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The Pharmacy Practice Areas
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ImageWhen talking about pharmacy practice, you have to first understand that this is the discipline associated with this field of medicine, one that involves the development of roles for professionals.  These roles, or pharmacy practice areas, cover a wide range of positions, which is what makes this such an intriguing and promising career opportunity.  The pharmacy practice areas that are most often considered include the following:

•    Adverse Event Prevention
•    Clinical Intervention
•    Communication
•    Disease State Management
•    Drug Abuse Prevention
•    Drug Discovery and Evaluation
•    Drug Interaction Prevention
•    Extemporaneous Pharmaceutical Compounding
•    Health Psychology
•    Incompatibility
•    Patient Care
•    Pharmaceutical Care
•    Pharmacotherapy (adverse effects, drug interactions, unneeded drugs, specific disease, under dose or overdose of medicine)
•    Professional Development

 
One of the exciting aspects of looking at the various pharmacy practice areas as a full-time career is that there are so many job opportunities.  Unlike other fields, the field of medicine specific to pharmaceuticals is thriving and will continue to be a solid career choice simply because of supply and demand.  You will also discover that careers falling in the pharmacy practice areas are typically higher paying.

Of course, with any good thing, there are always downsides to consider.  For instance, with jobs in the field of pharmacy, there are usually long hours.  Additionally, although the pay is good and the career choice secure, there is also a high need for people to work night shifts and even popular holidays.  However, for anyone who wants an exciting career, one that helps other people and a career that is constantly growing, making a few sacrifices is well worth it.

Regardless of the different pharmacy practice areas of interest, you would be required to go through special education to earn some level of certification, license, or even degree.  For instance, if you were interested in becoming a pharmacist, you would be mandated by all states, as well as the District of Columbia, to obtain the required license.  In addition, you would have to obtain a Pharm.D, or Doctor of Pharmacy, which involves not only education, but also passing a variety of examinations.

The licenses and degrees needed for some of the pharmacy practice areas must be from an accredited school or college.  Then, after general education, to move on to earn the Pharm.D, you have to have two years of postsecondary study prior to being admitted into the program.  Keep in mind that while two years is the minimum, the majority of people going this route actually have three or even four years before they study for their Doctor of Pharmacy degree.

For many of the pharmacy practice areas, you can also a license or degree in more than one area at a time.  In fact, it is common for someone becoming a pharmacist to also want to go on to further training such as a one or two-year fellowship or residency type of program.  Keep in mind, going for postgraduate education usually requires that some type of research project has also been completed.  While some pharmacists will choose further education such as this, there are those professionals who work in hospitals that would be required to take higher education.

With so many opportunities among the different pharmacy practice areas, we are also seeing a number of people coming to the United States from other countries wanting to make a better life.  Because of this, there are a number of foreign pharmacy schools with graduates who would also be able to qualify to work in the States.  However, this also requires additional education in the form of application through the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Committee.  After completion, the individual would then have to pass additional courses before going into this particular field.

With so many unique opportunities associated with the different pharmacy practice areas, it is important to understand that even if you start in one direction, there is no reason you cannot move on to other traditional and non-traditional aspects of the pharmaceutical industry.  More and more, licensed and degreed people are also getting involved with testing, research, and even marketing.  Therefore, whether you stay focused on your original goal associated with the various pharmacy practice areas or you want to add on, or even move in an entirely different direction, this industry offers lots of possibilities.
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