Career Opportunities

Many varied career options

As a pharmacist, you’ll be a licensed health care provider, trained to ensure the safe and effective use of medications, which today are increasingly complex and highly specialized.

You’ll ensure that patients benefit from the right medicines, given in the right dose and at the right time—and that the medications patients take are safe and effective. There are many considerations in the process, such as a patient’s disease, age, lifestyle, income, other prescriptions, the side effects of a medication, how a patient's genes affect which medication to choose or how much to give, and the cost of medications.

You’ll be able to apply your pharmacy expertise in many ways; for example, by:

• Providing direct care and counseling to patients in community pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals; working on health care teams; and offering specialized care in areas such as pediatrics and infectious diseases
• Working in drug research and marketing in the pharmaceutical industry and overseeing clinical trials and marketing
• Teaching and conducting research in universities
• Safeguarding public health through work in government agencies, helping to set drug policies
• Providing population-based drug therapy management and policy in managed care organizations

Because of the important roles pharmacists play, you’ll be among the most well-regarded members of the health care team. In a December 2016 Gallup poll, 67% of those polled rated pharmacists as high or very high in honesty and ethical standards among professionals in 21 different fields, a rating second only to nurses.

Strong job prospects

The demand for pharmacists continues to be strong as more, and increasingly complex, medications appear on the market, and as a growing senior population requires more complex drug therapy.

The job opportunities for pharmacists are excellent, and salaries are high.

The mean salary range for United States pharmacists is $136,240 to $140,980, depending on title and specialization, as of spring 2023. See the Pharmacy Times survey National Results for details.