
PharmD, 5%
Pharmacokinetics, 5%
Pharmaceutical Care, 5%

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Pharmacist vs Clinical Staff Pharmacist

Updated January 8, 2025

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