How To Become A Pharmacist
InternetDrugNews.com
Hip pocket Information to help people seeking a career in pharmacy ; a drug interaction checker, compendiums of herbal and pharmaceutical databases, lists of pharmacy schools, pharmacy journals, wholesalers, etc.

These days, being a pharmacist is a highly sought after career, partially due to the fact that a typical pharmacist's starting salary (fresh out of college) is about $125,000 per year.  Since pharmacy is a 6-year degree, most pharmacists enter the profession at the age of 24.  It is pretty cool when you are 24-years old and you are earning 90 grand per year.

Pharmacists are not supposed to work off-the-books but many do.  They get about $40.00 cash per hour if they choose this avenue of compensation.  Since many pharmacists work 12-hour shifts, they are pulling down major cash.

This high starting salary attracts many would-be pharmacists.  Since there are so many applicants the pharmacy schools can afford to be picky.

Up until the mid 1990's pharmacy was a 5-year degree.  You graduated with a Bachelor Of Science in Pharmacy.  Nowadays, pharmacy is a 6-year degree.  You graduate as a Pharm D.  Pharm D's like to be referred to as "Dr. such and such" but they are not medical doctors. 

They can not prescribe drugs.  They can only dispense exactly what the medical practitioner prescribes if they work in a drugstore.

However, these days pharmacists have expanded clinical horizons.  They are not limited to dispensing pills.  Many of them work in clinical settings such as hospitals where their expertise on drugs and drug information is sought after by doctors and other medical professionals. 

Many Pharm. D's gravitate toward teaching.  Another avenue of professional endeavor for pharmacists is working for the drug companies.  Working for a drug company as a Pharm. D.is a highly sought after position because of all the perks that come with working for a rich corporation.

If you are a high school student and you want to be a pharmacist here are some friendly points of advice:

Take science every year - this will be a factor regarding your entrance application.  Lots of kids don't take science in 12th grade because it is not required to graduate but if you want to be a pharmacist you need to take it anyway.  Biology, earth science, chemistry, physics - take them all.  If you can handle AP science all the better.

I hope you like chemistry because if you are fortunate enough to get accepted into pharmacy school, you will be taking tons of chemistry (and labs too).

You will definitely take organic chemistry, which is very hard.  They give you organic chemistry early on to weed out marginal students.  If you don't like chemistry, forget being a pharmacist.  Your life will be a living hell is you don't like (or have an aptitude for) chemistry.

Take math every year - Lots of kids skip math in 12th grade because you don't need it to graduate. BUT taking math every year shows college admission officers that the student is studious and is not afraid of difficult coursework.  If you can handle AP, all the better.

Foreign Language - believe it or not, taking a foreign language enhances your chances of getting accepted into pharmacy school (or any good school for that matter).  This demonstrates that the student is well rounded and capable of memorizing information.  Memorization is important if you want to be a pharmacist.

The rest of this page gives you a taste the sort of information that pharmacists deal with in their profession.  If you are into this stuff, pharmacy school may be an option for you:

Misc. Pharmacy Information

List Of Pharmacy Schools - pharmacy schools to apply to if you want to become a pharmacist.

Pharmacy Schools - Includes English speaking pharmacy schools outside the USA.

Non-English Speaking Pharmacy Schools - Where to study pharmacy outside the USA

Naplex Explanation- Review of the test all pharmacists must pass before they can begin their career.

Naplex Exam; Test Structure - explains the question categories and how your test score is computed.

Naplex Practice Questions - Sample exam questions.

Pharmacy License Requirements - learn about the tests and other requirements that all pharmacists in the United Stated are required to master before they are allowed to practice as a pharmacist.

Pharmacology Tests for 19 Drug Families; from UMKC School of Pharmacy

Drug Co Web Pages -  contact Information for most drug companies.

Drug Company Database  -Intelligence, news, stock prices.

FDA   Site Dissection; explanation of approval process.
>FDA NEWS  Updated hourly from Yahoo.
>FDA Product Recalls, Alerts and Warnings

Hospital Directory - USA + international; more that 12,000 entries

Medical and Pharmaceutical Libraries- [ USA] excellent for research.
See Also> Medical and Pharmaceutical Libraries [International]

New Drug Approvals - updated in real time PRN
Pharmacy Choice - continuing education, jobs, drug resources, pharmaceutical marketplace, etc.

Pharmaceutical Databases and Directories - Pharma Lexicon (Preferred)

RPH world.com  - many useful resources that are helpful in the practice of pharmacy.

Wholesalers - US & International

Worth a Click:

History Of Pharmacy Museum - Care of Univ of Arizona School of PharmacyTake a virtual tour; It's Fun - It's Free.

Sites That Are Useful To Practicing Pharmacists:

Editor's Choice: Drug interaction checker; Create a patient profile and the computer screens it for interactions with one click.  Try it with 2 drugs or with 11 drugs; Check My Meds … [ AIDSmeds.com ]

Drug-Info Databases ; prescribing information; disease-based drug databases, pipeline/investigational; illegal drugs.

Pharmacy CE ;  years worth of Free Online CE; some pay.

Pharmaceutical Acronyms ; such as "BID", "Gtt", Etc.

Global RPH ; drug information, intravenous drug dilution standards and online clinical dosing calculators; warfarin dosing calculator  and renal dosing database are particularly useful.
US PHARM D.com - Pharmacy information center; portal; We describe this site  "the Yahoo of Pharmacy"

Herbs, Botanicals & Other Products ; Sloan Kettering; invaluable resource; detailed monographs, drug interaction data.

Vitamins Minerals Herbs - database of; PDR.Net; patient oriented

Aroma Therapy - database of; wlnaturalhealth.com

Homeopathy - Portal; WWW Resources in homeopathy ; Mailing Lists
and Discussion Groups

Alternative Medicine Databases

Free Online Pharmacy Books & Journals

Pharmacy Journals   read'em online.

freebooks4doctors.com - Access to 600 books; years worth of reading

Medical Journals  well known medical journals;

FreeMedicalJournals.com - 1,380 free medical journals;

You may be interested in visiting:

Home Page - Updated daily; new drug info and tons of links.

Pharmacy Associations

Cancer News - (from Yahoo)

AIDS HIV News - (from Yahoo)

Diabetes News - (from Yahoo)

Heart Disease News - (from Yahoo)

Site Directory:

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Drug Information:
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Pharmacy:
How To Become A Pharmacist/ Pharmacist Continuing Education/Pharmacy Journals /

Misc:
Cancer Information /Classified/ Diabetes / Diabetic Supplies/
Drug Company Database/ ENT /FDA; Drug Approval Process  /
Heart Disease /HIV AIDS / Medical Information Databases/
Medical Journals/ Paxil CR Alternatives/Pharmaceutical Advertising, Pharmaceutical Marketing  Help Wanted/Medical Information/

Pharmaceutical sales:

Mother Page; Starting Point / Case Study 1 /  Case Study 2 / Case Study 3 / Tips on how to get in / FAQ Table of contents / Willing to relocate / Hardest part of being a rep / How do I know it is right for me? / Working with a recruiter / Typical length of job search / Interview bring with materials / Ride along / Cover Letter / Resume essentials / Small company versus large company; working for / Am I too old / Scientific degree / MBA / Number of calls per day / Cover Letters / Salary and bonus / Getting laid off / Best way to find job / Newspaper advertisements / Trouble getting business cards / Interviews but no offers / Training / Contract rep / Future sales reps / More than one job offer / Resume essentials / How to find a resume writer / Job fairs(A) /Job fairs(B) / So many interviews


Note To Visitors:

We never answer drug or health related questions so please don't e-mail us with your drug related questions.

If you have a question about a drug that you are taking or if you think you are experiencing a side effect from a drug that you are taking you must get in touch with the doctor who prescribed the drug or the pharmacist who dispensed it to you, not us.

The information contained on this web site is for your information only.  You should never take a drug without a doctor's prescription.   Do NOT give yourself any drug unless it has been prescribed for you by a doctor.

It's foolish to start taking a medicine or stop taking a medicine on your own based on information you read here or any other internet web site because this could cause you to become seriously ill or die or worse even.

Questions or feedback regarding this site? 

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This Page Last Updated: 2/8/2012