Ambulatory care pharmacy practice is the provision of integrated, accessible health care services by pharmacists who are accountable for addressing medication needs, developing sustained partnerships with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. This is accomplished through direct patient care and medication management for ambulatory patients, long-term relationships, coordination of care, patient advocacy, wellness and health promotion, triage and referral, and patient education and self-management. The ambulatory care pharmacists may work in both an institutional and community-based clinic involved in direct care of a diverse patient population. Ambulatory care pharmacists work in a variety of environments in both hospital and community-based settings. Each site has its own unique practice style and may focus on primary care or focus on one specific disease state.
Ambulatory Care Practice (PDF)

Pharmacists working with anticoagulation patients relate how pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic principles are used to achieve and maintain anticoagulation control within the patient’s therapy goals. They can better educate many different types of patients on these therapies, such as those with atrial fibrillation or at high risk for stroke, caregivers, and other healthcare professionals regarding safe and optimal anticoagulation therapy as well as educate on the importance of oral anticoagulation adherence and attaining routine blood tests to minimize risks. Pharmacists are also able to provide services in anticoagulation management, such as, in-pharmacy fingers sticks and INR testing, education on patient selfmonitoring/ management, and dose adjustments based established collaborative practice agreements between the physicians at the site and the pharmacist. Through anticoagulation management services, pharmacists provide effective patient care and help ease the complexities of managing drug therapy.
Pharmacists providing anticoagulation management provide diverse services to patients who are taking oral blood thinning agents. Warfarin, the most prescribed oral medication agent for this purpose, must be continuously monitored and managed to ensure patient safety and minimize risk. Pharmacists work with educating many different types of patients on these therapies such as those with atrial fibrillation and at high risk for stroke on the importance of oral anticoagulation adherence and attaining routine blood tests. Pharmacists provide services in anticoagulation management. Examples of services provided by pharmacists include in-pharmacy fingers sticks and INR testing , education on patient self monitoring/management, and adjustment of doses based established collaborative practice agreements between physicians and the pharmacist.
Medication Therapy Management Services

Indian Health Service (IHS) pharmacists practice in a true pharmaceutical care environment where they fully apply their clinical knowledge and skills. IHS has pioneered many progressive and innovative practices over the past thirty years. IHS Pharmacists have helped establish current standards of pharmacy practice by accessing the patient's entire health record including laboratory results, immunization status, and past medical history to assess the appropriateness of drug therapy, manage therapy and disease.
Indian Health Service

Develops and maintains a clinical pharmacy practice that includes: Drug therapy consultations for members and healthcare providers; Participation in drug use initiatives and strategies to promote achieving targeted disease state goals and cost-effective prescribing; Provides continuing education and staff development for pharmacists, physicians, and other health care providers; Provides drug information to health care providers and members; Critically reviews medical literature to provide updates on drug therapy; Documents all clinical interventions and drug information requests using appropriate providers; Demonstrated continued competence in specialty areas of pharmacy practice. Participates in local, regional and interregional committees as appropriate. Precepts pharmacy students and residents. Develops and participates in research activities.

Pharmacy services are especially important in rural communities. Rural areas tend to have an older population with more chronic illnesses, with a greater need for advice from a pharmacist on managing medications. Despite this demand for services, rural pharmacies face many challenges to stay open, including financial pressures and a lack of pharmacists to provide services. Rural residents may also be unable to get transportation to the nearest pharmacy. While the growth of Internet and mail-order pharmacies might suggest that geographical limits to access are no longer a concern, many rural residents do not have the equipment, technical skills, and/or telecommunications accessibility that these services require. As such, rural pharmacies and pharmacists will continue to fill an important and much-needed role in the health of rural people.
Rural Health Information Hub

Managed Care Pharmacy is the development and application of evidence-based medication use strategies that enhance patient and population health outcomes while optimizing health care resources. Managed care pharmacy professionals — including pharmacists, physicians and nurses — typically work for a health plan, pharmacy benefit management companies, accountable care organizations, integrated delivery systems and other managed care organizations. They perform many functions, including: Develop and implement evidence-based clinical programs and medication therapy management (MTM) programs and services, design pharmacy benefits for health plans manage quality and cost effectiveness, communicate and collaborate with patients, prescribers, and pharmacists, and institute practices and processes that detect unsafe medicines to ensure patient safety.
Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy
Managed Care Outpatient Pharmacy

As defined in a consensus definition adopted by the pharmacy profession in 2004, medication therapy management is a service or group of services that optimize therapeutic outcomes for individual patients. Medication therapy management services include medication therapy reviews, pharmacotherapy consults, anticoagulation management, immunizations, health and wellness programs and many other clinical services. Pharmacists provide medication therapy management to help patients get the best benefits from their medications by actively managing drug therapy and by identifying, preventing and resolving medication-related problems.

Why is medication therapy management needed?
Medication-related problems and medication mismanagement are a massive public health problem in the United States. Experts estimate that 1.5 million preventable adverse events occur each year that result in $177 billion in injury and death.

Where is medication therapy management provided?
Pharmacists provide medication therapy management services in all care settings in which patients take medications. While pharmacists in different settings may provide different types of medication therapy management services, the goal of all pharmacists providing medication therapy management is to make sure that the medication is right for the patient and his or her health conditions and that the best possible outcomes from treatment are achieved. Who can benefit from medication therapy management? Anyone who uses prescription medications, non-prescription medications, herbals, or other dietary supplements may potentially benefit from medication therapy management services. People who may benefit the most include those who use several medications, those who have several health conditions, those who have questions or problems with their medications, those who are taking medications that require close monitoring, those who have been hospitalized, and those who obtain their medications from more than one pharmacy.
Medication Therapy Management Services

Pharmacogenomics is a new and emerging medication therapy management service provided by pharmacists in which pharmacists play a role in the interpretation and application of a patient’s genetic information to optimize a patient’s response to medication therapy. In various patient care settings from hospitals to community pharmacies pharmacists are comparing patient-specific treatments based on genetic markers, predicting patients’ response to therapy, dosing medications based on genetic test results, predicting which patients will experience adverse reaction to selected therapies, and making informed recommendations to prescribers on the best treatments for that individual patient that maximize effectiveness while minimizing risk. Pharmacogenomics has also been referred to as “personalized medicine.”
Medication Therapy Management Services - Pharmacogenomics

Pharmacists have the opportunity to play an integral role in an emergency department (ED) setting. The emergency department is a high-risk environment with frequent medication-related errors, creating a unique position for pharmacists to optimize patient care. Pharmacists in the ED may provide both clinical and distributary services. Appropriate patient management in the ED requires critical care and ambulatory care skills, drug information, emergency preparedness and toxicology. This ED rotation provides students with the opportunity to work in a high-stress, high-volume setting with an interdisciplinary medical team to improve patient care.
Emergency Pharmacist (EPh): Role of EPh (PDF presentation)

Cardiology pharmacy practice specializes in the delivery of direct patient care services by pharmacists as members of interprofessional healthcare teams, working to ensure the safe and effective use of medications in patients with cardiovascular disease. These specialists focus on disease prevention and treatment, including evidence-based medication use and related care that improves both short and long-term outcomes for patients. Cardiology specialists practice across the spectrum of care, including ambulatory, acute and intensive care. Pharmacists in this practice review, analyze, and monitor multifaceted clinical information to make reasoned decisions for patients with multiple comorbidities and highly complex medication regimens.
Cardiology and Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Specialty Certifications

Critical care pharmacy services in the ICU have expanded from traditional dispensing responsibilities to being recognized as an essential component of multidisciplinary care for critically ill patients. Augmented by technology and resource utilization, this shift in roles has allowed pharmacists to provide valuable services in the form of assisting physicians and clinicians with pharmacotherapy decision-making, reducing medication errors, and improving medication safety systems to optimize patient outcomes. Documented improvements in the management of infections, anticoagulation therapy, sedation, and analgesia for patients receiving mechanical ventilation and in emergency response help to justify the need for clinical pharmacy services for critically ill patients. Contributions to quality improvement initiatives, scholarly and research activities, and the education and training of interdisciplinary personnel are also valued services offered by clinical pharmacists. Partnering with physician and nursing champions can garner support from hospital administrators for the addition of clinical pharmacy critical care services. The addition of a pharmacist to an interprofessional critical care team should be encouraged as health-care systems focus on improving the quality and efficiency of care delivered to improve patient outcomes.
Pharmacist contributions as members of the multidisciplinary ICU team.

Infectious Diseases Pharmacy practice specializes in the use of microbiology and pharmacology to develop, implement, and monitor drug regimens that incorporate the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of antimicrobials to optimize therapy for patients. The practice requires pharmacists to use clinical and evidence-driven knowledge to develop appropriate antimicrobial therapies to more rapidly resolve infections while decreasing adverse events, complications and resistance. The practice includes direct patient care provided through interprofessional healthcare teams, collaborative leadership of antimicrobial stewardship programs, education of health care providers, preventive services including immunizations, and advocacy for appropriate antimicrobial utilization. Specialty pharmacy practice in infectious diseases uniquely improves public health by optimizing antimicrobial potential in individual patients and narrowing the resistance trends that occur in society by preventing progression of antimicrobial resistance and infectious diseases.
Society of Infections Diseases Pharmacists

Oncology pharmacists have a vital role in the healthcare team. Pharmacists possess specialized knowledge about medications and how they work to fight cancer. They work with the medical and nursing staff to maximize the benefits of drug therapy while trying to minimize toxicities. Pharmacists also help coordinate the complete medication plan, from inpatient chemotherapy infusions to what medications need to be taken at home. Additionally, oncology pharmacists work with the health care team to educate patients about what to expect during treatment and ensure that each medication is given at the right time and dosed correctly. No matter the setting, oncology pharmacists are true experts in the medications used to treat cancer, as well as the medications used to manage complications of cancer and side effects from its treatment. They can explain to patients exactly how their medications should be taken. They can look at a patient’s current list of medications to identify any worrisome drug interactions and then provide guidance on managing these interactions. Oncology pharmacists also explain what side effects may occur and assist in managing these side effects. Finally, oncology pharmacists work closely with a patient’s oncologist to achieve the best possible outcome.
Oncology Pharmacists - QA

Inpatient Pediatrics Pediatric pharmacists counsel children and their parents about medication and write prescriptions as needed. They track their patients' medical progress and make sure that there are no harmful drug interactions or unexpected side effects. Pediatric pharmacists often work in medical facilities like doctor's offices, pharmacies, and hospitals.
Becoming a Pediatric Pharmacist

Nutrition support pharmacists compound the parenteral nutrition formulation prescribed and provide direct patient care. In addition to this, they manage the specialized nutrition support program and improve quality by educating other healthcare professionals, students, patients and caregivers. Many pharmacists also conduct research or participate in research activities.
What is a NSP?

The role of the pharmacist is to assist the neurologist in providing patient-care services. The pharmacist interviews each patient, performs a neurological assessment and mental status evaluation, and orders laboratory tests. Information is recorded by the pharmacist on a history form and a subjective and objective assessment and planning form. The pharmacist presents the findings to the neurologist, and the patient is then interviewed jointly by the pharmacist and the neurologist. Between appointments, the pharmacist follows up on abnormal laboratory test values and informs patients of any necessary dosage adjustments. More time is available for patient care, there has been an increase in the detection of adverse drug reactions and disease states, and record keeping has improved. A pharmacist assumed a primary-care role in a seizure clinic by interviewing and assessing patients, ordering laboratory tests, and participating in the selection and adjustment of anticonvulsant therapy.
Role of a pharmacist in a seizure clinic

Nobody deserves to live with severe pain. Pharmacists can help patients live meaningful and productive lives with adequately managed pain. It is the responsibility of pharmacists to monitor patients’ 4 As: analgesia, activities of daily living, adverse events, and aberrant drug behaviors.8 Proper pain assessment is essential for understanding patients’ pain and providing highly effective treatment while simultaneously minimizing risk. Assessment and proper planning can also help minimize patient risk. There are many additional studies showing the benefits of pharmacist involvement in pain management. The Joint Commission’s Sentinel Event database (2004-2011) indicates that 47% of opioid-related adverse drug events in hospitals that caused harm to patients, including death, were wrong dose medication errors.
Pain Management - the pharmacist's evolving role

Psychiatric pharmacists work in conjunction with psychiatrists and other physicians to coordinate care for patients with mental illnesses or a combination of physical and mental disorders. Patients often take a battery of drugs, such as antidepressants, antipsychotics and antispasmodics, in a normal day. Psychiatric pharmacists understand the interactions of these and other medications. They can guide the physician in choosing products that won't cause potentially hazardous interactions. They're also better-trained in recognizing those adverse reactions when they occur, improving patient care. Pharmacists are also skilled in titration, the calculation of optimal dosages for a particular medication.
Psychiatric Pharmacist Job Description

Transplant pharmacists possess specialized knowledge and experience in the care of transplant patients. Many have completed formal, post-graduate residency training in solid organ transplant practice environments. They possess unique knowledge of the epidemiology and pathophysiology of solid organ transplant; the pharmacotherapy of transplant patients; the application of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacogenomics to transplantation; operational and clinical systems designed to assure medication safety; patient/parent/caregiver counseling to optimize medication adherence; and long term disease prevention and health maintenance in patients receiving life-long immunosuppression. They also contribute to, and evaluate, biomedical literature pertinent to immunology and transplant pharmacotherapy.
Description of Specialty Practice

Spinal cord injuries require a comprehensive approach to pharmacologic treatment in the acute setting to manage secondary complications, which presents unique and challenging pharmacologic issues that the pharmacist can address as part of the healthcare team. Major areas for treatment and management are respiratory problems, pneumonia, neurogenic shock, autonomic dysreflexia, thromboembolism, pain, and spasticity. These pharmacists need to have an understanding of the consequences of spinal cord injuries to accurately manage the patient’s medications and improve their quality of life.
Acute hospital management of spinal cord injuries in adults

The functions of pharmacists in a clinical toxicology consultation service are described. Pharmacists provided three basic services in conjunction with poisonings treated by the emergency department of a children's hospital: (1) assisted with obtaining the history and assessment of the toxicologic proglems, (2) recommended a plan for rational management, and (3) discussed poison prevention with the parents of the victims. Pharmacists were consulted for 189 poisoning cases over a six-month period; 80% of the cases were attended at the bedside and the remainder were monitored by telephone. Drugs were involved in 58% of the patient exposures. Median time for the pharmacist to reach the emergency room after the patient's arrival was 5 to 10 minutes. Physicians and nurses rated the pharmacists' contributions favorably. These results suggest that pharmacists can play an important role in clinical toxicology.
Clinical toxicology consultation by pharmacists

Transition of care involves the coordination and continuity of health care as patients transfer between different settings. The transition between inpatient and community settings in particular is prone to medication errors related to a lack of communication between health care providers, missed patient follow-up, inadequate patient education, incomplete medication reconciliation, and the absence of patient involvement in medication management. Inconsistent care coordination contributes to the readmission of 20% of patients within 30 days of discharge.1 Interest in preventing readmissions has grown since the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has imposed financial penalties on hospitals with high 30-day readmission rates. Pharmacists can and should take a more active role in improving medication safety during care transitions; this could lead to a reduction in hospital readmissions and improved quality of care. Several initiatives have been described to improve the transition of care, many of which involve pharmacists. Medication reconciliation, medication therapy management, and patient education form the core of pharmacist activities that may improve the care provided during transitions.
Transition of Care: Pharmacist Help Needed

The core roles that pharmacy administrators often play are leading teams or departments of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, advocating for the growth and development of pharmacist–provided services, liaising with senior leadership and stakeholders on behalf of practicing pharmacists, and developing pharmacy practitioners, clinicians, and leaders. Common pharmacy administration positions include operations and clinical coordinators or managers, pharmacy directors, as well as regional and corporate pharmacy leaders.
There are many unique attributes that pharmacy administrators possess, and there are residency programs that are focused on building these skills and behaviors. These residencies can be either 1- or 2-year programs, and some are coupled with a Master’s degree in business, pharmacy administration, health administration, or similar programs. The skills and knowledge that you can expect to gain in a pharmacy administration residency include communication skills, an understanding of legal and regulatory issues, financial management skills, leadership and management skills, and continuous quality improvement methods.
Pharmacy administration career choice

Prepares, compounds, manufactures, and dispenses investigational drugs and materials issued by the Investigational Drug Service for ongoing research studies. Manages required record-keeping, shipping, ordering, and inventory activities. Ensures the accuracy and integrity of products prior to their delivery to trial subjects.
Job description - pharmacy administration

Informatics pharmacists are the ideal candidates for designing and implementing systems that reduce medication errors, medication cost, and medication mismanagement. It is important for someone pursuing a career in pharmacy informatics to be a very detail-oriented person and one who can listen to and understand what the user is asking for. The key is learning to identify where problems exist, knowing what the current process is, and enhancing patient care and services without negatively affecting the current workflow. Realizing the usefulness of having a system where information and knowledge are readily available to the user is essential.
Pharmacy informatics: New role for pharmacists

Roles or duties of the operating room (OR) pharmacist include appropriate drug management, achieving medical economic benefits, mixing injectable drugs, risk management, and provision of drug information. Some major drug information required by the physicians and nurses in the operating room is usage, dosage, stability, incompatibility, pharmacological effects and adverse effects of drugs. These pharmacists can also play a key role by initiating new processes and standardizing anesthesia drug trays, which help to decrease medication errors, improve organization of anesthesia medications, and encourage safe injection practices. Operating room pharmacists are an important asset to the perioperative team as they help to reduce the occurrence of adverse events by reviewing preoperative medications for patient-drug allergies, weight-based, renal, or hepatic dosage adjustments. They can help with hospital compliance of surgical care improvement project measures and monitor other regulatory compliance processes. OR pharmacists also have a major part in managing narcotic dispensing and reconciliation processes that inhibit drug diversion.
The role of the pharmacist in the management of the operating room

Community pharmacy is often seen as an excellent opportunity to conduct basic preliminary health assessments of patients. Quick evaluation of symptoms, laboratory values, and other indicators can be helpful in directing patients’ therapy, especially as the community pharmacists’ role in overall patient care continues to expand, such as by providing immunizations and medication therapy management (MTM) services.
Chain Community Pharmacy

Pharmacists who work in specialty disease states, such as oncology, transplant, inflammatory conditions, or infectious disease, are trained to be experts on complex drug therapy regimens that usually require closer involvement with patient and providers. Specialty pharmacists may use tools to monitor and improve adherence, may offer more extensive and recurring educational and counseling sessions to improve patients’ understanding and adherence of their therapy regimen, and may provide resources for additional financial and emotional support. Pharmacists must effectively communicate with prescribers and patients to ensure optimum care.
Pharmacists offer many services outside of dispensing medications. They are active members in their communities and can be certified to administer immunizations such as flu shots and travel vaccines. Pharmacists help manage chronic disease states, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, by providing screenings to evaluate patient risk factors, make suggestions for medication therapy, and provide education on diet and lifestyle improvements.
What is the role of a pharmacist in a specialty pharmacy

Centralized Pharmacy Practice (Mail Order) The primary duty of a mail order pharmacist is to provide customers with their prescription medications -- filling new or one-time prescriptions, as well as managing any refills as needed. Mail order pharmacists can receive requests for prescriptions via mail, email, fax or telephone.
Mail service pharmacy has changed over the past decade with more third-party insurance organizations, public and private employers, and Internet pharmacy service expansion. Insurance coverage for many plans includes a mail service option, which may reduce the overall co-payment for the patient and can provide an extended supply of medication (up to 3 months). While, historically, mail service pharmacy had been utilized purely for medication dispensing, today’s mail service pharmacist can be involved in broader patient care.
Profile of Mail Order Service
Job description of mail order pharmacist

Compounding pharmacy may be defined as practicing the duties of a pharmacist with an emphasis on preparing customized dosage forms and/or prescription medications to meet an individual patient's or physician's needs. ... Today, compounding is also addressing the needs of veterinarians, dentists, and their patients.
Compounding Pharmacy

There are two main types of environments where nuclear pharmacists are employed. Institutional nuclear pharmacy is usually linked to a major medical center/hospital where preparations are made onsite. This is in contrast to the commercial centralized nuclear pharmacy where radiopharmaceuticals are prepared and then delivered to the hospital and/or clinic. While the quantity of radiopharmaceuticals used is relatively small in both settings, nuclear pharmacists must complete additional training in radiation safety regarding the compounding, preparation, and delivery of radioactive materials.
Nuclear Pharmacy

Pharmacists working in industry are often referred to as pharmaceutics experts. These experts will often determine how to best manufacture a drug on a large scale once it is approved. Issues such as viscosity, temperature degradation, storage, and efficacy are all components manufacturers must keep in mind to not only be profitable, but safe. Pharmacists are uniquely qualified to provide insight into all of these topics. Often considered a math heavy field.

Pharmacists contribute to research, and their expertise in formulation development is of particular relevance to the biological availability of active ingredients. Manufacture and quality assurance: The pharmacist’s broad knowledge of the pharmaceutical sciences ensures an integrated approach to quality assurance (including good manufacturing practice) through the validation of the various stages of production and the testing of products before release.
Drug information: The pharmacist has the knowledge and expertise to provide detailed information on medicines to members of the health professions and the public. Also, pharmacists provide an information service within the company.
Patent applications and drug registration: The pharmacist is ideally qualified to understand and collate the diverse information required for patent and authorization submissions.
Management: The inclusion of pharmacists in all levels of management promotes an ethical approach within management policies.

The pharmacist has the knowledge of drugs and health care provision required to facilitate collaboration between companies, health professionals and governments in relation to clinical trials and surveillance.
Essential Medicines and Health Products Information Portal

Pharmacists could participate in research from pre-clinical studies through phase I-II trials of the drug development process. They would assume the position of a clinical research scientist where they will be implementing and managing clinical trials, authoring study protocols, selecting primary investigators and trial sites, ensuring proper data collection and interpretation, determining the best dose of the medication for later studies, reporting serious adverse events and publishing clinical study reports and manuscripts.
Essential Medicines and Health Products Information Portal

Pharmacists could participate in research from phase II and III human trials of the drug development process. They would assume the position of a clinical trial leader. A pharmacist is well suited for this role due to their extensive knowledge in pharmaceutical product utilization, treatment modalities, pharmacokinetic/dynamic relationships and drug-drug interactions.
Essential Medicines and Health Products Information Portal

Part of the process of any drug development is the clinical trials. Often these involve doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. The pharmacist is responsible for the storage and delivery of the new drug, but should be well versed on the literature of the new product to ensure the patient is as safe as possible while the trial is ongoing. Pharmacists will often consult with companies and doctors on the administration of the trials and what the results imply.
Essential Medicines and Health Products Information Portal

Medical Science Liaison is a field-based representative whose mission is to foster collaborative relationships with opinion leaders and to facilitate the exchange of unbiased scientific information between the medical community and the company. Pharmacists in industry are employed in a variety of positions. Although practice titles, descriptions, and prerequisites differ by company, the educational requirements for these positions are often similar. Most pharmacists in industry work in the following areas: research and development (addressed in a separate profile), all phases of drug product development, sales and marketing, corporate administration, all phases of clinical trials research, drug information, manufacturing, regulatory affairs, health policy, scientific/professional affairs (e.g., professional relations, professional education, medical science liaison, medical information), and quality control.
Medical Science Liaison Profile

It should come as no surprise that pharmaceuticals in the United States are a heavily regulated industry. Everything from the state Board of Pharmacy to the FDA is involved in making sure that pharmacists are providing the best quality care, and that drugs are both safe and efficacious. Both the BoP and the FDA, as well as many other regulatory bodies, employ pharmacists to regulate the industry. Pharmacists, with their extensive drug knowledge, are in a unique position within these bodies that other professions just can’t quite match.

Pharmacists in this role will use their clinical knowledge to develop content for healthcare related publications, meetings, and digital media for an array of audiences, including healthcare professionals and consumers. Pharmacists will plan and implement continuing education programs and materials, and collaborate and network with key opinion leaders from industry, managed care, and academia to create promotional and educational programs. While working at a hospital, a doctor or pharmacist will often come across a question where the answer is not easily accessible. Often, these professionals will contact the manufacturer for specific information, or for access to trial information that only they would have. Given the nature of these questions, a medical professional is needed to answer to make sure the information provided is not only relevant but accurate.

Pharmacists have experience dealing with clinical and economic data and can assist in the analysis of a drug product’s prospective and retrospective clinical data, competitive pricing and quality of life and quality-adjusted life-years data. Therefore, a pharmacist can develop tools to help guide a product’s pricing.

Pharmacists in this area evaluating a product’s safety profile throughout its development and into its post-marketing stage, participate in clinical development team discussions relating to adverse events, integrate information from pre-clinical safety trials to ongoing trials and contributing to ongoing safety documents submitted to health authorities. In this role, pharmacists have the ability to project their broad knowledge of pharmaceutical products onto study findings and to help guide compound development. Ultimately, a pharmacist can determine a drug’s maximally tolerated dose or appropriate populations to be studied in safe and objective manner.

A pharmacist could enter the field of Market Research/Business Analytics to help develop a clear and targeted message to appropriate physicians, patients, and third party payors. Pharmacists in these positions will analyze past and present market data to monitor current and future trends, forecast market trends, create patient population evaluation models and identify unmet medical needs. Additionally, pharmacists can also become members of a Managed Markets group. Here they help develop strategies to evaluate the value of a product and to help optimize reimbursement from third-party payors or insurance companies.

It should come as a surprise to no one that the sales team is a major force within any company. However, when we are talking about pharmaceuticals, doctors and other pharmacists often ask for very specific and detailed information. They would rather this information come from another professional who they can trust and who understands the literature. Companies have begun hiring pharmacists to take a lead role in a sales team, traveling to different hospitals and informing professionals about the uses of their drugs and how it can benefit their patients.

Often requiring a law degree, pharmacists are often able to become experts on patent law when it comes to new drugs or altering an existing drug in order to keep the patent active. Topics such as route of administration, efficacy, safety, and the biosimilar nature of the drug in question are all topics that pharmacists are unique experts on and are in large demand by companies.

Work at the state or federal level to advance a company’s invested interests or to advance the profession. Lobbyists are informed individuals or experts that Congress and Governors rely on to provide a unique outlook on the details of upcoming law, such as provider status or various drug laws. As pharmacists, we are in a unique position to understand the impacts of pharmalogics and advocate for our profession to the benefit of our patients and our fellow professionals.