Pharmacy Profession Pathway

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Contrary to what you may think, developing your

résumé is not the first step in searching for a job.

Before you even put pen to paper, you need to careful-

ly assess your goals, strengths, values, and preferences

to gain a clear perspective on where you stand now

and want to go in the future. Unfortunately, many

people put more thought into planning their next

vacation than mapping out their career. Whether you

are a pharmacy technician seeking to become a phar-

macist, a recent graduate seeking an entry-level posi-

tion, or a seasoned pharmacist looking for a new chal-

lenge, it pays to think through your goals—and then

prepare a résumé designed to realize them.

The Career PathwayEvaluation Program

You may believe it’s easy to select a career option in

the pharmacy profession. But if you do a lit tle research,

you will find that the career possibilities go far beyond

the traditional areas of community pharmacy or hospi-

tal practice. Table 1.1, taken from the American

Pharmacists Association’s Career Pathway EvaluationProgram for Pharmacy Professionals, lists the many

directions pharmacy professionals can follow.

The Career Pathway Evaluation Program identifies

25 career options ranging from academia to regulatory

affairs.1 Pharmacy schools use this program to help

students make informed career decisions. Individual

pharmacists investigating new options find it helpful,

too. You can access the program, which includes exer-

cises and a workbook, from the American Pharmacists

Association’s Web site at www.aphanet.org/pathways/

pathways.html

Critical Job Factors

For each career option, the Career Pathway

Evaluation Program details 34 critical job factors that

you can use to evaluate which paths best suit you. The

box on page 5 lists these critical factors. They repre-

sent six distinct areas including: (1) future innovation

and job fulfillment, (2) translating knowledge to phar-

macy practice, (3) relational, (4) workload, (5) non-

salary compensation, and (6) freedom.

Reviewing these factors will give you an idea of howmuch patient counseling, professional interaction,

problem solving, multitasking, thinking innovatively,

applying scientific or medical knowledge, and manag-

ing a business is involved in each career path. The

summaries also cover such matters as work schedule,

the amount of pressure involved, job security, prestige,

income, and opportunities for advancement.

You should th ink about all these things carefully as

you look at potential career choices.

Many excellent books, workshops, and career coun-

seling centers can also help you. Start by calling yourlocal community college or a nearby university to find

out about career development workshops.

Self-Assessment Survey Tool

The Career Pathway Evaluation Program has a con-

venient self-assessment survey tool that takes just 20

to 30 minutes. Upon completion, you will receive a set

of scores with your possible career matches based on an

assessment of all 34 critical factors. A second set of

scores will outline which critical factors you consider

most important . Each score links to a specific pharma-cy career profile that contains a background

description of the position, an insider’s per-

spective about what aspects of the position

they find most and least appealing, and a

brief commentary about how pharmacists in

this career option rated each of the individ-

ual critical factors.

The program offers additional insight about

career planning through a series of interactive

Chapter 1

Assessing Your Career Goals

T O ACCESS THE AP H A C AREER P ATHWAY E VALUATION

P ROGRAM , DESIGNED TO HELP YOU IDENTIFY THE

PHARMACY CAREER OPTION APPROPRIATE FOR YOU , GO

TO WWW .APHANET .ORG / PATH WAYS / PATH WAYS .HTML



group exercises. Even without the benefit of a

group, you can complete the exercises on your

own to enhance your planning process. Some

of the components include an assessment of

what you know about career choices, your

decision making style, and the assignment of

weights and values to each of the critical fac-

tors. The latter process allows you to completea decision matrix that provides a reasonable

basis for comparing career options.

You will benefit from the time you take to

complete the survey and explore the exercis-

es. For prospective students or pharmacy

technicians, the program will provide you

with a thorough overview of career options as

well as information about whether your per-

sonal strengths match those outlined for

pharmacists in a variety of practice settings.

For pharmacy students and new graduates,the program offers an opportunity to assess

which career options best suit your personal

interests and strengths. Also, it will help

detect areas that need strengthening with

post-graduate study or training experiences.

For practicing pharmacists, the program offers

the ability to prioritize your professional

needs and relate them to practice areas which

will most likely satisfy these needs. This may

require a change in practice settings or even

additional education and training.

Thinking Globally

Despite the practice setting, the health

care employee marketplace has changed so

markedly in the past decade that pharmacists

must meet entirely new expectations. In her

book Career Intelligence, Barbara Moses lists

12 rules to follow to achieve career success in

today’s world. The box on the following page

outlines these rules. Successful workers in

the “new economy”—an environment char-

acterized by technology, information, and

reengineering—think globally, remain sensi-

tive to diverse cultures, and have powerful

communication skills.

COMMUNITY

Chain

Apothecary

Clinical*

Consultation

Franchise

Home Health Care

Long Term Care

Medical Group Affiliate

Managed Care

Clinical*

Independent

Clinical*

Compounding Specialist

Consultation

Franchise

Home Health Care

Long Term Care

Medical Group Affiliate

Office Based Practice

INSTITUTION

Hospital (University,

Community,Government)

Administration

Ambulatory Care

Clinical*

Distribution andControl

Nuclear

Long Term Care

Veterinary

CONSULTING

Clinical*

Consumer

Home Health Care

JCAHO

Long Term Care

Managed CareManagement/Resource

Evaluation

Medicare/Medicaid

REGULATORY

State

Board of Pharmacy

Consumer Affairs

Department of Health

Legislature

Medicare/Medicaid

Federal

Alcohol and Drug Abuse

Congress

Mental Health

Armed Services Drug Enforcement

Agency

Department of Health &Human Services

Food & DrugAdministration

Health Care FinancingAdministration

Indian/Public HealthService

Veterans Administration

INDUSTRY

Administration

Professional Relations

Business

Management

Marketing

Sales

Research and Development

Administration

Basic Research

Biological SciencesClinical Research

Medicinal Chemistry

Pharmaceuticals

Pharmacognosy

Technical/Scientific

Drug Information

Manufacturing

Post MarketingSurveillance

Product Quality Control

Regulatory Affairs

ACADEMIA

Administration

Biological Sciences

Clinical*

Continuing Education

Experiential Education

Medicinal Chemistry

Pharmaceutics

Pharmacognosy

Pharmacology

Pharmacotherapy

PharmacyAdministration

Pharmacy Practice

Pharmacoeconomics

OTHER

Association Management

Automation Technology

Computer Technology

Contract ResearchOrganization

Mail Service

Public Policy and Law

Publishing andCommunications

Third Party Insurance

United StatesPharmacopeia

Wholesaler

* Clinical areas of focus include:

Ambulatory Care

Cardiology

Critical Care

Dermatology

Drug Information

Emergency Medicine

Endocrinology

Gastroenterology

GeriatricsHematology

Immunology

Infectious Diseases

Internal Medicine

Intravenous Therapy

Neurology

Nutrition

Oncology

Pain Management

Pediatrics

Pharmacokinetics

Poison ControlPsychiatry

Rheumatology

Substance Abuse

Surgery

Toxicology

Transplantation

Adapted from APhA Career Pathway Evaluation Program for Pharmacy Professionals,American Pharmacists Association.

Table 1.1

Career Options for Pharmacy Professionals

2



Chapter 1: Assessing Your Career Goals 3

Developing aCareer Object ive

Identifying a specific area of interest within thepharmacy profession will help you communicate

to others exactly what you want and enhance

your chances for success. You can state th is

area of interest at the beginning of a résumé or

curriculum vitae (CV) in the form of a “career

objective.” Because a career objective is a long-

range plan, consider using the term “objective” by

itself when your wording in this section is linked

specifically to the position you wish to fill.

Pinpointing Your Objective

To pinpoint your objective, systematically assess

your strengths, abilities, knowledge, skills, inter-

ests, and values. You also need to evaluate career

options to identify possible matches for you. A few

possible career alternatives you might include in

your objective are:

• To obtain a pharmacy technician position.

• To obtain a pharmacy intern position.

• To obtain a pharmacy practice residency

position.• To obtain a pharmacy fellowship

position.

• To obtain a pharmacist position.

• To obtain a pharmacy management

position.

• To obtain a clinical pharmacist position.

• To obtain a faculty position.

TWELVE RULES FOR CAREER SUCCESS

1. Ensure your marketability by building effectivenetworks of colleagues.

2. Think globally. Today, geographic borders havedisappeared and the entire world represents a

potential market. Your ability to interact withother cultures comfortably will give you a distinctadvantage.

3. Develop effective communication skills so you canget your message across in powerful and persuasiveways. This includes conventional communicationapproaches, such as graphics and the Internet.

4. Commit yourself to life-long learning. Employerslike applicants who take personal responsibility forlearning, both within and outside the workenvironment.

5. Understand business trends facing the profession,including economic, demographic, and culturalfactors.

6. Prepare for areas of competence rather thanmerely focusing on routine tasks and duties. Youmust develop skill sets and knowledge systems thatyou can transfer to a variety of different settings.

7. Seek to understand the profession’s future bymonitoring demographic, economic, and culturaltrends.

8. Manage career effectiveness by building financial

independence and soundly handling personalfinances.

9. Discard the traditional notion of “career ladders”and envision a lattice instead, since you may needto move laterally to achieve upward mobility.

10. When deciding whether to pursue specialization orfollow the path of a generalist, conduct an objectiveassessment of personal goals. For example, doyou want to focus on technical aspects of theprofession?Are you interested in clinical research?Do you hope to expand your credentials?

11. Learn to manage your time effectively and knowyour priorities and limitations.

12. Take note of your successes and avoid dwelling onyour mistakes or shortcomings. Instead documentyour achievements so that you have a record ofthe many things you do well.

Adapted from: Moses B. Career Intelligence . San Francisco:

Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc; 1998.

SAMPLE OBJECTIVES

• A pharmacy internship position that

will enhance my education and

practice experience.

• A tenure-eligible faculty position in

pharmaceutics.

• To join a health-system pharmacy

where I can apply my knowledge and

expertise as a drug information

specialist.



Keep in mind that your career goals will

probably change over t ime. You will contin-

ually update your résumé, CV, or portfolio to

reflect your current situation throughout

your life. No matter what stage of life you’ve

reached, it’s worthwhile to step back and ask

yourself, Am I achieving what I want? Does

my job contribute to, or detract from, myhappiness? Am I comfortable with my career

path, or do I want to change career direc-

tions? Do I need to develop new skills? Am I

doing all I can to maintain and strengthen

my knowledge? If the answers you come up

with lead you to seek new opportunit ies, hav-

ing a current résumé, CV, or portfolio brings

a big advantage.

Reference

1. APhA Career Pathway Evaluation

Program for Pharmacy Professionals.

Washington D.C.: American

Pharmacists Association; 2005.

Chapter 1: Assessing Your Career Goals 5

CRITICAL JOB FACTORS

The Career Pathway Evaluation Program for Pharmacy

Professionals lists the following critical factors you can

use to evaluate which career choices are best for you.

• Interaction with public

• Conducting physical assessment and/or interpretinglaboratory values

• Continuity of relationships

• Helping people

• Collaboration with other professionals

• Educating other professionals

• Variety of daily activities

• Multiple task handling

• Problem solving

• Focus of expertise• Innovative thinking

• Applying scientific/medical knowledge

• Creating new knowledge by conducting research

• Management/supervisory

• Pressure/stress

• Work schedule

• Part-t ime opportunities

• Leisure/family time

• Job security• Opportunities for advancement

• Opportunities for leadership development

• Community prestige

• Professional involvement

• Income

• Benefits (vacation, health, retirement)

• Geographic location

• Autonomy

• Self-worth• Future focus

• Professional prestige

• Unique practice environment

• Advanced degree

• Entrepreneurial opportunity

• Additional training

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