E-mail From A Professional
From : "Jill Sellers" <jsellers@ashp.org> To : oosincerely_yoursoo@hotmail.com CC : "Jill Sellers" <jsellers@ashp.org> Subject : Pharmacy Career Date : Tue, 9 Apr 2002 12:04:05 -0400 Dear Katheryn: Thank you for your email. I hope it isn't too late to give you the information you requested. My name is Jill A. Sellers and I am the Managing Editor or the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy. I have both my Bachelors of Science in Pharmacy (B.S.) and my Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degrees and have practiced in hospital pharmacy, long term care pharmacy, and outpatient pharmacy. (As you can see, there are many options of employment for a pharmacist.) In high school I took extra math and science classes, such as Organic chemistry, trigonometry, and calculus. Any courses in the human sciences are beneficial. I chose the profession of pharmacy because of the flexibility, salary, opportunities, and it was an integral part of caring for patients. In addition, you will always be able to find a job and work when you want. As I went to school, I learned that pharmacists are truly the drug experts and that the education and training they undergo uniquely prepares them for managing patients drug therapy. Physicians and nurses DO NOT undergo the intensive training in pharmacotherapeutics or pharmacology like pharmacists. Pharmacists are in a very wonderful position on the health care team. The only drawbacks to the profession are that some pharmacists just want to dispense medications and not get involved in patient care. Though the drug distribution part is very important and pharmacists are very good at it, we need to combine it with educating patients and other health professionals on the importance of each medication within the entire drug regimen. Patients need to know how both prescription and over-the-counter drugs work and if they interact or not. I would most certainly recommend this profession to students. Not many high school students are told about pharmacy and therefore, pharmacy schools enrollment is down. I consider pharmacy one of the best kept secrets! There is so much you can do with a pharmacy degree that it would make this email way too long to tell it all. I'd be happy to talk to you over the phone about the profession of pharmacy if you'd like. You can call me at 301-657-3000 ext. 1223. Most sincerely, Jill A. Sellers, Pharm.D.
