Becoming
a Pharmacist
Early
Preparation
For many years,
Jaclynn Davis Wallette, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa,
served as coordinator of the Native Americans in Pharmacy
Program (NAPP) at North Dakota State University (NDSU). She
feels that high school sophomores and juniors who want to
become pharmacists should be sure to take courses in
chemistry, biology, and other sciences. They should also
take courses in higher-level math, including calculus.
"Reading and writing skills are also necessary." she says.
"I recommend that students do some volunteer work in a
pharmacy setting, but new regulations are making that more
difficult than in the past.”
In college,
some pharmacy applicants major in chemistry. However,
pharmacy students come from a variety of educational
backgrounds. The specific undergraduate classes required
for admission into a pharmacy program vary widely from one
school to school, so check the requirements of the schools
that you are considering. See the American Association of Colleges of
Pharmacy website.
Doctor
of Pharmacy Degree - PharmD
The PharmD
degree has replaced the bachelor of pharmacy degree.
Earning a PharmD requires at least 6 years of study after
high school.
Pharmacists who
earn a PharmD typically have at least two years of specific
pre-professional, undergraduate coursework followed by four
academic years (or three calendar years) of professional
study. Some schools accept students directly from high
school for both the pre-professional and professional
components of the program. Other schools accept students
after they complete their college course prerequisites. A
bachelor's degree is not required for applying to most
pharmacy schools.
Post-Professional
Graduate Study
After
graduating from pharmacy school, an increasing number of
pharmacists are participating in residency programs.
Residency programs are offered in hospitals, community
pharmacies and some specialized facilities, such as the
Indian Health Service. The residency programs can be in
general pharmacy practice, clinical pharmacy practice or
other areas, depending on the pharmacist’s career goals.
Most often, pharmacists need to complete a residency
program if they want to work in a hospital pharmacy or
serve as a faculty member in a pharmacy school.
Pharmacists can also earn a Master of Science (MS) or
doctor of philosophy (PhD) degree in one of the
pharmaceutical sciences described above. To qualify for
entry into these programs, applicants need a degree at
least at the bachelor’s level. The degree doesn’t need to
be in pharmacy. The research degrees (MS, PhD) don’t
qualify students to be licensed pharmacy practitioners.
Parts
of this article were originally published in the Autumn
2004 issue of
Winds of Change. (The cover
artist is Clarrisa Hudson, Tlingit.)