The decision to become a pharmacist is not one to be taken
lightly. You'll have to commit to a minimum of six years of
university, you'll have a heavy courseload, and once you
graduate, you'll literally be responsible for people's lives. And
you'll most likely be taking on a considerable financial burden
until you graduate.
On the other hand, pharmacy can be incredibly rewarding. If
you go into clinical pharmacy, you'll get to interact with a
tremendous variety of people. You'll be dealing with patients,
colleagues, and other health professionals. You'll be responsible
for making sure your patients are getting the optimal drug
treatment possible. And if you decide to go into research, you'll
be interacting with highly intelligent colleagues from a wide
range of scientific fields. In either case, pharmacists tend to
be both well-paid and well-respected—a rare combination.
What you need
To be effective and successful, pharmacists must have certain
traits that help them with their position. First, and most
crucial, they definitely need have the ability to pay attention
to detail. Prescriptions can be mistaken, calculations might have
crucial mistakes, and Mrs. Smith might be coming in for
prescription refills just a little too often... these are just
some of the details that you need to notice.
Judgment and dependability are essential for this job as well.
Since you'll have access to potentially dangerous substances, you
must have high ethical standards and maintain reliable records.
Finally, you'll have to be knowledgeable about and keep up with
the constant stream of new products and medications on the
market.
So is it right for you? Ultimately, that's a decision you have
to make. Pharmacy school is a serious time and financial
commitment. But if you have specific career goals and apply
yourself, the payoff can be extraordinary.