When people get sick, they often take medicines to heal their bodies or
to ease their pain. Pharmacists are the medical professionals who work with
patients and their doctors to make sure people take the correct amounts of
the proper medicines. They understand how drugs affect the body, and how
different drugs interact or react with each other.
Pharmacists work in a variety of settings. Some are employed by drugstores,
where they fill prescriptions and educate customers about the medications
they're taking. Others work in hospitals, clinics or nursing homes, where
they might fill prescriptions, provide patient education or work closely with
doctors to monitor patient care.
Pharmacists can specialize in taking care of certain groups of people,
like children or the elderly. They also can work for educational institutions,
drug manufacturers and government agencies.
Dr. Angela Hoth is a pharmacist who works at the Veterans hospital in Iowa
City. She says pharmacy is a great career for students to consider because
of the variety of job opportunities. "You don't have to work at a retail
pharmacy, and you don't have to work at a hospital. There are a lot of different
options," she says.
Pharmacists must be good at details. Even minor errors when measuring and
administering medications can have major consequences.
Excellent communication skills are also important in jobs where pharmacists
have constant interactions with customers or patients.
"You need to be very well-spoken and able to communicate, and you have
to be able to communicate on different levels," says Merrie Schindel. She
is the pharmacy manager of a chain drugstore in St. Charles, Illinois.
"The way you talk to a patient is going to be different than the way you
talk to someone in a doctor's office, and the way you talk to someone from
an insurance company," she explains.
Schindel says communication skills also are important when pharmacists
are faced with delicate situations. For example, a pharmacist might suspect
that a customer may be misusing or overusing a pain medicine and is seeking
prescriptions from many different pharmacists.
In that situation, Schindel says she might sit down with the patient and
say, "I understand that something is going on with you, and you may be in
pain, but you also have to understand that we're in a position to help you.
If you're getting something filled here, and somewhere else, too, that doesn't
allow us to do our job, which is to take care of you."
Hours for pharmacists can be long, whether they're working in a drugstore,
a hospital or another location. They spend much of their time on their feet,
which requires physical stamina.
Schindel typically works two 12-hour days and two nine-hour days, with
three days off. Hoth, who works in a hospital, isn't required to work weekends
or holidays. But she says she can easily put in a 60-hour week. Despite
the challenges and pressures of the job, Hoth says being a pharmacist is satisfying.
"I treat depression, and seeing people go from depressed to totally feeling
great and functional again is really rewarding," she says.