How To Become A Pharmacist – What is Pharmacy and What is Role of Pharmacist?

How To Become A Pharmacist
How To Become A Pharmacist

How To Become A Pharmacist? what are requirements to be a pharmacist? what is the role of the pharmacist? And qualities of the pharmacist.

Pharmacists are healthcare practitioners or in more easy terms, medication experts. They basically act as an intermediary between a doctor and a patient. Their role is to advise patients and healthcare professionals on the selection, proper dosage, interactions and side effects of the medications and drugs. They are responsible to patients for achieving the best medication treatment outcomes at the same time assuring cost-effective and safe therapy. Pharmacists may work independently and provide prescriptions or may even work in collaborative health care system and manage patient’s medication dosage.


The word pharmacy is derived from the Greek word Pharma, which means to give general advice and administer the dosage and side effects. The basic meaning of pharmacy is to prepare the medicinal drugs and prescribe it in a certain ratio or quantity and also to make sure its effectiveness, educate about its side effects and set a cost effective price for it.

Pharmacy is a complete science of combining health with chemicals for the benefit of the patients. Pharmacy is a whole subject. It does not only deal with creating and prescribing medicines but it is about promoting health awareness and contributing to the betterment of the community.


  1. The basic role of a pharmacist is to apply their knowledge and intelligence by studying about pharmacy to create medicines which help in treating patients. Apart from this a pharmacist performs many other roles as well which are as follows:
  2. Pharmacists dispense medicines along with ensuring the safety and relevance of the prescribed medication and ointments.
  3. They advise patients on the administration of the medicine that is how to use or intake the medicine in the safest way possible so it is effective in the treatment of common illnesses.
  4. They advise the consumers and health care professionals about medications, which are prescribed and also over-the-counter ones, its proper dosage, its suitability, its selection, side effects if any and other therapeutic effects. They create awareness for the general public about different medicines and drugs.
  5. They monitor patient health and progress to achieve the desired results.
  6. They make sure that the medicines are pure and safe for the consumers also that they are cost effective.
  7. They develop legally recognized standards, and advise on government controls and regulations concerning the manufacture and supply of medicines.
  8. They also work in the research and development center of medicines and other health-related products, to create the best medication which cures the ailments effectively.


Pharmacy and being a pharmacist is a whole subject. If one wants to pursue the career of being a pharmacist, he or she has to go through a complete background on health sciences and thorough knowledge and implication. A pharmacist has to be precise in their creations as the consumers or the needy patients are at risk. A pharmacist has to go through the complete doctoral degree to become an expert in this field. Following steps will help you to become a pharmacist.

  • To become a pharmacist a student must be interested in Physics, chemistry, and biology in school, which will help him later in the university level.
  • After the initial education such as graduation or A-Levels, one must pass the General Education Department or GED test.
  • After clearing the GED, the student has to enroll in a professional university and is required to complete a four-year bachelor’s degree in health sciences.
  • After the four years of education, a student has to take the PCAT which is Pharmacy College Admission Test, which measures both overall academic ability and scientific knowledge and is necessary to get into a pharmacy institute. One can study for this test by using the PCAT books or taking up PCAT preparatory classes.
  • Once a student gets admission in a respectable institute of pharmacy, he has to obtain a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) which is of two to four years depending on the institution and the ability of the person.
  • After earning the Doctoral Degree, a person then has to work in different pharmaceutical companies and hospitals to attain work experience and expertise for future and for attaining certificates.
  • The last step is to find an appropriate job in multinational pharmaceutical companies.

To be a pharmacist, one has to go through a lengthy process and initial job finding may take time. But, if a person is determined, hardworking and passionate about his career, he can easily become one.

Want to know? How Long Doest it Take to Become a Pharmacist?


In order to become a successful and complete pharmacist, one must possess or learn some skills other than the necessary studies.

Communication: Communication is the key. A pharmacist generally meets a lot of people on a daily basis, most of the work a pharmacist does is by communicating with consumers, with retailers of medicines, with patients, with big pharmaceutical companies and with doctors and healthcare practitioners. They should communicate with confidence so that they can give the proper knowledge of medications.

Good Memory: Being a pharmacist, he has little or no room for error. A pharmacist should remember all the details about the medicines such as prescription, dosage, effectiveness and side effects. Even a little error can make a huge difference on a patient.

Knowledge: Pharmacist is the middle person between the doctor and a patient, so he should have all the knowledge about the medicine such as how much quantity and for how many days should be consumed. This is especially necessary in cases of allergies and major illnesses.

Tech Smart: A pharmacist should be up to date with the latest technology and innovation in medicine so that he can constantly produce new medicine and increase their effectiveness on the illnesses and look for ways to avoid illness in the future.

There are many fields in the career of pharmacy which are all necessary for the well-being of the consumers. it is a highly spreading career world over. Some of the career prospects in the field of pharmacy are called hospital pharmacy, clinical pharmacy, internet pharmacy, community pharmacy, compounding pharmacy and consultant pharmacy. One can choose any career in which his interest lies.