Scope of Pharmacy Career in India

Posted by srisaiCh on November 11th, 2019

Did you know that the scope of pharmacy isn't limited to hospital pharmacy? Students of pharmacy colleges can dream big enough because, in the field of pharmacy, the sky is the limit for career options. Read on to know many potential options for Pharmacy career in India that are possible with a pharmacy degree.

Academia

Pharmacists who enjoy teaching students may benefit from a career in academia in many deemed pharmacy colleges. The role has evolved over the years so that it isn’t necessarily confined to a classroom setting but can extend to clinical practice as well. It’s worth noting that these positions are often best suited to those who have extensive experience in the industry so they can teach from experience and example.

Ambulatory care

Ambulatory care refers to patients who are treated outside of inpatient hospital settings. This role requires pharmacists to provide care to patients transitioning from the hospital to home or to another healthcare facility.

Association management

Association management careers require pharmacists to use their experience and knowledge to advance the scope of Pharmacy in government relations, clinical education, professional development, and professional advocacy.

Chain community pharmacy manager

Chain community pharmacy managers manage the staff, clinical services, inventory management, and business development of a chain of pharmacies. Their responsibilities also include training and recruitment of new pharmacists and resolving insurance issues.

Clinical pharmacist

Clinical pharmacists work with physicians, patients, and other health professionals to ensure that medications produce the best possible health outcomes. They frequently interact with other providers to coordinate care. Clinical pharmacists frequently have a combination of clinical experience with a demonstrated knowledge of medication therapy.

Community pharmacist

Pharmacy career in India for community pharmacists requires them to dispense prescriptions and over-the-counter medications in a variety of settings like retail pharmacies and healthcare facilities. They help patients avoid negative interactions and sometimes practice compounding in the case of customized medicine. Perhaps most importantly, community pharmacists interact with patients to answer questions, give advice, and solve problems related to their health.

Consultant pharmacist

Consultant pharmacists specialize in drug therapies for the prevention of drug therapy related problems. Traditionally, they review medical records and drug regimens for patients in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and adult day health care programs. Most recently, the practice has expanded to serve individual patients.

Clinical research 

Clinical research organizations provide a variety of pharmaceutical services to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Services may include formulation, data entry and management, project management, statistical analysis, and a variety of other services often related to new drug applications. The position relies heavily on research in a fast-paced setting and provides an opportunity to influence future policy decisions.

Financial sector

Pharmacists learn valuable analytical skills throughout their education, making them good candidates to transition to the financial sector with roles within financial planning, prescription savings, and other sectors that demand attention to detail.

Entrepreneur

As pharmacy owners, independent pharmacists practice as both medical practitioners and business owners by providing services within medication therapy management, compounding, and durable medical equipment.

Industrial pharmacist

Industrial pharmacists create and market medicines that help millions of people. They are in-charge along the whole process of manufacturing medicines, working from initial concept to marketing, and public launch to sales. While some work in lab roles, others work in regulatory affairs and business development.

Informatics

Informatics seeks to use data, information, and knowledge to improve human health and the delivery of healthcare. The emerging field combines elements of computer science and technology with a knowledge of medicine to advance public health and patient care.

Scientific writer

Many pharmacists write about the medical field for journals and online publications, which led to many organizations employing scientific writers to help with their content, while others engage freelance writers. To be as competitive as possible, study a well-rounded variety of topics that make your work relevant to a broad spectrum of users, including technical and non-technical audiences.

Legal

Compliance is one of the fastest-growing branches of healthcare, with compliance officers helping organizations adhere to laws as well as internal policies and procedures. Additionally, pharmaceutical companies often require the services of patent attorneys to help them introduce new drugs or enhance current ones.

Medical sales & marketing

Medical sales professionals sell & market medical products to doctors, scientists and organizations like hospitals and clinics. Though technology and automation have changed the healthcare industry, this field depends largely on relationships and face-to-face interactions. Those who choose a career in medical sales must invest significant time and energy to master the job and be financially successful.

Regulatory pharmacy

Regulatory pharmacists oversee the regulations and guidelines that regulate clinical trials and other aspects of human research. They anticipate and study how regulations, laws, and guidelines impact patients and they ensure that clinical trials of new products adhere to government guidelines. The field deals largely with emerging issues and indirectly impacts public safety.

Research and development

Research and development pharmacists research the ways of developing new drugs as well as alternative indications for existing ones in collaboration with problem-solving skills. Those in the field consider it to be stimulating work with a variety of tasks with indirect impacts on patients.

Never before in the history of the pharmacy profession has the scope of Pharmacy widened to such an array of career opportunities as they do now. The reasons for this optimistic situation have to do with supply and demand in areas as diverse as drug discovery, drug development, clinical trials, drug approval, drug manufacturing, drug marketing, drug metabolism, drug law, public policy, and outcomes evaluation, to mention just a few career options. Among pharmacists currently in practice, the remarkable amount of pharmacy graduates from a wide variety of pharmacy colleges found satisfying careers in an independent, small chain, large chain, mass merchandiser, health maintenance organisation-operated, clinic, hospital/health system, nuclear, armed services/government, academia, and others. Pharmacy career in India as a profession is in high demand and is set to expand exponentially in terms of potential jobs, career paths, and work activities. The above-listed career options are just the beginning of what’s in for the scope of Pharmacy. Thus, pharmacy colleges must provide future pharmacists and pharmacy students make career decisions based on the most up-to-date information available. To help students learn about career options that fit their interests and skills, Mother Teresa college has a career counselling & development team. We also help our students with thorough preparation for placements in a wide variety of reputed pharmacy companies.

Today’s pharmacists can take a patient’s blood pressure and help interpret the results. Increasingly, they can offer educational programs about certain diseases, such as diabetes. Pharmacy career in India had undergone a major shift from product-centred to a patient-centred profession. Traditionally pharmacists focused on the right drug product to the right patient at the right time. Today’s pharmacists believe in patient-centred care, rethinking if patients need the drug or which is the best and safest one. Pharmacy colleges prepare students with adequate knowledge of dosages based on a person’s age, weight, and medical history. Today’s pharmacists help patients better their health, rather than simply recommending or dispensing a product for a given ailment. Just as pharmacists have differing roles and responsibilities, they can also work in varied settings like emergency rooms, nursing homes, insurance companies, or the government, while some may choose academia, helping educate the next generation of pharmacists. While it’s not a requirement, the chances of moving into a management position in any pharmacy or health-related organization are enhanced with a graduate degree like a master’s in business administration (M.B.A.) or even a law degree. So, Pharmacy career in India is bigger than ever. We hope this article will help you make the right career choice that suits your ambitions. Good luck students!