Hospital pharmacist to pharmacy assistant
A hospital pharmacist already meets 47% of what the pharmacy assistant role asks for. The move turns on 22 required skills not yet in the profile.
64/ 100
1 How much of what a pharmacy assistant is expected to do is already part of a hospital pharmacist’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the pharmacy assistant role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A pharmacy assistant role treats 19 of its required skills as things a hospital pharmacist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- accept own accountability
- adhere to organisational guidelines
- advise on healthcare users' informed consent
- check information on prescriptions
- communicate in healthcare
- deal with emergency care situations
What stands in the way is 22 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 24 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A pharmacy assistant role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a hospital pharmacist background worth leading with.
- already held check information on prescriptions information skills
- already held ensure the appropriate supply in pharmacy management skills
- already held maintain adequate medication storage conditions handling and moving
- already held pharmacokinetics health and welfare
- already held provide pharmaceutical advice communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held medicines health and welfare
All 24 carried skills, including the 19 the pharmacy assistant role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 27 missing skills fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice required
- still to learn contribute to continuity of health care required
- still to learn ensure safety of healthcare users required
- still to learn comply with legislation related to health care required
- still to learn empathise with the healthcare user required
- still to learn check for medication expiry terms required
- still to learn maintain pharmaceutical records required
- still to learn take pharmaceutical inventory required
- still to learn ensure quality assurance for pharmaceutical products required
- still to learn manage healthcare users' data required
- still to learn communicate by telephone required
- still to learn communicate with customers required
- still to learn interact with healthcare users required
- still to learn work in a multicultural environment in health care required
- optional, not held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers optional
- still to learn apply organisational techniques required
- still to learn handle petty cash required
- still to learn respond to changing situations in health care required
- optional, not held operate cash register optional
- still to learn handle the logistics of medicinal products required
- still to learn prepare prescription labels required
- still to learn transfer medication required
- still to learn medicines for self-medication required
- optional, not held phytotherapy optional
- optional, not held homeopathy optional
2 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a pharmacy assistant role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 check for medication expiry terms practise this
- 02 comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice practise this
- 03 contribute to continuity of health care practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 24 skills that carry over
- already held accept own accountability skill
- already held adhere to organisational guidelines skill
- already held advise on healthcare users' informed consent skill
- already held check information on prescriptions skill
- already held communicate in healthcare skill
- already held deal with emergency care situations skill
- already held ensure the appropriate supply in pharmacy skill
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held follow procedures to control substances hazardous to health skill
- already held inform policy makers on health-related challenges skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held maintain adequate medication storage conditions skill
- already held medicines knowledge
- already held obtain healthcare user's medical status information skill
- already held process medical insurance claims skill
- already held promote inclusion skill
- already held provide health education skill
- already held use e-health and mobile health technologies skill
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
- already held apply context specific clinical competences skill
- already held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship skill
- already held educate on the prevention of illness skill
- already held pharmacokinetics knowledge
- already held provide pharmaceutical advice skill
The 2 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn hygiene in a health care setting required
- optional, not held pharmaceutical chemistry optional
5 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held operate cash register optional
- optional, not held phytotherapy optional
- optional, not held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers optional
- optional, not held homeopathy optional
- optional, not held pharmaceutical chemistry optional
28 held skills the pharmacy assistant role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role advise on poisoning incidents skill
- not needed by the target role applied therapeutics related to medicines knowledge
- not needed by the target role biological chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role conduct health related research skill
- not needed by the target role counsel healthcare users on medicines skill
- not needed by the target role dispense medicines skill
- not needed by the target role ensure pharmacovigilance skill
- not needed by the target role evaluate scientific data concerning medicines skill
- not needed by the target role improve safety of medicines skill
- not needed by the target role maintain pharmacy records skill
- not needed by the target role manage adverse reactions to drugs skill
- not needed by the target role manage hospital-acquired infections skill
- not needed by the target role manage medical supply chains skill
- not needed by the target role manage medication safety issues skill
- not needed by the target role monitor patients' medication skill
- not needed by the target role perform diagnostic testing for allergies skill
- not needed by the target role perform therapeutic drug monitoring skill
- not needed by the target role pharmacognosy knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmacotherapy knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmacy law knowledge
- not needed by the target role physics knowledge
- not needed by the target role prepare medication from prescription skill
- not needed by the target role prescribe medication skill
- not needed by the target role provide anti-cancer medical treatment skill
- not needed by the target role provide specialist pharmaceutical care skill
- not needed by the target role test medicinal products skill
- not needed by the target role toxicology knowledge
- not needed by the target role treat endocrine disorders skill
5 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn medicines for self-medication required
- still to learn hygiene in a health care setting required
- optional, not held phytotherapy optional
- optional, not held homeopathy optional
- optional, not held pharmaceutical chemistry optional
Common questions about this move
Can a hospital pharmacist become a pharmacy assistant?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A hospital pharmacist already covers 47% of what a pharmacy assistant is expected to do: 24 skills carry over, 19 of which the pharmacy assistant role treats as required.
What skills does a hospital pharmacist need to become a pharmacy assistant?
22 required skills are missing, plus 5 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is check for medication expiry terms.
How hard is the move from hospital pharmacist to pharmacy assistant?
Its learning distance is 64 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.