Table 1Transition record

hospital pharmacisttospecialist 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.

From hospital pharmacist

50%

Overlap1

To specialist pharmacist

30 Skills carried over

25 Required, not held

63.5 Difficulty2

Career overlap Partial match

50%

Learning distance Substantial retraining

63.5/ 100

Easy adjacentmoderatesubstantialcareer change Hard

1 Share of the specialist pharmacist role’s weighted skill requirement already met by the hospital pharmacist profile. Required skills count in full, supplementary skills at 0.35. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. 2 Combines what is missing with how specialised it is, so a gap of general skills scores easier than the same number of narrow ones.

Why

Why this move works

A specialist pharmacist role treats 25 of its required skills as things a hospital pharmacist already does. These are the ones it depends on most.

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

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.

Skill the target role also needs Area

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

Table 3 · What you would need to learn

The 30 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered below in the order worth working in: the areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the supplementary ones.

Skill to acquire Tier

01 assisting and caring 6 required

required, not held apply person-centred care required
required, not held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice required
required, not held contribute to continuity of health care required
required, not held ensure safety of healthcare users required
required, not held comply with legislation related to health care required
required, not held empathise with the healthcare user required

02 natural sciences, mathematics and statistics 6 required

required, not held botany required
required, not held microbiology-bacteriology required
required, not held inorganic chemistry required
required, not held organic chemistry required
required, not held pharmaceutical chemistry required
required, not held pharmacology required

03 communication, collaboration and creativity 4 required, 2 supplementary

required, not held provide specialist pharmaceutical advice required
required, not held interact with healthcare users required
required, not held provide medication information required
required, not held 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

04 health and welfare 4 required, 2 supplementary

required, not held cancer risks required
required, not held human anatomy required
required, not held pharmaceutical industry required
required, not held pharmaceutical technology required

optional, not held homeopathy optional
optional, not held medical devices optional

05 management skills 3 required

required, not held provide treatment strategies for challenges to human health required
required, not held apply organisational techniques required
required, not held respond to changing situations in health care required

06 information skills 2 required

required, not held review patient's medical data required
required, not held manage healthcare users' data required

1 further area in the appendix

Table 4

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

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 30 skills that carry over

Skill Type

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

Skill to acquire Tier

07 working with machinery and specialised equipment 1 supplementary

optional, not held maintain medical devices optional

5 supplementary skills, helpful but not required

Skill to acquire Tier

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

Skill Type

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.

Skill to acquire Tier

required, not held botany required
required, not held cancer risks required
required, not held microbiology-bacteriology required
required, not held human anatomy required
required, not held inorganic chemistry required
required, not held organic chemistry required
required, not held pharmaceutical chemistry required
required, not held pharmaceutical industry required
required, not held pharmaceutical technology required
required, not held pharmacology required
optional, not held homeopathy optional
optional, not held medical devices optional

Index

Other moves recorded from hospital pharmacist

Full index of moves from hospital pharmacist

Note

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.