Hospital pharmacist to specialist pharmacist
A hospital pharmacist already meets 50% of what the specialist pharmacist role asks for. The move turns on 25 required skills not yet in the profile.
63.5/ 100
1 How much of what a specialist pharmacist 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 specialist pharmacist role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A specialist pharmacist role treats 25 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
- advise on poisoning incidents
- apply context specific clinical competences
- communicate in healthcare
What stands in the way is 25 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 30 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A specialist pharmacist 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 provide specialist pharmaceutical care assisting and caring
- already held pharmacotherapy health and welfare
- already held pharmacognosy health and welfare
- already held pharmacokinetics health and welfare
- already held pharmacy law business, administration and law
- already held provide pharmaceutical advice communication, collaboration and creativity
All 30 carried skills, including the 25 the specialist pharmacist role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 30 missing skills fall into 7 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 apply person-centred care required
- 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 botany required
- still to learn microbiology-bacteriology required
- still to learn inorganic chemistry required
- still to learn organic chemistry required
- still to learn pharmaceutical chemistry required
- still to learn pharmacology required
- still to learn provide specialist pharmaceutical advice required
- still to learn interact with healthcare users required
- still to learn provide medication information required
- still to learn work in a multicultural environment in health care required
- optional, not held use foreign languages for health-related research optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
- still to learn cancer risks required
- still to learn human anatomy required
- still to learn pharmaceutical industry required
- still to learn pharmaceutical technology required
- optional, not held homeopathy optional
- optional, not held medical devices optional
- still to learn provide treatment strategies for challenges to human health required
- still to learn apply organisational techniques required
- still to learn respond to changing situations in health care required
- still to learn review patient's medical data required
- still to learn manage healthcare users' data required
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a specialist pharmacist role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 30 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 advise on poisoning incidents skill
- already held apply context specific clinical competences skill
- already held communicate in healthcare skill
- already held deal with emergency care situations skill
- already held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship skill
- already held educate on the prevention of illness skill
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held inform policy makers on health-related challenges skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held pharmacognosy knowledge
- already held pharmacokinetics knowledge
- already held pharmacotherapy knowledge
- already held pharmacy law knowledge
- already held physics knowledge
- already held promote inclusion skill
- already held provide anti-cancer medical treatment skill
- already held provide health education skill
- already held provide pharmaceutical advice skill
- already held provide specialist pharmaceutical care skill
- already held toxicology knowledge
- already held use e-health and mobile health technologies skill
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
- already held conduct health related research skill
- already held improve safety of medicines skill
- already held manage adverse reactions to drugs skill
- already held perform diagnostic testing for allergies skill
- already held prescribe medication skill
The 1 learning area not shown above
- optional, not held maintain medical devices optional
5 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held homeopathy optional
- optional, not held maintain medical devices optional
- optional, not held medical devices optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages for health-related research optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
22 held skills the specialist pharmacist role does not ask for
- 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 check information on prescriptions 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 ensure the appropriate supply in pharmacy skill
- not needed by the target role evaluate scientific data concerning medicines skill
- not needed by the target role follow procedures to control substances hazardous to health skill
- not needed by the target role maintain adequate medication storage conditions skill
- not needed by the target role maintain pharmacy records 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 medicines knowledge
- not needed by the target role monitor patients' medication skill
- not needed by the target role obtain healthcare user's medical status information skill
- not needed by the target role perform therapeutic drug monitoring skill
- not needed by the target role prepare medication from prescription skill
- not needed by the target role process medical insurance claims skill
- not needed by the target role test medicinal products skill
- not needed by the target role treat endocrine disorders skill
12 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 botany required
- still to learn cancer risks required
- still to learn microbiology-bacteriology required
- still to learn human anatomy required
- still to learn inorganic chemistry required
- still to learn organic chemistry required
- still to learn pharmaceutical chemistry required
- still to learn pharmaceutical industry required
- still to learn pharmaceutical technology required
- still to learn pharmacology required
- optional, not held homeopathy optional
- optional, not held medical devices optional
Common questions about this move
Can a hospital pharmacist become a specialist pharmacist?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A hospital pharmacist already covers 50% of what a specialist pharmacist is expected to do: 30 skills carry over, 25 of which the specialist pharmacist role treats as required.
What skills does a hospital pharmacist need to become a specialist pharmacist?
25 required skills are missing, plus 5 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is apply person-centred care.
How hard is the move from hospital pharmacist to specialist pharmacist?
Its learning distance is 63.5 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.