Industrial pharmacist to pharmaceutical quality specialist
An industrial pharmacist already meets 27% of what the pharmaceutical quality specialist role asks for. The move turns on 14 required skills not yet in the profile.
72.4/ 100
1 How much of what a pharmaceutical quality specialist is expected to do is already part of an industrial 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 pharmaceutical quality specialist role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A pharmaceutical quality specialist role treats 6 of its required skills as things an industrial pharmacist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- ensure pharmacovigilance
- manage medication safety issues
- manufacture medicines
- pharmaceutical chemistry
- pharmaceutical technology
- test medicinal products
What stands in the way is 14 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 8 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A pharmaceutical quality specialist role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an industrial pharmacist background worth leading with.
- already held ensure pharmacovigilance assisting and caring
- already held manage medication safety issues management skills
- already held test medicinal products information skills
- already held manufacture medicines handling and moving
- already held improve safety of medicines management skills
- already held pharmaceutical technology health and welfare
All 8 carried skills, including the 6 the pharmaceutical quality specialist role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 26 missing skills fall into 10 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 test pharmaceutical process required
- still to learn conduct quality control analysis required
- still to learn ensure quality assurance for pharmaceutical products required
- still to learn monitor manufacturing quality standards required
- still to learn perform product testing required
- optional, not held evaluate pharmaceutical manufacturing process optional
- optional, not held take pharmaceutical inventory optional
- optional, not held record test data optional
- still to learn pharmaceutical products required
- still to learn biotechnology required
- still to learn pharmaceutical industry required
- still to learn analytical chemistry required
- still to learn laboratory techniques required
- optional, not held chemical products optional
- optional, not held basic chemicals optional
- optional, not held pharmacology optional
- still to learn comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice required
- still to learn work safely with chemicals required
- optional, not held perform therapeutic drug monitoring optional
- optional, not held provide specialist pharmaceutical care optional
- still to learn pharmaceutical legislation required
- still to learn controlled substances permits required
4 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a pharmaceutical quality specialist role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice practise this
- 02 controlled substances permits study this
- 03 pharmaceutical products study this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 8 skills that carry over
- already held ensure pharmacovigilance skill
- already held manage medication safety issues skill
- already held manufacture medicines skill
- already held pharmaceutical chemistry knowledge
- already held pharmaceutical technology knowledge
- already held test medicinal products skill
- already held improve safety of medicines skill
- already held manage adverse reactions to drugs skill
The 4 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held chemical processes optional
- optional, not held transfer chemicals optional
- optional, not held record data from biomedical tests optional
- optional, not held perform chemical experiments optional
12 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held chemical processes optional
- optional, not held chemical products optional
- optional, not held evaluate pharmaceutical manufacturing process optional
- optional, not held perform therapeutic drug monitoring optional
- optional, not held provide specialist pharmaceutical care optional
- optional, not held take pharmaceutical inventory optional
- optional, not held transfer chemicals optional
- optional, not held basic chemicals optional
- optional, not held perform chemical experiments optional
- optional, not held pharmacology optional
- optional, not held record data from biomedical tests optional
- optional, not held record test data optional
38 held skills the pharmaceutical quality specialist role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role accept own accountability skill
- not needed by the target role adhere to organisational guidelines skill
- not needed by the target role analyse experimental laboratory data skill
- not needed by the target role analyse medication's impact on brain skill
- not needed by the target role apply context specific clinical competences skill
- not needed by the target role apply safety procedures in laboratory skill
- not needed by the target role assist in the production of laboratory documentation skill
- not needed by the target role botany knowledge
- not needed by the target role comply with legislation related to health care skill
- not needed by the target role conduct health related research skill
- not needed by the target role contribute to public health campaigns skill
- not needed by the target role contribute to registration of pharmaceutical products skill
- not needed by the target role develop pharmaceutical drugs skill
- not needed by the target role human anatomy knowledge
- not needed by the target role implement marketing strategies skill
- not needed by the target role inform policy makers on health-related challenges skill
- not needed by the target role inorganic chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role maintain medical devices skill
- not needed by the target role maintain medical laboratory equipment skill
- not needed by the target role manage medical supply chains skill
- not needed by the target role microbiology-bacteriology knowledge
- not needed by the target role organic chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform laboratory tests skill
- not needed by the target role perform toxicological studies skill
- not needed by the target role pharmaceutical processes knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmacognosy knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmacokinetics 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 provide pharmaceutical advice skill
- not needed by the target role quality assurance methodologies knowledge
- not needed by the target role recommend product improvements skill
- not needed by the target role report medication interaction to pharmacist skill
- not needed by the target role safe management of medicines knowledge
- not needed by the target role sales strategies knowledge
- not needed by the target role toxicology knowledge
- not needed by the target role wear appropriate protective gear skill
11 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 controlled substances permits required
- still to learn pharmaceutical products required
- still to learn analytical chemistry required
- still to learn biotechnology required
- still to learn laboratory techniques required
- still to learn pharmaceutical industry required
- still to learn pharmaceutical legislation required
- optional, not held chemical processes optional
- optional, not held chemical products optional
- optional, not held basic chemicals optional
- optional, not held pharmacology optional
Common questions about this move
Can an industrial pharmacist become a pharmaceutical quality specialist?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. An industrial pharmacist already covers 27% of what a pharmaceutical quality specialist is expected to do: 8 skills carry over, 6 of which the pharmaceutical quality specialist role treats as required.
What skills does an industrial pharmacist need to become a pharmaceutical quality specialist?
14 required skills are missing, plus 12 optional ones. They fall into 10 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information skills. The single most important is comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice.
How hard is the move from industrial pharmacist to pharmaceutical quality specialist?
Its learning distance is 72.4 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.