The Business and Educational Path for a Pharm D
Some pharmacists graduate from pharmacy school with plans to pursue management. These pharmacists can combine their pharmacy practice clinical expertise with their business acumen and leadership skills to shape the profession's future by introducing new and advanced pharmacy practice models within organizations and institutions.
Another significant component of what a pharmacist does relates to teaching and continuing education. Pharmacists are lifelong learners responsible for teaching current pharmacy students in real-world settings. Pharmacists provide pharmacy students with patient care experiences via experiential education. These education opportunities occur early in pharmacy school through introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE) and advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE). The pharmacy students will often learn more from experience as they become exposed to various clinical pharmacy and community pharmacist practice sites.
Finally, 10% of pharmacists still pursue roles outside the traditional community or hospital pharmacist. These unique roles include nuclear pharmacy, veterinary pharmacy, and roles in the pharmaceutical industry. These pharmacists may have roles in research and drug development. Some pharmacists engage in consulting work. They may provide medication management services, analytics, or business intelligence.
Some pharmacists specialize in pharmacoeconomics or pharmacogenomics. They may pursue careers in public health for the Indian Health Services, the NIH, or the CDC. They may work for organizations that specialize in health economics and research outcomes. Finally, some pharmacists may work in technology or pursue entrepreneurial pursuits.
The question of ‘what can you do with a Pharm D?’ is fascinating and often only limited by your imagination.