Occupation: 29-1050

Pharmacists

Statistics
National
State
City
State
City
$137480
Median Wage (USD, 2024)
14200
Projected Job Openings (2024-2034)
4.6%
Projected Growth (2024-2034)
Dispense drugs prescribed by physicians and other health practitioners and provide information to patients about medications and their use. May advise physicians and other health practitioners on the selection, dosage, interactions, and side effects of medications.

Experience Requirements Overview

  • Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
  • Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
  • Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
  • Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Education, Training and Experience

Required Level of Education: Doctoral Degree

Related Work Experience: N.A.

On-Site or In-Plant Training: Up to and including 1 month

On-the-Job Training: Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months

Detailed Work Activities

  • Verify accuracy of patient information.
  • Communicate detailed medical information to patients or family members.
  • Advise patients on effects of health conditions or treatments.
  • Analyze data to identify trends or relationships among variables.
  • Analyze health-related data.

Work Values

Achievement

Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

Working Conditions

Recognition

Relationships

Support

Independence

Tasks

  • Review prescriptions to assure accuracy, to ascertain the needed ingredients, and to evaluate their suitability.
  • Assess the identity, strength, or purity of medications.
  • Provide information and advice regarding drug interactions, side effects, dosage, and proper medication storage.
  • Analyze prescribing trends to monitor patient compliance and to prevent excessive usage or harmful interactions.
  • Maintain records, such as pharmacy files, patient profiles, charge system files, inventories, control records for radioactive nuclei, or registries of poisons, narcotics, or controlled drugs.

Work Styles

Innovation

A tendency to be inventive, to be imaginative, and to adopt new perspectives on ways to accomplish work.

Innovation

Achievement Orientation

Achievement Orientation

Intellectual Curiosity

Intellectual Curiosity

Tolerance for Ambiguity

Tolerance for Ambiguity

Initiative

Initiative

Adaptability

Adaptability

Self-Confidence

Self-Confidence

Perseverance

Perseverance

Leadership Orientation

Leadership Orientation

Humility

Humility

Sincerity

Sincerity

Empathy

Empathy

Cooperation

Cooperation

Optimism

Optimism

Social Orientation

Social Orientation

Cautiousness

Cautiousness

Attention to Detail

Attention to Detail

Dependability

Dependability

Integrity

Integrity

Stress Tolerance

Stress Tolerance

Self-Control

Self-Control

Data Source: This page includes information from the O*NET 30.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This page includes Employment Projections program, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.