What exactly do pharmacists do?

[Syringer]

I've never quite understood why one requires pharmacy school in order to become a pharmacist. From what I see, which may be way off basis, their main role is to either read a prescription or get a call from a doctor regarding a prescription, and then dispense it into a container. What more do they do exactly? It's not like they advise customers as to what medicines to take to treat whatever conditions they havee, and all the "dirty work" is taken care of through a doctor..

 

[I Saw OJ]

I think they have to know what medicines do what, how they will react with each other, how they will react with the body.

Doesnt seem like they have to know as much as doctors. Prolly why they dont get paid as much.

 

[judasmachine]

well one important function is to advise on possible drug interactions. but yes your doc should do that too. i think it requires a degree so that they have something to lose if they end up selling something out the back door.

 

[jagec]

Since doctors have such terrible handwriting, you basically have to know what to prescribe for a given condition

 

[Mo0o]

Warn you about possible bad drug interactions if you have diff docs giving you different meds.

 

[Deleted member 4644]

Probably a combination of:

"Warn you about possible bad drug interactions if you have diff docs giving you different meds. "

and

"i think it requires a degree so that they have something to lose if they end up selling something out the back door."

 

[iamaelephant]

They keep the spiders out of the pill bottles.

 

[imported_goku]

Change that to 'Pharmacy Technician' and I'll agree with you.

 

[imported_goku]

Originally posted by: jagec
Since doctors have such terrible handwriting, you basically have to know what to prescribe for a given condition

You need 2+years of schooling to read crappy handwriting? So I guess if the doctors start e-mailing the prescription to longs for ex. a machine there will just dispense it for you?

 

[phisrow]

They also do some compounding, I think, though this has probably declined with the rise of premade pills. Also, I think that many of the commonwealth ones have a larger role than american ones. You can actually get medical advice, albeit at a lower level than a doctor, from them.

 

[Sheepathon]

They don't even need to know about the potential drug conflicts much. The computer system will automatically take into account all the meds someone is taking and alert the pharmacist to a conflict.

 

[l Xes l]

make, monitor, sell drugs?

 

[Beev]

I've heard pharmacists actually make pretty good money considering what they do.

 

[Reel]

Originally posted by: Sraaz
I've heard pharmacists actually make pretty good money considering what they do.

Yeah. I heard a news report saying recent grads from my university were making about 100k starting because they were in such high demand. Typically, it was not the most demanding degree either based on the students that I met that were in the program.

 

[I Saw OJ]

Originally posted by: Sraaz
I've heard pharmacists actually make pretty good money considering what they do.

So the consensus of this thread is they do nothing?

lol

 

[SKORPI0]

Pharmacists - wiki

Pharmacists

Median annual wage and salary earnings of pharmacists in May 2004 were $84,900. The middle 50 percent earned between $75,720 and $94,850 a year. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $61,200, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $109,850 a year. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of pharmacists in May 2004 were:


Department stores --------------------------- $86,720
Grocery stores ---------------------------------85,680
Health and personal care stores-------------- 85,380
General medical and surgical hospitals------ 84,560
Other general merchandise stores------------ 84,170

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: Sraaz
I've heard pharmacists actually make pretty good money considering what they do.

hell yeah. they can make up over 100K a year.

i can tell you what they don't teach in pharmacy school - common sense.
i used to work tech support for a major pharmacy chain. i wouldn't want some of those people giving me medication.

 

[wasssup]

Originally posted by: Sraaz
I've heard pharmacists actually make pretty good money considering what they do.

My sister's good friend and her fiance are both pharmacists, and they're pretty open with their salaries (at least when i spoke to them). They said they start off pretty well, ~$100k, but they cap off pretty quickly too, ~$150k/year.

I wished I did pharmacy instead of comp sci...i'm not really a computer dork anymore...eh whatever.

 

[MrBond]

Originally posted by: Reel
Yeah. I heard a news report saying recent grads from my university were making about 100k starting because they were in such high demand. Typically, it was not the most demanding degree either based on the students that I met that were in the program.

The college I'm at has one of the better pharmacy schools around I guess. The program is VERY selective, most people don't make it. I know several people doing it and they all say it's difficult. Classes 5 days a week from 8-5 are pretty common.

Of course, I always give them crap for only requiring enough education to be able to count, but it's definatly more complicated than that.

Edit: I think pharmacy here is one of the most popular majors for incoming freshman due to the high pay, but an insane number of people never make it into the pharmacy school. I knew a TON of pharmacy majors my freshman year, a couple years later, most had converted to business or education.

 

[DaiShan]

Originally posted by: Reel

Originally posted by: Sraaz
I've heard pharmacists actually make pretty good money considering what they do.

Yeah. I heard a news report saying recent grads from my university were making about 100k starting because they were in such high demand. Typically, it was not the most demanding degree either based on the students that I met that were in the program.

There is a LOT of biochem. You don't take classes to learn how to put pills into a bottle, you take classes to understand physio-chemical reactions within the body. Additionally, while it is true the computer alerts the Pharmacist of potential problems, there are also programs that diagnose illnesses, should we get rid of Doctors too? Some drugs aren't just pills in a bottle, some actually require mixing, and I really don't want some high school drop out who's making minimum wage mixing drugs for me. You also have to remember that they have a drug license.

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: Syringer
I've never quite understood why one requires pharmacy school in order to become a pharmacist. From what I see, which may be way off basis, their main role is to either read a prescription or get a call from a doctor regarding a prescription, and then dispense it into a container. What more do they do exactly? It's not like they advise customers as to what medicines to take to treat whatever conditions they havee, and all the "dirty work" is taken care of through a doctor..

Lab work Pharmacist get paid less than commercial pharmecists, but they do a whole bunch more like prescribe options to patients. Pharmacists that work at the VA... and so on.

Pharmacists that work in the grocery store need to know the exact mix for some types of drug combination prescribed by doctors. And need to know the effect of each drug in combonation to the rest, but they do not do that often.

 

[Svnla]

Originally posted by: wasssup
I wished I did pharmacy instead of ......

Don't feel bad, I feel the same thing. If I knew then what I know now, I would study to become a Pharmacist, 100K easily and you don't have to work 80 hrs a week.

 

[DaiShan]

Originally posted by: Svnla

Originally posted by: wasssup
I wished I did pharmacy instead of ......

Don't feel bad, I feel the same thing. If I knew then what I know now, I would study to become a Pharmacist, 100K easily and you don't have to work 80 hrs a week.

You can still be a pharmacist, just sell pills out of the truck of your car

 

[LazyB]

My dad and my bro are both pharmacists. Oh yeah sister in law is pharmacist too. And yes they do nothing.

I once had an argument about this with my brother. He tried with all the arguments to defend himself but finally he admits that he does nothing for such a high pay.

Most of the pharmacists I know are people who can't get into medical school or dropped out of it. Usually, people is not attracted to this job unless for the pay because it's boring.

I personally think that a technician is competent enough to do such a job.

 

[GeneValgene]

Originally posted by: Syringer
I've never quite understood why one requires pharmacy school in order to become a pharmacist. From what I see, which may be way off basis, their main role is to either read a prescription or get a call from a doctor regarding a prescription, and then dispense it into a container. What more do they do exactly? It's not like they advise customers as to what medicines to take to treat whatever conditions they havee, and all the "dirty work" is taken care of through a doctor..

my girlfriend is a clinical pharmacist, so maybe i can shed some light...and as goku pointed out, most of the work you are describing is done by a pharmacy tech - you can get certified to do this in about 2 years of trade school, and get paid only like 10-17 an hour

Originally posted by: goku
Change that to 'Pharmacy Technician' and I'll agree with you.

most pharmacists now all come out with doctorate degrees (PharmD), which is a four year graduate degree. the schooling and training is fairly rigorous.

in general, you have retail pharmacists, staff pharmacists, and clinical pharmacists. retail pharmacists, the ones you see at CVS and walgreens for example, do fill prescriptions. although most of the work is done by technicians, the pharmacist on staff oversees and signs off on all of the work. in addition, he/she will counsel patients on drug use and interactions. the work is fairly mundane and low stress...the hard part is dealing with customers, and also if anything goes wrong, the responsibility falls on the pharmacist.

staff pharmacists are similar to retail pharmacists, except they work in a hospital setting. again, they oversee the pharmacy, and the completing of orders from physicians. most work is still done by technicians, but the pharmacist is there to check the work, and counsel patients.

clinical pharmacists can be both inpatient and outpatient. my girlfriend is an inpatient clinical pharmacist. people who are in this field usually complete 1-2 years of residency following their PharmD degree. as a clinical pharmacist, they round with the doctors and see patients. they make recommendations to the doctors, and also monitor their treatment. in addition they are involved in drug research beign conducted at the hosptials. they are on call a lot of the time, as doctors will call them if they have any questions, or need guidance on what drugs to use, or any potential interactions. in california and florida, and in all hospitals in the VA system, a pharmacist can actually see patients and prescribe medication

yes, pharmacists get paid very well, but the schooling is very difficult, and very competitive