Pharmacists are a vital part of the health care team and help patients get the best results from their medications. Pharmacists help patients get well, and they do so in a variety of practice settings. There are over 66,000 community chain pharmacists, 46,000 independent community pharmacists, 40,000 hospital pharmacists, and 21,000 pharmacists in other settings such as government, manufacturing, academic, and other settings.
Exciting Career
Pharmacy combines science, health care, computer technology, business and math, offering
a rare blend of teamwork and direct interaction with patients.
- Dispense and compound prescription and non-prescription medications
- Monitor patient health to maximize response to medications
- Advise health care members including physicians and nurses on drug decisions
- Provide expertise on the chemical, biological, and physical composition of drug products
- Discuss medications with patients to optimize their effects.
Trusted Profession
Pharmacists are consistently ranked as one of the most highly-trusted professionals
because of the important care and health-related services they provide to patients.
Rewarding Field
With projected job growth, pharmacists can pursue a wide variety of in-demand specialties
from hospitals to home health, community pharmacies to cutting-edge research.
Career Paths
Check out some of the career paths available to pharmacists. There are 30+ paths available. Learn more at pharmacyforme.org.
Ambulatory Pharmacy
Check out a day in Dr. McKenzie Highsmith's life as an ambulatory care pharmacist—making a real impact one patient at a time. From managing chronic conditions like diabetes and asthma to teaming up with physicians, she’s helping patients thrive with expert medication counseling and support from a whip-smart interprofessional team. Dr. Highsmith is a Class of 2011 alumna from Gatton and serves as Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice at the college and Director of Family Medicine Pharmacy at ETSU Health Family Medicine in Johnson City.
Community Pharmacy
Community pharmacists do so much more than count pills behind a counter. Meet Gatton alumnus Dr. Chris Lopez ('14), co-owner and lead pharmacist at Mooney’s Pharmacy in Johnson City. From personalized patient care to business ownership, community pharmacists are the most accessible health care professional and play a vital role in helping patients gets the most from their medications.
Hospital Pharmacy
Did you know hospitals rely on pharmacists to help patients get the best results from
their medications?
Meet Dr. Jessica Burchette (’10), a hospital pharmacist who makes a big impact at
Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, TN. From joining patient rounds to helping
guide medication decisions, she plays a key role in keeping patients safe and health
care teams informed.
Pediatric Pharmacy
So Many Options...
Learn more about the many career specialities available to pharmacists from this video
by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists:
Lifetime Earnings Among Health Care Professions
What is the ROl of a pharmacy education? Pharmacy not only offers a wide variety of high impact career paths but it provides one of the best returns on investment over a lifetime of earnings. Check out the graphic above to see how pharmacy compares to other health science professions.
(Data Source for Graph: https://www.bls.gov/ as of 2/24/23).