Any student seeking a career in pharmacy should be asking is pharmacy a good career choice? Online searches tend to highlight the negative aspects of a career in pharmacy without conveying any positives.
Pharmacy is a wonderful career full of niche opportunities for those who choose to pursue their passions and find their pharmacy fit. If you are wondering is pharmacy a good career choice? Keep reading!
Diverse Career Options
Is pharmacy a good career choice? YES! Pharmacy is an excellent career choice- for the right kind of person. Pharmacy is a unique field with nearly limitless opportunities for finding your perfect fit.
With positions ranging from detail-oriented to big-picture, constant patient interaction to none at all, there is literally a career path for every personality. The only requirement for a successful career in pharmacy is self-motivation and awareness.
Individuals who are self-aware will pursue their passions, and those who are motivated will seek out the right pharmacy fit for them without settling for less. The result is someone who experiences job satisfaction and truly enjoys his or her career. Alex Baker talks about this in his article on why pharmacists have great jobs in the Pharmacy Times.
Advancing Profession
Why else is pharmacy a good career choice? The profession is changing in a big way. National efforts are happening to recognize pharmacists as providers, which means they can get paid for their extra clinical services they have been providing for free for so long.
These exciting kinds of changes are creating new job opportunities for pharmacists to use their training and skills in innovative ways. This means students entering the field of pharmacy now and in the next few years will have so many more options for job opportunities after school.
This also means more positions will require post-graduate training for specialization in various fields. While this may seem scary to think about, this actually means pharmacists are on the front lines of innovation in patient care. Pharmacists are transforming care delivery by maximizing their skills and knowledge in clinical care.
Teamwork
As mentioned above, pharmacist’s roles are expanding rapidly. Just as rapidly, physicians are recognizing the utility of having pharmacists as part of the medical team. If you are someone who enjoys working as a team to solve problems, achieve goals, and care for patients then this is the field for you!
Not only are pharmacists a part of teams, they are often leading the medication management as the drug experts. Community pharmacists also have a unique team of their pharmacy staff supporting them. Great staffs working together is key in any setting, and is especially true where pharmacists are involved.
Pharmacy Family
Pharmacy is a small world of really helpful and friendly people, which means you are never far from a friend when you’re a pharmacist! Many national organizations have student chapters.
Getting involved as a student greatly increases your connections and friendships within those organizations, which endure far beyond your graduation. Is pharmacy a good career choice? It certainly is if you enjoy working in a supportive profession.
Continuous learning
In any medical profession it is necessary to keep up with changes or advancements in medicine, and pharmacy is no different. This field offers ample opportunity for life-long learners to feel sustained. A certain amount of learning each year is required to maintain licensure, called Continuing Education or CEs.
These can be earned through reading articles, attending presentations, and even attending conferences both locally and nationally. Conferences offer a wide array of activities, engagement, and learning and can be very beneficial for networking.
So, is pharmacy a good career choice?
Absolutely. The career field of pharmacy is ripe with innovation and creativity, with so much room to grow. The ways pharmacists are being used to deliver care is vastly different than years ago, and will continue to evolve rapidly. The field needs bright minds to continue leading change; will you answer the call?