Retail Pharmacist Job Description, Key Duties and Responsibilities

This post provides detailed information on the job description of a retail pharmacist, to boost your knowledge of what they do.

What Does a Retail Pharmacist Do?

A retail pharmacist is involved in a wide role of retail management.

The retail pharmacist job description includes supervising and training sales assistants marketing goods in order to give an efficient service to the general public.

Other responsibilities they are charged with include ordering new goods and maintaining accounts, as well as keeping records of stock. There is a high level of responsibility in this kind of work.

Pharmacy is the area of science concerned with the chemistry and action of drugs, their preparation and production for use in the line of medicine.

The first thing to be done here is the science of ‘formulation’. This is the process where a drug is mixed with other substances in a suitable preparation.

The substances include; tablet, ointment, injection or liquid, to be used as a medicine. This process of formulation and dispensing of medicines require detailed knowledge of the works done by drugs and medicines on the body.

Retail pharmacists over-the-counter and supply prescribe medicines to the general public in a retail pharmacy, like a local chemist.

They may also advice customers on the safe use of medicines and their side effects. In another development, they advise on the treatment of minor ailments in the likes of sore throats or colds, and at times refer cases beyond their expertise to the doctor.

Medicines are often times supplied ready-made by the manufacturer. However, some may be needed to be prepared by the retail pharmacists, depending on the patient’s ailment.

In most cases, pharmacy technicians, often called dispensing technicians, may be required to prepare medicines.

The pharmacist will make sure that the dosages are as prescribed, and that labels show the correct information.

These days, retail pharmacists use computers for producing labels and stock control. Therefore, many of them now work with computerized databases that hold information on frequent customers’ health and medicine records.

Retail pharmacists also stock many other goods, such as cosmetics, baby care products, perfumes and photographic materials.

In some rural areas, pharmacies may also stock agricultural and veterinary products.

Retail Pharmacist Job Description Example/Sample/Template

The job description example below shows the typical duties, tasks, and responsibilities usually performed by retail pharmacists in most establishments.

• Administer prescription medicines to the public
• Make sure medicines supplied correspond with the prescriptions
• Make sure there is no dispensing error
• Supervise the preparation of medicines not made-up by the manufacturer
• Keep a register of specialized drugs for stock control and legal purposes
• Sell medicines over-the-counter
• Counsel and advise patients on the treatment of minor ailments
• Manage needle and syringe exchange
• Measure and fit compression hosiery
• Monitor blood pressure, as well as cholesterol levels of customers when the need arises
• Offer diabetes screening exercise
• Arrange the delivery of prescribed medicines to patients
• Supervise, manage and train pharmacy support staff
• Participate in budget and financial management
• Update self regularly with current pharmacy practice, invention of new drugs and their uses
• Advice customers on health issues and medications
• Recruit, train, and manage staff
• Order, sell, and control medicines together with other stock
• Attend regular meetings with medical representatives.

Retail Pharmacist Job Description for Resume

The sample retail pharmacist job description given above has vital information that can be employed in writing the employment history part of a resume for seeking the post of retail pharmacist.

Here is a complete retail pharmacist resume showing the job history section.