Being a pharmacist takes about 6 years of schooling and involves advising patients and doctors on medications. While the job offers security, respect, and a good salary, it also involves shift work and high liability. Mistakes in filling prescriptions can harm patients and result in lawsuits. Some drug companies also refuse to make certain medications affordable for low-income patients, putting many lives at risk. Overall, being a pharmacist is rewarding but also comes with challenges in ensuring medications are properly administered and widely accessible.

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Working with medications is the best job. Pharmacists get to deal with drugs all the time.
Becoming a pharmacist takes some time and some extra schooling. Despite all of the schooling,
becoming a pharmacist is great because you may be the one to make that medicine to help save
someone’s life. There are many advantages and disadvantages.
To become a pharmacist it usually takes about six years of schooling plus taking an
exam. This is how you become licensed: there are two degrees given to pharmacists such as:
five-year Bachelor of Science and a six-year Doctor of Pharmacy degree. “Since 2005, schools
have to award pharmacists with the Doctor of Pharmacy Degree” (Pharmacists). A pharmacist’s
job is to “advise patients, physicians, and other health practitioners on the selection, dosage,
interactions, and ranging effects of medications”(Pharmacists). They distribute prescription
drugs to patients. “Many different pharmacists specialize in specific drug therapy
areas”(Pharmacists). This is giving different medications to see which one best helps that
patientbetter. It may be a different medicine that works for one patient but doesn’t quite work for
another. They prescribe different medicines to help with depression, stress or other problems.
Most pharmacists work full-time about ten to twelve hour shifts, while you do have that fifteen
percent of pharmacists does work part time. Work conditions for them are excellent. They work
mostly in tidy, neat, and safe areas. There are not many job related injuries. “There are many
different types of pharmacists: hospital pharmacists, who get their information from the patients
chart; clinical pharmacists make sure patients are getting the correct medication therapy; and
nuclear pharmacists, who work with radioactive materials, so this means they have to wear
protective gear” (Pharmacists).
Mr. Milden works atBiogen Idec they make Multiple Sclerosis medicine called Tysabri
and Avonex. He works in Cell Culture. “Cell culture is the process of which cells are grown

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under certain conditions” (Milden). Mr. Milden said, “The best part of his job is when they bring
in the patients that benefit from the medicines the make and these patients get to tell their
stories” (Milden). Being a pharmacist best suite me because I love to be the one making a
difference in at least one person’s life. “The worst part of his job is the hour job to and from
work” (Milden). This might not bother me as much because I love to be behind the wheel. He
works a twelve hour shift and has rotating weekends. This is excellent because you make plenty
of money and you also look forward to that weekend you have coming up to be off. I hope to be
doing this exact work when I get out of college and start internship.
There are advantages of being a pharmacist. One of the advantages of becoming a
pharmacist is the job security. You receive respect from your community. They trust you to get
them the right medicines in the right dosage. If you do everything correctly they will trust you
and continue to come to you. Having someone’s trust is a really big key to having a successful
job in this field. If they continue to come to you the more money you will make. The patient
more than likely will recommend you to someone else if you do your job correctly. The salary is
another advantage. “Money magazine reported the highest salary of $134,000” (Advantages).
They help to cure some of the most infectious diseases, as well as give out antibiotics that kill the
bacteria that cause the disease.
There are many disadvantages of being a pharmacist as well. “The classes needed to
become a pharmacist are very challenging” (Disadvantages). Some are harder than others and not
the easiest to pass. There is little room for advancement. Some people are able to become a
manager, while others go from job to job. You can become close to being involved in
negligence. It’s not hard to get yourself into but it’s hard to beat such a case. You could make a
mistake that may seem tiny but can have a big effect on someone’s life. “This can happen just by

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putting the wrong dosage on the medicine label. Shift-work is a disadvantage, because you may
not get the hours or the days that you need and want” (Disadvantages). That can be a problem for
those who want to be a pharmacist.
Liability happens more in the pharmacy world than people think. More than 1.3 million
people are hurt every year due to medicine related problems, meaning the pharmacist makes
some type of error with their medication. “There are more deaths due to malpractice than AIDS,
breast cancer, or traffic deaths. These errors could cost as much as $29 billion or $72 million for
one case of malpractice. On estimate, a 100,000 people die due to malpractice. There aren’t too
many that go to the hospital to find out if their medicine is the cause of them being sick; but only
about three percent” (Pharmacy). You have legal information for victims of pharmacy
malpractice. “This information includes state laws, state pharmacy board. If you decide to get an
attorney it’s always best to get one who has dealt with a malpractice lawsuit previously”
(Pharmacy). If they’ve never handled one of these types of lawsuits you may not need their help
with your case.
Receiving someone else’s prescription is a form of malpractice. This happens sometimes
depending on if the pharmacy is busy, and the pharmacist may accidentally give the prescription
to the wrong patient. An example of a malpractice pharmacy lawsuit is Chanda Givens, pregnant
who was having problems with her medications. “Chanda Givens wanted to ensure the health of
her unborn child when she became pregnant last February. Her doctor prescribed a prenatal
vitamin, Materna. But instead, a Walgreen's (WAG) store in suburban St. Louis gave her
Matulane, a chemotherapy drug that interferes with cell growth” (Many). This would interfere
with the development of the baby. “According to the federal lawsuit she later filed against
Walgreen's, Givens, then 29, suffered weeks of nausea, vomiting, neurological symptoms…

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dizziness, lightheaded, chills and shortness of breath” (Many). Medical exams showed her fetus
was not developing normally. “She miscarried in early April. Mrs. Givens and her husband later
sued Walgreen's for $75,000” (Many). This was the last bit of information released. Certain
information can be given out about malpractice lawsuits. This is because most of these cases are
confidential and you won’t be able to get any information about that case.
"Drug recalls are when Food and Drug Administration gets large amounts of reports from
doctors regarding to a drug or after the manufacturer realize something went wrong in the
process” (Drug). The drugs are placed in one of the three categories. ”Category I is using or
being in contact with the recalled drug, and may cause problems may even cause death. Category
II is using or being in contact with the drug and isn't too likely to cause problems, and may cause
you to have little problems or ones that can be treated. Category III is using or being in contact
with the drug, but you have little problems" (Drug).“In 2010 there was a recall on Tylenol 8
Hour Caplets because it had an old musty or moldy odor, and it caused people to be nausea,
vomit, and have diarrhea. It had 2, 4, 6 tribromophenol which had gotten into the bottles. This is
used to preserve the wood that the bottles are stored on” (Tylenol). They are supposed to be
announced when there is a drug recall because you may be the one with the contaminated drug.
Drug recalls happen more then we think, so always keep your ears open.
Zolpidem which is generic brand of Ambien, and Pregabalin which is the generic brand
of Lyrica are shown on TV all of the time. "Zolpidem is used to treat those who have a hard time
sleeping and staying asleep"(Zolpidem). It has many side effects such as drowsiness, tiredness,
headache, and dizziness. "Pregabalin is used to relieve pain from damaged nerves"(Pregabalin).
It has many side effects as well. Such as: tiredness, dizziness, headache, and dry mouth. They tell
you to contact your physician if you experience any of these side effects. A pharmacist is

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supposed to be able to answer any questions about side effects if you have any or any other
questions you may have. They probably wouldn’t mind if you had a million questions. This will
help them from making a mistake that can cost them their career. You never know how life
threatening a side effect may be to you or your life.
There are many companies refusing to give many of the medications they have to low
income families. Johnson & Johnson is one of many refusing to allow access to these low
income families to HIV medications. Many drug companies have patent on these
drugs. "Creation in July 2010 of the Medicine Patent Pool- which encourages the pharmaceutical
giants to loosen their grip on licenses so that cheaper, better and more accessible HIV medicines
can be made"(Harvey). This would make it much better for these families unable to purchase the
expensive drugs. Johnson & Johnson knows they are putting many lives at risk, but seems as if it
doesn't bother them at all. "They hold patents on three HIV drugs that are desperately needed in
the Global South"(Harvey). Even though there are other patents from other patents for the fixed
dose needed. So those companies staying away from the pool is being pressured. If the
companies join the pool and prices go from about $1,000 to less than $100. ”Recent studies show
that people with HIV on anti-retro-viral treatments are 96% less likely to pass on the virus, and
around thirty children die every hour as a result of AIDS" (Harvey). It’s a nightmare when the
company that stands for so much positivity can but won't help those in need. Maybe with the
pressure on them they will change their mind about giving up their patent.
In conclusion, being a pharmacist is one of the best jobs available, Do you? Being a
pharmacist comes with many advantages and disadvantages. This career takes some
responsibility and much patience is needed. It’s not the point of getting the job done, but are you
doing your job correctly.

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