Do you have a keen interest in science and mathematics? Are you a logical and meticulous person? Do you want to work in a fast-paced, diverse environment and get to meet a variety of different people from all walks of life?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, becoming a pharmacist may be the ideal career path for you. Deciding whether or not this rewarding and respected profession in the healthcare sector is your potential dream job isn’t easy; however, this article will go through some of the main reasons why pursuing this medical avenue is an excellent choice – hopefully helping you make the right decision before you unknowingly commit.
Job Security
Pharmacies and those that work within them are among the vital parts of an efficient healthcare system. In the USA, pharmacies carry out more than just filling prescriptions for patients; they also offer primary health screening services for diseases, such as diabetes, as well as carry out immunization schedules for the local population.
Pharmacists are also crucial in the diagnosis and treatment of minor ailments, like skin problems or eye infections. Thus, their services lift a huge amount of pressure off other medical facilities, such as hospitals, meaning they are indispensable in society.
Because pharmacies are in such high demand, there is always going to be the need for qualified pharmacists, whether in permanent employment or as freelancers and locum pharmacists like those working through sites like Workflare who manage both their own schedule and hourly rates.
Great Job Satisfaction and Pay
Pharmacists, like many health professionals, pursue this career because they are interested in helping people. Studies show that when humans help others, it actually improves their own well-being and releases serotonin, leading to improved levels of job satisfaction overall.
Also, working face to face with patients – particularly as a community pharmacist – will allow you to foster relationships with the local population, especially the more vulnerable members of society who tend to be frequent pharmacy visitors, such as the elderly and the disabled.
This crucial role you play in helping others means that you get to become an important member of your community and make a massive difference in people’s lives – and with that comes immeasurable job satisfaction and a great sense of purpose.
What’s more, pharmacists are also amply financially compensated, with the average US pharmacist making around $128,000 per year. The upper scale of this figure can even be as much as $199,000, depending on qualifications, experience, and specialist expertise. How many other jobs offer high pay alongside career contentment? Not many – that’s for sure.
A Respected Profession with Numerous Career Pathways
Becoming a pharmacist may only be the beginning of your career journey. As a pharmacist, you will have received a large amount of clinical instruction, making you a highly qualified professional and a respected member of the healthcare system and the community at large who is in constant demand.
If you are a Doctor of Pharmacy, you may choose to pursue a career in a specific specialty, such as oncology or pediatrics. There is also the opportunity to work as an industry pharmacist, helping develop new medications in a way that makes the business of pharmaceuticals the most effective.
Other pharmacists might follow a more linear pathway, perhaps opting to work within a hospital setting and be heavily involved in the managed care plan of their patients alongside doctors. Some locations also allow for different hour patterns; for example, community pharmacists will follow a daytime-based schedule, whereas hospital pharmacists may be required to do shift work at unsociable hours to allow for the effective administration of medications – no matter the time of day.
Finally, entering the healthcare system as a pharmacist not only leads to other exciting opportunities for career progression, but it can also be an incredibly rewarding line of work, providing a job in which you can help others as a respected, skilled, and qualified professional that truly makes a difference in society.
Throughout the year, our writers feature fresh, in-depth, and relevant information for our audience of 40,000+ healthcare leaders and professionals. As a healthcare business publication, we cover and cherish our relationship with the entire health care industry including administrators, nurses, physicians, physical therapists, pharmacists, and more. We cover a broad spectrum from hospitals to medical offices to outpatient services to eye surgery centers to university settings. We focus on rehabilitation, nursing homes, home care, hospice as well as men’s health, women’s heath, and pediatrics.
