If you like chemistry, biology, and mathematics and want to have the power to cure and prevent diseases, then a degree in pharmacy or pharmaceutical sciences may be right for you! Great benefits, top salaries, flexible work schedules, job stability, and a wide variety of career opportunities are a few reasons to consider such a rewarding healthcare career like pharmacy or pharmaceutical sciences. There has never been a better time for students to consider a rewarding career in this field. Review the information below, check out the AACP website, and read Career Choices, Alumni Comments, and Job Search Sites!

Pharmacy

Pharmacists are a vital part of the healthcare team and are consistently ranked as one of the most highly respected professionals because of the care and service they provide (according to data by Wirthlin Worldwide and Gallup International). Since pharmacies are often located in common shopping places, pharmacists are very accessible and advise patients without appointments. Pharmacists help improve the health of patients as quickly as possible by choosing the best medicines and helping to avoid side effects based on individual healthcare needs.  Pharmacists promote public health provide services such as immunizations, asthma care, blood pressure monitoring services, cholesterol screening, diabetes disease management, smoking cessation consultation, bone density scans, anticoagulation management clinics, and more.

There is a great demand for pharmacists because there is currently a nationwide shortage due to the growth in community pharmacies and other sectors and an increase in the elderly population and the number and use of medications.

Upon graduation, students have many career options including working in the community, a hospital, a university, government agencies pharmaceutical research companies, nursing homes, hospice and home care. Pharmacists can also choose a specific population to work with such as newborns, geriatrics, and even animals!

Learn more about PharmD Admissions.

Pharmaceutical Sciences

Pharmaceutical scientists work hands-on in the laboratory and are instrumental in discovering and developing innovative drugs. They study the body’s reaction to a drug and how it’s absorbed, distributed, metabolized and eliminated; and how diseases, food, genetics, and other drugs react when a drug is introduced to the body in order to create the best therapy approaches.

Professionals in pharmaceutical sciences continue the advances in drug therapy, work in marketing and sales of pharmaceuticals and biomedical devices, work as researchers and professors at universities, and work as scientists for agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Learn more about Pharmaceutical Sciences Admissions.