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Pharmacist

Alternative titles for this job include Dispensing chemist, community pharmacist, hospital pharmacist

Pharmacists give advice on the use and supply of medicines and medical appliances.

Average salary (a year)

£39,000 Starter

to

£63,000 Experienced

Typical hours (a week)

38 to 42 a week

You could work

evenings / weekends / bank holidays on a rota

Meet Julie

Julie is a pharmacist and likes that she gets to help people in her job.

1 minute 37 second watch

View transcript

Hi, my name's Julie. I'm a pharmacist, and I work at the Wicker Pharmacy in Sheffield.

In terms of what I enjoy about the job. I enjoy going home at the end of the day and feeling like I’ve actually helped people.

You have to be able to switch tasks quite rapidly. There’s lots of different hats that you're wearing. In the process, the buck stops with the pharmacist. So if something's gone wrong further up the chain, you know the pharmacist is the last opportunity to catch it.

Some people see pharmacy very much about supply, like the practical giving them a box of tablets. But people still need that personal touch advice around healthcare. And I do like doing all those consultations, 1 to 1, with patients.

You've got to fundamentally want to help people because it's healthcare.

It's quite a physical job. You're on your feet all the time, which I like.

Your education will continue past your degree and you have to have a degree to do pharmacy so. But it doesn't end there. That's just the beginning. You know, so you're going to carry on. It's like lifetime learning.

Everybody’s dyslexia is a little bit different. So my biggest problem is spelling. I find it really hard to spell correctly. But nowadays with spell checks on computers, it’s great. People always say, “well what about drug names, they’re so complicated?” But they're not complicated to me because they're very structured. Each part of a drug name actually means something.

So if there is someone out there who has any sort of disability, or diagnosis or whatever you want to call it. Don't discount yourself. Talk to people in the profession and just see how you could get around it.

How to become

Explore the different ways to get into this role.

How to become

You can get into this job through a university course.

University

To become a pharmacist, you'll need to complete a master's of pharmacy (MPharm) degree, approved by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) which takes 4 years.

You'll then need to complete the pharmacist foundation training programme which takes 1 year.

If you do not have the qualifications to get onto a master's of pharmacy degree, you could do a pharmacy foundation degree which takes 2 years.

You could then take a job as a pharmacy assistant or pharmacy technician and apply to join the master's degree in its second year.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • at least 1 A level, or equivalent, for a foundation degree
  • 2 or 3 A levels, or equivalent, including chemistry

More Information

More Information

Registration

Further information

You can find out more about becoming a pharmacist from Health Careers and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

What it takes

Find out what skills you’ll use in this role.

What it takes

Skills and knowledge

You'll need:

  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • sensitivity and understanding
  • customer service skills
  • knowledge of chemistry including the safe use and disposal of chemicals
  • maths knowledge
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • the ability to read English
  • to be able to use a computer and the main software packages confidently

Restrictions and Requirements

You'll need to:

What you’ll do

Discover the day to day tasks you’ll do in this role.

What you'll do

Day-to-day tasks

As a pharmacist, you could:

  • dispense medicines in a pharmacy, hospital or GP practice
  • give advice about prescriptions, drug dosages, risks and how to use and store medication
  • run screening programmes and buy, test and distribute medicines in a hospital
  • manage stock and supervise and train staff like junior pharmacists
  • do research into new medicines or run clinical trials

Working environment

You could work in an NHS or private hospital, at a GP practice, at a university, at a store or at a research facility.

Career path and progression

Look at progression in this role and similar opportunities.

Career path and progression

With experience you could:

  • take a GPhC accredited pharmacist Independent Prescribing (IP) course to become an independent prescriber
  • progress to team manager, regional or national manager or become a pharmacy consultant
  • work in a GP practice, health centre or set up your own community pharmacy business
  • work as a pharmacist in the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy or Army
  • move into teaching, scientific journalism or publishing
  • do a postgraduate qualification in a subject like toxicology or pharmacology and move into research

You can find more information about developing your career in pharmacy from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Current opportunities

Find apprenticeships, courses and jobs available near you.

Current opportunities

Apprenticeships In England

We can't find any apprenticeship vacancies in England for a pharmacist right now.

The Find an apprenticeship service can help you with your search, send alerts when new apprenticeships become available and has advice on how to apply.

Courses In England

Are you interested in becoming a pharmacist?

Search for training courses near you.

Jobs In the United Kingdom

The Find a job service can help you with your search for jobs and send alerts when new jobs become available.

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