Pharmacist

You'll need to complete:

• a 4-year Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) degree approved by the General Pharmaceutical Council
• a one year pre-registration training course in pharmacy

If you do not have the qualifications to get onto a MPharm degree, you could do a 2-year pharmacy foundation degree. You would then take a job as a pharmacy assistant or technician and apply for the MPharm degree in your 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

• equivalent entry requirements
• student finance for fees and living costs
• university courses and entry requirements

Registration

• you'll need to register with the General Pharmaceutical Council

Further information

You'll find more on pharmacy careers and training from Health Careers and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

You'll need:

• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
• sensitivity and understanding
• customer service skills
• patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
• maths knowledge
• excellent verbal communication skills
• the ability to read English
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

You'll need to:

• pass enhanced background checks

Your tasks will depend on which area of pharmacy you work in. In this role you could:

• dispense medicines in a community pharmacy, hospital or a GP practice clinic
• give healthcare advice about prescription and over-the-counter medicines
• advise on drug dosages and risks, to the public, patients, GPs and nurses
• run screening programmes for diabetes, cholesterol or blood pressure
• visit care homes or hospital wards to advise on the use and storage of medications
• order and controlling stock
• run a business, including supervising and training staff
• produce medicines when ready-made ones aren't available, for example, cancer treatments
• buy, quality test and distribute medicines throughout a hospital
• supervise trainees and junior pharmacists

In education or industry, you could:

• do research into new medicines
• run clinical trials

You could work at a store, in an NHS or private hospital or at an adult care home.