Information about Careers in Chemistry Project

Zachary Hancock
Pharmacists distribute prescription drugs to individuals. They also advise their patients,
physicians, and other health practitioners on the selection, dosages, interactions, and side effects of
medications, as well as monitor the health and progress of those patients to ensure that they are using
their medications safely and effectively. (6) The average yearly salary for this career is $116,670. (10)
Pharmacists work in various settings such as a hospital, retail, and pharmaceutical laboratories.
Those who work in a hospital are usually the ones who distribute the medication to you after a
prescription has been made. They also are responsible for making sure that the amount of medication
that you have been prescribed is legal to have and also safe to be given to the individual. The ones that
work in a retail setting usually have many duties. These duties include administering vaccines,
diagnosing minor illnesses, managing the pharmacy, and also to package and give the customer his/her
prescription. When a Pharmacist works in a pharmaceutical laboratory, his/her job is to create, test, and
produce various medicines and drugs for that specific pharmaceutical company. They must make sure
that the medication that they have created is safe for human consumption by testing it rigorously before
sending it to the FDA to be evaluated to ensure safety standards have been made. This job setting is the
one of which would require the largest amount of chemistry knowledge.
Other career opportunities in this field of chemistry include:
-Pharmacy Technician.
-Toxicologist.
-Pharmaceutical Engineer.
Analytical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry are all
areas/concepts of chemistry which are important for Pharmacology. These concepts of chemistry all
deal with analyzing, studying organic matter, and creating medicines, which all play a large part in the
career of a Pharmacist.
In order to start in this career, you must meet the education requirements to begin as a
Pharmacist. These education requirements vary from country to country, but in the United States, you
must pass the NAPLEX and obtain a PharmD. The PharmD is a doctorate in the field of Pharmacology and
is a 6-8yr. program. Many schools offer Pharmacology programs, but the best schools in Ohio include
Ohio State University, University of Cincinnati, and the University of Toledo Health Science Campus. (7)

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Required prerequisites include:
-Human Anatomy/lab Anatomy
-Introductory Biology/lab Biology
-General Chemistry/lab Chemistry
-Organic Chemistry/lab Chemistry
-Calculus
-Statistics
-Basic Microbiology/lab Microbiology
-Physics/lab (regular or calculus based)
These must be met before you start the PharmD programs. (8)

"29-1051 Pharmacists." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d. Web. 02
Sept. 2014. <http://www.bls.gov/oes/2012/may/oes291051.htm>.