To be or Not to be a Pharmacist

A pharmacist is one who is licensed to practice pharmacy. Pharmacy is the practice of compounding
and dispensing drugs and providing drug-related information to consumers.  Pharmacy is an area of
materia medica, that branch of medical science concerning the sources, nature, properties, and
preparation of drugs. Pharmacists share with the chemical and medical profession responsibility for
discovering new drugs and synthesizing organic compounds of therapeutic value. In addition, the
community pharmacist, or druggist, is increasingly called upon to give advice in matters of health and
hygiene.  Community pharmacists can also be found on the line at major companies, if you call their
800 number(s)
 In the United States, colleges of pharmacy offer five- or six-year programs leading either to the
degree of bachelor of science in the pharmaceutical sciences or the doctor of pharmacy degree.
Licenses are granted by states after the following requirements have been met:
· graduation from one of the 80 colleges with programs accredited by the American Council on
Pharmaceutical Education
· About 1500 hours of internship under a registered pharmacist
· Satisfactory completion of a national licensing examination.
Pharmacists may practice their profession in a pharmacy located in a hospital, nursing home or
community-based pharmacy.  Some institutions where you could receive formal education to be a
pharmacist are Albany College of Pharmacy, Butler University, Drake University, Ferris State
University, and Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science.

In antiquity, pharmacy and the practice of medicine were often combined, sometimes under the
direction of priests, both men and women, who ministered to the sick with religious rites as well.
Many people of the world continue the close association of drugs, medicine, and religion or faith.
Specialization first occurred in the 8th century in the civilized world around Baghdad. It gradually
spread to Europe as alchemy; eventually evolving into chemistry as physicians began to abandon
beliefs that were not demonstrable in the physical world. Physicians often both prepared and
prescribed medicines; individual pharmacists not only compounded prescriptions but also
manufactured medicaments in bulk lots for general sale.
The modern pharmacist deals with complex pharmaceutical remedies far different from the elixirs,
spirits, and powders described in the Pharmacopeia of London (1618) and the Pharmacopeia of
Paris (1639). In the United States today, major medicines, those regarded as having the greatest
therapeutic value, are selected for inclusion in the Pharmacopeia of the United States, first published
in 1820.
Being a Pharmacist has both its ups and downs.  It gives you the chance to find medicines that will
help people to get through life more comfortably, and it also gives you the chance to find a cure for
currently incurable diseases, such as Cancer, HIV, AIDS, etc.  On the other hand, you are
responsible for the lives of the people that you make the prescriptions for.  If you mess up with one
ingredient, that could make a chemical in balance in the medicine for that particular person, and
cause their condition to get worse.  The pay is also low; 21-40 thousand dollars a year, depending
upon the degree that you have achieved.
Pharmacists may work for managed care organizations, consulting firms, or pharmaceutical
companies, which may hire these professionals to conduct scientific research or to participate in the
development and production of new pharmaceutical products.
A Pharmacist can make 21 to 40 thousand dollars a year, with 8 years of experience, and a Ph.D.
The purpose of a Pharmacist is to compound and dispense drugs and to provide drug-related
information to consumers.  Pharmacists also have the responsibility for discovering new drugs.
Pharmacists have to make sure that all of the drugs are compatible with each other.  They have to
make sure that his patients do not receive any drugs that have ingredients that they are allergic to.
For instance if a patient is allergic to codeine, that any and all of the medications in a combine form
do not have codeine in them.