Ask most people what a pharmacist does and they'll likely answer, “Someone usually wears a white coat and dispenses medications and gives vaccinations.” While that's technically not wrong, community pharmacy is just one of many careers a PharmD can pursue.
In fact, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) has teamed up with the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) to launch an education campaign. Pharmacy is perfect for me As part of this effort, the organization is 100 types of pharmacist careersFrom outpatient pharmacists to virtual toxicology consultants, the list spans a wide range of fields in healthcare and technology.
“When I entered the pharmaceutical field About 30 years ago A few years ago, my main career route Doctor of Pharmacy Practice in One Community PharmacyYeahBrian Hemstreet, PharmD, said: Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs. “But in the last 20 years, we “There has been an explosion of new career opportunities for pharmacists. What pharmacists can do in a community setting is far beyond what most people realize.”
Expanding opportunities
Dr Hemstreet noted the expanding clinical role of pharmacists. in Variety Settings. Some of of Decreased Availability Primary Care With the doctor Partially For Today's Advanced Training Doctor of Pharmacy, Community-Based Pharmacists Now Own Wide rangePrescription authority. In Colorado, pharmacists can prescribe short-termLong-term illness Influenza, etc. and Streptococcal pharyngitis, And alsoo provide Access to lSavings Medications such as naloxone. If you have a long-term medical condition, such as diabetes or high blood pressurePharmacist provides medicineSurveillance, Education, and Self-management support. in In addition to annual vaccinations, Trained Pharmacists in Colorado can fill prescriptions Statin therapy, birth control, smoking cessation drugs, and even HIV before And thenExposure therapy.
“Not only have their powers been expanded, community The current competencies that pharmacists possess also promise to increase the careers of pharmacists. hospital and clinic“The problem in most of these situations is that patients never see the pharmacist, even though they are making rounds with the rest of the care team. Patients don't realize that there are pharmacists on every floor – pediatric pharmacists, geriatric pharmacists, neurology, cardiology, critical care – behind the scenes there are pharmacists reviewing charts and medication orders, making recommendations and compounding specialty compounds,” says Chandler Follett, PharmD, clinical director and pharmacy outreach specialist.
Opening the Door
Bringing these pharmacy careers “behind the scenes” is one of the goals the CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy is planning for its upcoming Mile High Pharmacy Week, which kicks off with a Pharmacy Open House that is open to anyone interested in learning more about the careers available with a PharmD degree and the unique training experience available at the CU School of Pharmacy.
“We are very excited about Mile High College of Pharmacy Week, and especially our College of Pharmacy Open House on September 25,” said Amanda Ryder, MBA, director of admissions and student recruitment. “When potential pharmacy students come to our world-class campus, they see the incredible opportunities available here and have the chance to interact with current students, alumni and our incredible faculty, it's captivating. They start imagining things they've never thought of before. It's really something special.”
Ryder and her recruiting team have something truly special planned for this year's Open House: In addition to the opportunity to tour campus and interact with current students, all Open House attendees will receive a partial or full waiver of the PharmCAS application fee. PharmCAS is a pharmacy school application service that helps prospective pharmacy students apply to pharmacy school.
“Since Open House is an in-person only event, we wanted to make sure we created engagement opportunities throughout the week for our growing remote audience,” Ryder said. “So we launched our first Instagram 'Ask Me Anything' on September 23rd and 24th, followed by: AACP Virtual Pharmacy School Fair on September 25th. Later that week, we will be hosting our first ever online ‘Mile High Meetup’ where candidates will have the opportunity to meet and interact with our faculty who are pediatric pharmacists.”
Mile High Pharmacy Week Schedule
- September 23-24: Mile High Mentor AMA
- September 25: CU Pharmacy Open House
- September 25: AACP Virtual Pharmacy School Fair
- September 26: Mile High Meetup
- September 27: Pharmacy Fair
- September 28: Pre-Health Day
The CU Pharmacy Expo will be held in the Pharmacy Building and at locations across campus on Sept. 27. Co-hosted by the Pharmacy Alumni Association and Pharmacy Career Services, the event will give prospective and current students a front-row seat to the latest trends in pharmacy, as well as the opportunity to network with alumni in specific fields and potential employers.
The week will conclude with the campus’ annual CU Anschutz Pre-Health Day, an annual event that will bring hundreds of undergraduate students to campus for a day of hands-on activities, panels, workshops and more.