Retail pharmacist: job description

Relevant experience gained in any retail area involving contact with customers or the general public can be beneficial.

What does a retail pharmacist do? Typical employers | Qualifications and training | Key skills

Retail pharmacist work in a retail setting rather than in a hospital or GP surgery (see our pharmacist job description ). They are responsible for dispensing and controlling both prescription and non-prescription medicine, advising customers on general healthcare and must work to legal and ethical guidelines.

Employment as a retail pharmacist involves:

• providing advice about health issues, symptoms and medications in response to customer enquiries
• recruiting, training and managing staff
• processing prescriptions and dispensing medication
• ordering and selling medicines and other stock
• meeting medical representatives
• managing budgets
• keeping statistical and financial records
• preparing publicity materials and displays
• marketing services

Some evening and weekend work may be required.

Typical employers of retail pharmacists

• Independent pharmacies
• Supermarket pharmacies
• Pharmacy chains

Vacancies are advertised by careers services and specialist online publications including Chemist and Druggist and The Pharmaceutical Journal and their online equivalents. Pre-registration training placements are advertised in the annually published Pre-Reg Manual .

Qualifications and training required

It takes five years to qualify as a pharmacist. This includes a four-year degree course (an MPharm), one year’s work experience in a clinical setting and a registration exam, set by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). In order to practice pharmacists must be registered with the GPhC.

For a pharmacy masters course, the entry requirements are typically three A levels at grades A or B in chemistry and biology, maths or physics, along with five GCSEs at grade 4 (C) or above – including English language, maths and a science.

Relevant experience gained in any retail area involving contact with customers or the general public can be beneficial.

Key skills for retail pharmacists

• Maturity
• Attentiveness
• Responsibility
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Organisational skills
• Verbal communication skills
• Confidence
• Commercial awareness