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.
Pharmacist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real pharmacist resumes:
- 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.
- Participate in evaluation process for selecting and implementing electronic medical record and oncology physician order entry system.
- Monitor drug therapy regimens for contraindications, drug-drug interactions, drug-food interactions, allergies and appropriateness of dose.
- Counsele patients on proper use of their medications showing empathy and compassion to establish a positive patient-provider relationship.
- Conduct medication therapy management reviews to patients' drug regimens and recommend solutions base on evidence- base medicine to their physicians.
- Up to date on CME credits and CPR skills.
- Assist in training PharmD candidates the art of compounding.
- Prepare the pharmacy to meet military and JCAHO standards.
- Submit yearly and monthly formularies through CMS s HPMS system.
- Conduct safety inspections to ensure compliance with JCAHO and OSHA regulations.
Pharmacist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 22% of Pharmacists are proficient in Patients, Customer Service, and Employee Development. They’re also known for soft skills such as Computer skills, Managerial skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Pharmacists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 22%
Conducted medication therapy management reviews to patients' drug regimens and recommended solutions based on evidence- based medicine to their physicians.
- Customer Service, 11%
Manage and coordinate daily operations, including sales, customer service, administrative/accounting functions for a retail drug store pharmacy department.
- Employee Development, 8%
Led staff education on pharmaceutical concepts and activities, staff training, and employee development.
- Allergies, 6%
Monitored drug therapy regimens for contraindications, drug-drug interactions, drug-food interactions, allergies and appropriateness of dose.
- Patient Care, 6%
Participated in multidisciplinary committees to improve patient care, develop clinical programs, standardize pediatric medication practices and decrease medication errors.
- Drug Therapy, 5%
Conducted medication therapy management, filled prescriptions, compounded medications, counseled patients regarding drug therapy and answered drug information questions.
Most pharmacists use their skills in "patients," "customer service," and "employee development" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential pharmacist responsibilities here:
Managerial skills. Another essential skill to perform pharmacist duties is managerial skills. Pharmacists responsibilities require that "pharmacists, particularly those who run a retail pharmacy, must have good leadership skills." Pharmacists also use managerial skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "coordinated managerial meetings for the planning and implementation of pharmacy operations and quality assurance. "
Analytical skills. pharmacists are also known for analytical skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to pharmacist responsibilities, because "pharmacists must evaluate the contents and side effects of prescribed medication to ensure that the patient may safely take it." A pharmacist resume example shows how analytical skills is used in the workplace: "performed microbial analysis on food/beverage samples for clients, per fda and hhs standards. "
Communication skills. A big part of what pharmacists do relies on "communication skills." You can see how essential it is to pharmacist responsibilities because "pharmacists frequently must explain to patients about how to take medication and what its potential side effects are." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical pharmacist tasks: "performed all aspects of community pharmacy including effective communication with patients and their physicians to optimize drug therapy. "
Detail oriented. Another common skill required for pharmacist responsibilities is "detail oriented." This skill comes up in the duties of pharmacists all the time, as "pharmacists are responsible for accurately providing the appropriate medication for each patient." An excerpt from a real pharmacist resume shows how this skill is central to what a pharmacist does: "completed an eight week contract with mcneil pharmaceuticals detailing fda changes for pancreaze"
Interpersonal skills. Another skill commonly found on pharmacist job descriptions is "interpersonal skills." It can come up quite often in pharmacist duties, since "pharmacists spend much of their time interacting with patients and as part of a healthcare team coordinating patient care." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day pharmacist responsibilities: "maintain excellent interpersonal communication, time management and problem resolution skills. "
The three companies that hire the most pharmacists are:
- Walgreens3,476 pharmacists jobs
- CVS Health444 pharmacists jobs
- Rite Aid325 pharmacists jobs
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Compare different pharmacists
Pharmacist vs. Accredited pharmacist technician
Outpatient pharmacy managers supervise the day-to-day business operations of a pharmacy. The pharmacy managers lead pharmacy staff members through work task assignment, evaluation, training, supervising, and work shift schedule. They fill prescriptions and check those filled by pharmacy technicians. It is their job to advise their clients. They make sure that the storage of controlled substances and prescription drugs is safe. A good outpatient pharmacy manager should be goal-driven and work hard to exceed what is expected from them.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between pharmacists and accredited pharmacist technician. For instance, pharmacist responsibilities require skills such as "patients," "customer service," "employee development," and "allergies." Whereas a accredited pharmacist technician is skilled in "clinical rotations," "diabetes," "infectious disease," and "therapeutics." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Accredited pharmacist technicians tend to reach similar levels of education than pharmacists. In fact, accredited pharmacist technicians are 2.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 38.5% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Pharmacist vs. Outpatient pharmacist manager
A senior pharmacy technician is an individual who assures that pharmacists have access to appropriate pharmaceuticals and supplies as well as provide convenient access to customers on over-the-counter items. Senior pharmacist technicians must assist the pharmacist on duty in filling prescriptions by verifying the correct product and entering the patient's insurance and personal information into the pharmacy software application. They must provide good customer service by coordinating with physicians to obtain refill authorizations and accepting refill requests from customers over the phone. Senior pharmacist technicians must also assist with the annual inventory of prescription drugs and over-the-counter products.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that pharmacist responsibilities requires skills like "customer service," "medication orders," "pharmd," and "pharmaceutical care." But an outpatient pharmacist manager might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "outpatient pharmacy," "physical therapy," "surgery," and "medication therapy."
In general, outpatient pharmacist managers achieve higher levels of education than pharmacists. They're 10.9% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 38.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for pharmacists in the next 3-5 years?
Antoine Al-Achi Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmaceutics and Biomedical Sciences Track-Head/Industrial Pharmacy (Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences), Campbell University
Pharmacist vs. Senior pharmacist technician
When it comes to a pharmacy internship, one of the primary responsibilities is to observe pharmacy operations and develop efficient communication skills as most of the tasks will revolve around customer service, such as providing instructions on when to take medications and what could be the side effects. Moreover, working as a pharmacist requires excellent attention to detail, ensuring that all customers receive the correct type and amount according to their prescriptions. Among the duties can also revolve around administrative tasks such as verifying prescriptions, keeping and maintaining accurate records, and responding to inquiries.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, pharmacists are more likely to have skills like "employee development," "drug therapy," "pharmacy services," and "pharmd." But a senior pharmacist technician is more likely to have skills like "math," "direct supervision," "telephone calls," and "data entry."
Senior pharmacist technicians make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $57,052. On the other hand, pharmacists are paid the highest salary in the retail industry, with average annual pay of $122,179.When it comes to education, senior pharmacist technicians tend to earn similar degree levels compared to pharmacists. In fact, they're 1.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 24.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Pharmacist vs. Pharmacy internship
Types of pharmacist
Updated January 8, 2025
