Community Pharmacist
What the work is
Dispenses prescribed pharmaceuticals to the public, educates customers on health promotion, disease prevention and the proper use of medicines, and sells non-prescription medicines and related goods in a community pharmacy.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Reviews prescriptions and patients' medicine histories to ensure optimal dosage, methods of administration and drug compatibility before dispensing
- Prepares or supervises the preparation and labelling of liquid medicines, topical medicines and other medications to fill prescriptions
- Provides guidance to patients on medications, drug incompatibility, contraindications and lifestyle measures to prevent and assist with management of medication and medical conditions
- Supplies non-prescription medicines, and diagnostic and therapeutic aids
- Maintains records of the supply of prescription medicines, controlled drugs and other restricted substances
- Advises prescribers on therapeutic suitability, drug incompatibility and contraindications of medicines
- Stores and preserves vaccines, serums and other drugs subject to deterioration
- Prescribes and administers medications and treatments within the scope of pharmacy practice compounds, and manufactures medicines when preparations are not available
- Supervises and coordinates the work of pharmacy technicians, pharmacy interns and pharmacy sales assistants
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a community pharmacy on a busy suburban main street. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A regular customer tells you the advice you gave last week actually worked
- You catch a problem with a prescription before it reaches the patient
- A nervous new parent leaves confident about what to give their child
Hard days
- A queue out the door while a phone rings and a prescription needs checking
- A customer who is angry because a medicine is out of stock
- Having to say no to someone who is sure they know what they need
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 263431, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.