Career Focus: Pharmacy

Pharmacists are the people you deal with on a day-to-day basis when you get a prescription from your doctor. They are the people who make sure to give you the medication that is prescribed. The took a look at pharmacy as a career…

Pharmacy is one of those broad fields but in general it can defined as the custodian of medicine which involves manufacturing, production, dispensing and monitoring of medications. Pharmacists are also known as chemists or druggist professionals that practice in pharmacy, in the field of health sciences focusing on the safe and effective use of medication.

Most people think of a pharmacist’s role simply being the person who stands behind the counter filling prescriptions at the pharmacy, but there are actually many other roles pharmacists fill in different healthcare settings from hospitals to offices to long-term care facilities.

According to Sonja Nell, a pharmacist from the Olympia pharmacy in Windhoek, being a pharmacist comes with passion and good matric points. “One should ensure to have every good symbols for Physical Science in Grade 12 to be able to qualify for this field at the University of Namibia,” she said.

Although we only offer you a few types in Namibia, there are many options available to those who are pursuing or planning on pursuing a career in pharmacy that one can continue with elsewhere.

Retail Pharmacy: Retail pharmacists dispense medications at drug stores or grocery stores. Although the pay and benefits are excellent, the hours can be tough in retail pharmacy jobs, due to the fact that most stores are now open for longer. If you plan to work in retail pharmacy career setting, be prepared to work at least every other weekend.

Community Pharmacy: This type of pharmacy job falls within the retailing industry and these are the guys who we deal with every day when you go to a pharmacy. They are in direct contact with the people, they interact every day with us. In other words, they ensure that you get the right medication as prescribed.

Clinical/Hospital Pharmacy: Clinical pharmacists work in a hospital as part of a medical care team. They typically round on patients with a physician and help to determine which medications and doses would be most effective for each patient’s conditions. They do not really interact directly with patients because they receive scripts from doctors and at times they provide the medication for the doctors.

You also find a few pharmacists that are in the administrative industry. They work directly with medical aid to ensure that the medical aids have paid for the right medication. This is another interesting job for a pharmacist.

In Namibia there are control bodies such as the Health Professional Council that controls the day-to-day work of pharmacists and ensures that they carry out their work the way they should, as well as The Namibia Medicine Control Council that controls all the medicine that comes into the country to ensure that the country is receiving the medicine that they need. All these these medicines must be approved by the board.

• KeenMind is used to enhance memory retention and recall, concentration and focus and mental clarity

• Zenplex Junior – This is an immune booster

• Iberpgast – Relief from the discomfort of irritable bowel syndrome, indigestion and heartburn

• Bio-Oil – This is used for stretch marks and is commonly used by women around the country.

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