If you ever thought about becoming a pharmacist, this article is for you. You will learn a lot of things about this profession trough it, such as the daily tasks, the income, the necessary education to practice this profession, the challenges, and much more. In fact, you will find several pieces of information that will allow you to see whether the working conditions of this profession would suit you or not.
Being a pharmacist means being an accessible professional. You can see for yourself that it is sometimes very difficult to have an appointment with a doctor, a dentist or an optometrist. However, anyone can consult a pharmacist without an appointment. You can even ask medical questions to any pharmacist in any drugstore!
First, it is important to know that the preparation of drugs as well as the inscription of prescriptions received from the doctor on the computer system are tasks performed by pharmacy technicians. When these tasks are done, the pharmacist always double-checks what has been done to make sure that there are no mistakes. It is also him who ensures that the patient is not at risk by taking his new medication. The pharmacist also answers several patient questions.
In a pharmacy, every day is quite different from each other because every patient's case is different. However, there are some tasks that are performed on a daily basis, such as checking the orders received from the doctor, making sure the prescribed dose is right for the patient, explaining to the patient how to take his medication, making sure that the drugs prescribed for patients are the right ones and checking for pillboxes.
Pharmacists work in a variety of places. Most pharmacists, 60 percent of them, work in community pharmacies, such as Familiprix, Jean Coutu, Uniprix, and others. There are also 25 percent of pharmacists who work in hospitals. The 15 percent remaining work in diverse places, but most of them are undertaking higher education studies and then work on developing and researching new drugs.
In Quebec, to become a pharmacist, you need a doctorate degree in pharmacy (called Pharm.D.). However, before taking this program at university, it is necessary to complete several courses in the field of natural sciences. Then, to be accepted, you must have high grades, and you will have to pass a personality test.
In general, pharmacists in Quebec earn between $63,924 and $161,891 per year. (CANADA. WAGES Pharmacist in Quebec, Government of Canada, 2022, https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/marketreport/wages-occupation/18196/QC (Accessed October 26, 2022))
In this profession, the main danger is to make a mistake in the dosage of a drug. Even though all pharmacists will make mistakes throughout their careers, there are several mistakes that could be extremely harmful to the patient, or even fatal. Pharmacist must therefore ensure that the patient does not have any allergies that could prevent them from taking a specific medication and that the dose they are taking is not too high.
At the moment, the chances are quite low because patients very often need to interact with the pharmacist. It is not, therefore, a job that is easily accomplished in a programmed manner.
There is a certain margin for the retirement age of pharmacists, but in general, it is in the 60-62 age group.
I am currently in my second year of study Natural Sciences. So, I am in my last year of CEGEP before university. However, I must be accepted into this program before I can enrich my knowledge of this profession. In conclusion, I hope this has given you an opportunity to learn more about this profession, and that you now have a better idea of whether this job is for you or not.
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