What does a retail pharmacist do?
A Retail Pharmacist prepares and distributes medications to customers, as well as advises them about how to use medications. They are responsible for providing the proper dosages and medicine to patients according to their prescriptions.
Retail pharmacist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real retail pharmacist resumes:
- Hold concurrent role as PIC for Pleasanton store, managing daily pharmacy operations and staff.
- Compound medications as required and provide immunization services for eligible patients.
- Establish relationship with customers so they gain feeling of trust and compassion.
- Practice state and federal dispensing regulations (HIPAA compliant) regarding control substances, narcotics, and pharmaceutical agents.
- Monitor appropriateness of medication and dose, check for interactions and allergies, and assure the quality of the medication dispense.
- Develop policy and procedures for OBRA long term care regulations, CMS guidelines, therapeutic lab monitoring, and infusion admixture.
- Provide information about and administer immunization vaccines, health screening tests and travel vaccines
- Use adequate drug utilization review to compare new medication therapy to other current medications and allergies.
- Upgrade and integrate prescription processing/adjudication software with registers, insuring compliance with new HIPAA regulations and processing transactions more efficiently.
- Process and dispense prescriptions, monitor drug interactions, counsele patients about medications, OTC recommendations, order and maintain inventory.
- Improve patient outcomes by evaluating quarterly drug utilization reviews of Medicaid patient prescription profiles for appropriateness of recommendations of rule-base findings.
- Gain customer loyalty and exceed customer expectations by providing Walgreens and manufacturer coupons, as well as manufacturer provide samples.
Retail pharmacist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 29% of Retail Pharmacists are proficient in Patients, Customer Service, and Patient Care. They’re also known for soft skills such as Computer skills, Managerial skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Retail Pharmacists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 29%
Processed and dispensed prescriptions, monitored drug interactions, counseled patients about medications, OTC recommendations, ordered and maintained inventory.
- Customer Service, 13%
Achieved high levels of customer service and associate satisfaction by scoring in top percentile in multiple interdepartmental and customer surveys.
- Patient Care, 7%
Facilitate drug utilization review and consult with other practitioners to provide optimal patient care.
- Pharmaceutical Care, 4%
Perform daily management of pharmacy and pharmaceutical care.
- Therapy Management, 4%
Consult new and returning patients with information regarding medication therapy management.
- Order Entry, 4%
Trained the Order Entry technicians, created the training manual, handouts and Power Point presentations for the training program.
Common skills that a retail pharmacist uses to do their job include "patients," "customer service," and "patient care." You can find details on the most important retail pharmacist responsibilities below.
Managerial skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling retail pharmacist duties is managerial skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "pharmacists, particularly those who run a retail pharmacy, must have good leadership skills." According to a retail pharmacist resume, here's how retail pharmacists can utilize managerial skills in their job responsibilities: "performed dispensing functions and counseled patients provided inventory management, record keeping, and managerial support"
Analytical skills. This is an important skill for retail pharmacists to perform their duties. For an example of how retail pharmacist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "pharmacists must evaluate the contents and side effects of prescribed medication to ensure that the patient may safely take it." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a retail pharmacist: "carried out data entry, and utilized computerized data management and manipulation software. ".
Communication skills. retail pharmacist responsibilities often require "communication skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "pharmacists frequently must explain to patients about how to take medication and what its potential side effects are." This resume example shows what retail pharmacists do with communication skills on a typical day: "use excellent communication and decision making skills to provide informed advice on drug interactions and otc selections. "
Detail oriented. Another common skill required for retail pharmacist responsibilities is "detail oriented." This skill comes up in the duties of retail pharmacists all the time, as "pharmacists are responsible for accurately providing the appropriate medication for each patient." An excerpt from a real retail pharmacist resume shows how this skill is central to what a retail pharmacist does: "assisted customers/patients in finding correct otc products, answered generic questions deferring to pharmacist for detail. "
Interpersonal skills. Lastly, "interpersonal skills" is an important element of what a retail pharmacist does. Retail pharmacist responsibilities require this skill because "pharmacists spend much of their time interacting with patients and as part of a healthcare team coordinating patient care." This resume example highlights how retail pharmacist duties rely on this skill: "exhibited excellent interpersonal, communication, and customer service skills. "
The three companies that hire the most retail pharmacists are:
- Soliant58 retail pharmacists jobs
- Careerstaff Unlimited - A Genesis Healthcare Company55 retail pharmacists jobs
- RPh on the Go
49 retail pharmacists jobs
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Compare different retail pharmacists
Retail pharmacist vs. Pharmacy internship
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.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, retail pharmacist responsibilities require skills like "home health," "profiling," "pharmacy operations," and "immunization." Meanwhile a typical pharmacy internship has skills in areas such as "math," "diabetes," "direct supervision," and "pharm." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Pharmacy interns earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $95,157. On the other hand, retail pharmacists are paid more in the retail industry with an average salary of $127,400.On average, pharmacy interns reach similar levels of education than retail pharmacists. Pharmacy interns are 0.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Retail pharmacist vs. Pharmacist informaticist
A pharmacy technician is responsible for giving the right prescription medications to patients and customers. They are the one who reads, understands, and determines the accuracy and the credibility of the prescription drug. They measure the dosages that the patient needs and gives the correct label. Also, they answer different queries regarding the proper medication and consumption of drugs as well as making an inventory and record for the supply inside a pharmacy or a clinic.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real retail pharmacist resumes. While retail pharmacist responsibilities can utilize skills like "patients," "customer service," "patient care," and "pharmaceutical care," pharmacist informaticists use skills like "meditech," "delivery systems," "clinical applications," and "cpoe."
In general, pharmacist informaticists achieve lower levels of education than retail pharmacists. They're 6.3% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.8% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for retail 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
Retail pharmacist vs. Licensed pharmacist technician
A pharmacist consultant specializes in providing advice to patients regarding their medication, discussing benefits, and recommending other services as necessary. They usually work at pharmacies, where they are also in charge of tasks, such as conducting research and assessments, maintaining records, utilizing tools and software to develop organized reports and information databases, and generating sales forecasts for different medications. Additionally, they also coordinate and work together with physicians and other medical experts in developing treatment plans in adherence to standards and regulations.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a retail pharmacist is likely to be skilled in "patient care," "pharmaceutical care," "order entry," and "data entry," while a typical licensed pharmacist technician is skilled in "quality customer service," "hippa," "insurance billing," and "patient medications."
Licensed pharmacist technicians typically earn similar educational levels compared to retail pharmacists. Specifically, they're 2.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 17.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Retail pharmacist vs. Pharmacist consultant
Even though a few skill sets overlap between retail pharmacists and pharmacist consultants, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a retail pharmacist might have more use for skills like "customer service," "medication orders," "data entry," and "computer system." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of pharmacist consultants require skills like "nursing home," "patient outcomes," "state regulations," and "medication administration. "
Pharmacist consultants reach similar levels of education compared to retail pharmacists, in general. The difference is that they're 0.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 3.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of retail pharmacist
Updated January 8, 2025
