Job Title

[Pharmkid952]

Clinical staff pharmacist vs clinical pharmacist? Is there a difference?

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[disgonbgud]

A clinical staff pharmacist is a typically a hospital staffer at either a specialty hospital or shares part time duties doing things a clinical pharmacist does. So they're mostly verifying orders, calling MDs, mixing chemo or verifying sterile compounding, supervising techs like a regular staffer/traditional hospital pharmacist most or all of the time.

Clinical pharmacists are the ones on the floors going on rounds, making recommendations, having more patient interaction. They're the ones with specialty certifications.

 

[gwarm01]

A clinical staff pharmacist is a typically a hospital staffer at either a specialty hospital or shares part time duties doing things a clinical pharmacist does. So they're mostly verifying orders, calling MDs, mixing chemo or verifying sterile compounding, supervising techs like a regular staffer/traditional hospital pharmacist most or all of the time.

Clinical pharmacists are the ones on the floors going on rounds, making recommendations, having more patient interaction. They're the ones with specialty certifications.

This is institution specific. My first job title was as a "clinical pharmacist" but it was much closer to your clinical staff description. My shifts were split between staffing and clinical, but often I was the evening clinical person or filled in for the full-time people. The true clinical positions were referred to a clinical specialists.

It's rare to see a position called staff pharmacist these days. Hospitals know that pharmacists are obsessed with the word clinical, so they will throw it on anything. Be sure to ask about your daily duties when interviewing to get an idea of what you'll be doing.

I'm a big proponent of the clinical staff/hybrid pharmacist position (assuming it is truly hybrid and not a nice title they give new grads before banishing them to the basement). I find it creates well rounded pharmacists, since you will develop an understanding of operations and gain exposure to the clinical services offered at your institution. Even our staffing shifts were expected to handle clinical services for the less acute units, so you would find yourself writing TPNs, doing kinetics, reviewing profiles etc.

A lot of people seem to think they are above operational work, but that is one of the best avenues for advancement in the hospital. If you have aspirations for management or administration, learning operations can be your ticket in.

 

[Seriously Serious]

Yes, there is a difference... as mentioned previously, it's used as a buzzword nowadays. You will see advertisements for "Clinical Pharmacist" positions at Walmart. They are not clinical pharmacists no matter what it says on their name tag.

 

[njac]

Every hospital is slightly different. I worked at a big name hospital where it was just “Pharmacist I” through “Pharmacist IV”.

A previous job everyone was a clinical pharmacist except for the specialists. At a per diem job the clinical pharmacist was a separate job description to sit and do protocols all day.

Current job has staff pharmacists in central, “clinical pharmacists” work with general medicine teams, and clinical specialists are just that.


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