What do clinical pharmacists do?

[VeggieForce]

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Hello, I'm a high school junior, going to be a senior after the summer. Currently, I am conflicting between becoming a doctor or pharmacist. I do not like the retail aspect of pharmacy, but i recently found out about clinical pharmacists which seem much more interesting. Can anyone offer me some insight on what clinical pharmacists actually do and how difficult is it to find a clinical pharmacy job since the pharmacists i usually see are retail?

 

[RxWildcat]

Clinical pharmacy is definitely an evolving field right now, basically you will function as part of the healthcare team and will be the medication therapy expert. Check out the ASHP site for more details and to read up on clinical pharmacy.

http://www.ashp.org/mission-vision

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

It's a pretty cool field. My friend is doing it now and seems to really enjoy it. She tends to be the "go to" person for drug interaction questions on her team (she works with the attending, residents, nursing staff, etc.). She also covers any questions that the patient has about when/where/how to take a medication, as often the prescriber will tell them but they won't remember.

 

[GoodmanBrown]

Clinical pharmacy is definitely an evolving field right now, basically you will function as part of the healthcare team and will be the medication therapy expert. Check out the ASHP site for more details and to read up on clinical pharmacy.

http://www.ashp.org/mission-vision

I saw one in action while shadowing a cardiologist. During rounds visiting the patients, the pharmacist worked with the team. He kinda "vetted" the medications people were on and talked with the docs about any interactions/complications that might arise. When a resident asked the attending about a medication that he thought might be helpful, the doctor asked the pharmacist a bit more about it, and the pharmacist was able to give a brief rundown of the drugs characteristics.