Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Certification For Health Care: Pharmacist

The man or woman that you see behind the counter in the pharmacy that is available to answer all of your questions is a certified pharmacist. They must know how to measure and mix medications, and they must be able to answer a myriad of different questions about those medications. Here are the things a pharmacist must do for certification for health care.

Just like in most professions, it is best to begin planning and preparing to become a pharmacist while you are still in high school. You will need to take a variety of science and mathematics courses. Learn to write well and express yourself on the written page, and learn all you can about computers. Volunteer to work in a nursing home, pharmacy or hospital during your high school years.

There are three ways that you start your pharmacist career. Most students go to an accredited college and earn a four year degree before going on to pharmacy school. Others opt to go straight from high school into a pharmacy program known as "0-6". The other option is to go into an accelerated program.

No matter which program you enter, the school you choose must be accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. Make sure that their science courses, labs and computers are the best there is available. The school should, also, be a member of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.

Every pharmacy school has a list of courses that the students will need before they can enter pharmacy school. Those courses take approximately 2 years to complete at the undergraduate level. Some students go on and take 3 or 4 years of undergraduate studies instead of just the necessary 2 years.

Once the student finishes the two years of required class work, he will need to take the Pharmacy College Admissions Test. Once he has the test results, he must fill out the application form and gather the materials that are required by the pharmacy school. Some schools require an interview with potential students before acceptance.

The total number of years after high school that a student has to study to become a pharmacist is six years. The last four years are spent in pharmacy school where he will earn his PharmD degree or his doctorate in pharmacy. During those four years, he will, also, complete a number of practice hours working under a licensed pharmacist.

After all of the schooling and practice is finished, the student will need to take a number of different tests, depending on the requirements of the state that he will be licensed in. They will determine how much he knows about pharmacy and the laws concerning it in his state.

The outlook for jobs pharmacists is above average through 2018. One of the main reasons for this growth is the growing number of older people within the United States who require medications of some kind. The median annual wage for pharmacists is $106,410. Twenty-two percent of pharmacists nationwide make over $120,000 annually.

It is not easy to receive certification for health care as a pharmacist. To reach this goal, a student must spend 6 years studying and however many hours of practice his state requires. However, that still isn't everything. He must successfully pass every test the state requires to become licensed.


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View this post on my blog: http://travelnursesuccess.com/certification-for-health-care-pharmacist

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