veterinary pharmacy

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cantaluna

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Hello everybody. I am thinking about a career in pharmacy but specializing in veterinary pharmacy. I can not find a lot of information on this field and I was thinking that maybe somebody in veterinary school has worked with a veterinary pharmacist and would know about it. If you have any information on this I would really appreciate it. Thank you.
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There's really no such thing as a "veterinary pharmacist". There are pharmacists (PharmD) that work exclusively with veterinarians, usually at veterinary schools/hospitals or at veterinary pharmacies. Pharmacists are legally entitled to dispense for veterinary use, although they aren't trained much in that specifically.

There are also veterinary pharmacologists, who are veterinarians (DVM,VMD) with advanced training/resdiency in veterinary pharmacology. They usually work in research, teaching, or a clinical pharmacology laboratory.
 
Hi. Thank you for responding.
 
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I looked at some paperwork from a veterinary pharmacy while shadowing today, and noticed that the letterhead had an "American College of Veterinary Pharmacists" logo on it. They have a website, I'm sure they have info on getting into the field: http://www.vetmeds.org. Also found this: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/547385_2 which suggests that you'd get to be a veterinary pharmacist by getting a PharmD and then specializing.
 
I asked a similar question on this forum also. In the Pfizer Guide to Pharmacy Careers there is a profile of a veterinary pharmacist that works at a vet school (his job seems really cool).

There is also a resident program at Davis' vet school in veterinary pharmacy that I read about on their website.

Now I am wondering where I kind find some salary information--Not the most important thing-but still a factor:)
 
nycrxdream said:
I did, Im just confused after today since my hospital director said there is no jobs in Veterinary hospitals. 95% of the jobs are taken by the vets (since they can dispense) and 5% is online...
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I believe we had pharmacy school people at the university I was at recently. So look into universities because they have larger dispensing pharmacies (which are not necessarily vet run).
 
nycrxdream said:
I did, Im just confused after today since my hospital director said there is no jobs in Veterinary hospitals.
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What are you confused about? That's pretty much what I posted earlier ... there's no such thing as a "veterinary pharmacist." The PharmDs working exclusively in vet med are usually either at a veterinary teaching hospital or one of the few veterinary pharmacies. There are 27 or the former and a handful of the latter in the US, so I'd guess there are 30 or so jobs total.
 
I believe NC State also has a veterinary pharmacy residency.

Just like everyone else has said, the only place PharmD's are working in vet med (outside of research) is in teaching hospitals and perhaps a handful of larger referral practices nationwide (Angell Memorial, etc). I think that Bill's estimate is right on the money (as usual). :)

Your pharmacy school may offer an elective rotation at a veterinary school. Plenty of KS/NE schools offered a one-month elective at our VMTH--we constantly had pharmacy students hanging around. They liked it for the most part. :)
 
cantaluna said:
Hello everybody. I am thinking about a career in pharmacy but specializing in veterinary pharmacy. I can not find a lot of information on this field and I was thinking that maybe somebody in veterinary school has worked with a veterinary pharmacist and would know about it. If you have any information on this I would really appreciate it. Thank you.
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Career in veterinary pharmacy is new and hasn't been explored by many people.

A Veterinary pharmacist is a specially-trained pharmacist who dispenses veterinary medicines and supplies over-the-counter products and advice to owners of companion animals and livestock.

A veterinary pharmacist must have the same qualifications as other pharmacists. You can go to some schools of pharmacy providing a veterinary option and contact their admissions departments.

There are certain colleges which are having postgraduate courses of a Diploma in Veterinary Pharmacy or a Certificate in Companion Animal Health.
The information about these colleges is available on net.

Thanks
 
Hey I hear that there is a big shortage of veterinary pharmacists just like there is for food animal practitioners in rural areas according to the AVMA and veterinary schools. So it must be true!!;)
 
UW-Madison's SVM employs 3 pharmacists that exclusively work with veterinarians. The pharmacy school here also offers a veterinary rotation and internship. Definitely worth looking into.
 
BuckyBadgersBud said:
UW-Madison's SVM employs 3 pharmacists that exclusively work with veterinarians. The pharmacy school here also offers a veterinary rotation and internship. Definitely worth looking into.
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Yeah, my school offers vet pharmacy, in fact we have a animal research lab for it and it's big. Most schools dont have a veterinary pharmacy option. I went to UNE and they didnt have one, but they were doing research on drugs with seals dosage that wasnt done before.

Ill probably still go into veterinary pharmacy, if not Ill fall back to retail or hospital :laugh:. Though, academia is where I want to be in the end, so teaching in the hospital or in Cornell might be good.

We have to pick a residency or 2 specialization at the end, so Im thinking Am-Care and veterinary pharmacy.
 
I've never known a hospital outside of school (and extremely large multi-doctor hospitals) that had an employee that was exclusively a pharmacist. Granted these were smaller private practices - the veterinarians dispense the drugs or just write scripts for a pharmacy down the road or online.

With the way the industry is going from things I've read, Wal-Mart and other big chains are starting to get a bigger chunk of the pharm business and are going in after pet medications now. Pet-Meds is scared and veterinarians are becoming resigned to the fact that the in-house pharmacy is going to dwindle down a lot. So, get a job at Wal-Mart or Target if you want in on the future of dispensing veterinary drugs and interacting with the owners?

@JosephKnechtDVM I love your posts. And that is hilarious.

@rxlea I'm 99.999999% sure such a thing does not exist. There are hardly any marine mammal jobs for veterinarians first of all and I'm sure those facilities order directly from the companies and keep all the drugs they use regularly on hand. And facilities that call in outside veterinarians are going to find one that makes calls and carries what they need with them.

Veterinarians learn all the mechanisms, side-effects, interactions, and therapeutic uses for drugs so we usually have the pharmacy thing covered. And veterinarians working with exotic animals are going to be contacting other colleagues and reading case-studies to figure out therapies for things that haven't been well studied yet anyways.
 
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