Pharmacist

As a Pharmacist, you will provide expert advice to patients and other healthcare professionals. Your role will be to prepare, check, and dispense medication in a licensed pharmacy or clinical setting.

You can work specialise in the following:

Community pharmacy

Get ready to answer medication queries, help patients with common clinical conditions, and dispense prescriptions.

Hospital pharmacy

This will involve taking part in every stage of a patient’s journey in hospital.

Primary care

You will need to make sure that medicines are prescribed safely, cost-effective, and appropriate for the ailment. You will be the primary link between hospital and community pharmacy teams.

Once you graduate, you will have the skills to manage common clinical conditions and offer a service to help people live longer and healthier lives.

Necessary qualifications and skills

To work as a Pharmacist in Scotland, you must be professionally qualified and registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).

Foundation in Pharmacy

Responsibilities

confirm the correct medication for each patient are taking and make sure the dosage is appropriate
prescribe medications to help patients achieve their treatment goals
only supply and use medicines that are within the law, ethics, and local/national guidelines
monitor the effects of treatments to make sure they are safe and effective
provide professional advice about the safe use of medicines

Personal qualities that will help you become a pharmacist

excellent communication skills
good time-management skills
calm and compassionate
problem-solving skills
ability to balance teamwork and leadership

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Working hours

Your standard working week will be around 37 hours over 7 days. This may include a mix of shifts, such as nights, early starts, evenings and weekends.

Salary

The average base salary for a pharmacist in NHS Scotland is £43,000 per year, with a total pay range of £32,000–£52,000 per year (including additional pay). However, salaries can vary depending on training and experience.

Career prospects

You can choose to specialise in an area of the industry that interests you, or you could progress to senior and specialist pharmacist roles. To help you develop into these roles, there are a number of training pathways

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