| The Right Prescription |
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Pharmacy is not just about drugs and medicines – it’s about helping people. Are you interested in finding out more?
Did you know that pharmacists don’t all work in high street chemists? You can find them in hospitals and health centres, as well as working for drug companies, government agencies, the Armed Forces and in universities? But wherever they work, at the heart of what they do is improving people’s health through the skilled use of drugs and medicines.GETTING STARTED If you want to work as a registered pharmacist, you need to get a degree in Pharmacy – an MPharm – for which you’ll need good grades (at least B at Higher level) in ideally chemistry, maths, biology and physics. Unfortunately most courses have more potential students than places, so competition can be tough to get in while the work is “challenging” once you do. “Most of our undergraduates will tell you that it’s a very intense degree,” says Dr Anne Boyter, a senior lecturer at the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences. “Yes, they have time to do all the normal student activities, but it’s a heavier workload than the majority of other degrees – it’s on an equivalence with dentistry and medicine.” After graduation you then have to complete a year’s practical training (most likely in a high street or hospital pharmacy) and pass a final exam set by the profession’s regulatory body, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB). After this you’re allowed to work with the public as a registered pharmacist, or indeed in any pharmacy-related job. Two of the UK’s 23 RPSGB-approved schools of pharmacy are in Scotland, at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and The Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen. MIXING IT “There aren’t many other things you can do with a pharmacy degree – you’ve got to become a pharmacist of some shape or form,” says Anne, “but that doesn’t mean you’re just going to work for the likes of Boots, the Coop or an independent pharmacy.” About 70% of pharmacists do work in community pharmacies – that’s your high street chemists – which they’ll either own or manage on behalf of a big company like Boots or the Coop. Such pharmacists are increasingly on the front line of modern healthcare – people will often discuss health problems with a pharmacist before thinking of going to their GP. So, as a fully trained pharmacist, your could make a real difference to your customers’ health by knowing your stuff and helping them and their families back to health – if that’s not a source of job satisfaction, what is? Most other pharmacists are based in hospitals and outpatient clinics, as the member of the medical team focused on the use of drugs and medicines. Some work in health trusts and GP practices making the use of drugs and medicines as cost-effective as possible. Others go back to university for further study, helping teach the next generation of pharmacists. Pharmacists are also employed by the drugs industry, researching and helping develop new treatments or collating medical research as part of the legal process to get drugs approved. Some people who trained as pharmacists may even find themselves working in sales, marketing or general management. Trained pharmacists can also find work in medical journalism, forensic science, the Armed Forces (supporting military medical services) and agricultural and veterinary pharmacy. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE “You get a very broad, solid basis which then allows you to go off and do a huge amount of things in pharmacy,” says the RGU’s Dr Denise Hansford. “Certainly the opportunities are there. Pharmacy is a degree and a career that allows you to find your niche.” DEALING WITH PEOPLE 21 year old Robbie Cord, from Prestwick, is near the end of his four-year MPharm at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. He’s also following in some family footsteps. “My brother – he’s two years older than me – qualified last year as a pharmacist,” he says. “We’re quite similar and always liked science. During my sixth year at school I had a Saturday job working in a pharmacy. It was enough to see that I liked it.” Robbie was impressed by the degree course. “It’s well-rounded. There’s a bit of everything in there,” he says. “You’ve got your science and chemistry elements, but you’ve got the practical side – dealing with patients. For me it’s a good mix; you get to do a bit of everything, and I enjoyed it. I could have done a straight chemistry degree, but with pharmacy you know at the end of it that you’re dealing with people, and that appeals to me.” Soon after graduation Robbie will start his year-long pre-registration training in a pharmacy in Shettleston, Glasgow. “I’d done placements in hospital which I enjoyed, but I liked both hospital and community pharmacy,” he adds. “The good thing about pharmacy is that you can change from one area to another.” DON’T FANCY UNIVERSITY? You can work in a pharmacy without spending years at university – as a pharmacy assistant or pharmacy technician, supervised by a registered pharmacist. Assistants mainly handle prescriptions, serve customers (in high street pharmacies) and help with stock control. Technicians are much more involved in actually making up medicines and treatments – including weighing or counting tablets, measuring liquids and selecting creams and ointments according to prescription. You don’t need specific qualifications before you start – good Standard or Higher grades in English and maths will be enough – but you can improve your long-term career by working towards a Scottish Vocational Qualification in pharmacy services. This is at level 2 (for assistants) or level 3 (for technicians), the latter normally taking two years. SHOW ME THE MONEY! Salaries at all levels depend on location, employer and responsibilities. Pharmacy assistants: up to £15,500 Pharmacy technicians: up to £20,200 Preregistration pharmacist: up to £18,000 Pharmacist: £23,458 and £31,779 Self-employed community pharmacist: £27,000 to £36,000 Industrial pharmacist: £25,500 to £52,000 Chief pharmacist (NHS Trusts): up to £90,600 MORE INFO Check out www.pharmacycareers.org.uk for general UK-wide career information. The Robert Gordon University 01224 262 500 www.rgu.ac.uk/pharmacy Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences 0141 548 2125 www.strath.ac.uk/sipbs |