Midwife to pharmacy assistant
A midwife already meets 47% of what the pharmacy assistant role asks for. The move turns on 22 required skills not yet in the profile.
64.2/ 100
1 How much of what a pharmacy assistant is expected to do is already part of a midwife’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 midwife already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- accept own accountability
- adhere to organisational guidelines
- apply organisational techniques
- comply with legislation related to health care
- comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice
- contribute to continuity of health care
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 midwife background worth leading with.
- already held homeopathy health and welfare
- already held phytotherapy health and welfare
- already held hygiene in a health care setting services
- already held educate on the prevention of illness communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held inform policy makers on health-related challenges communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held use e-health and mobile health technologies working with computers
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 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 check for medication expiry terms required
- still to learn check information on prescriptions required
- still to learn maintain pharmaceutical records required
- still to learn obtain healthcare user's medical status information required
- still to learn take pharmaceutical inventory required
- still to learn ensure quality assurance for pharmaceutical products required
- still to learn process medical insurance claims required
- still to learn advise on healthcare users' informed consent required
- still to learn communicate by telephone required
- still to learn communicate in healthcare required
- still to learn communicate with customers required
- still to learn interact with healthcare users required
- optional, not held provide pharmaceutical advice optional
- optional, not held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers optional
- still to learn follow procedures to control substances hazardous to health required
- still to learn handle the logistics of medicinal products required
- still to learn maintain adequate medication storage conditions required
- still to learn prepare prescription labels required
- still to learn transfer medication required
- still to learn medicines for self-medication required
- still to learn medicines required
- optional, not held pharmacokinetics optional
- still to learn ensure the appropriate supply in pharmacy required
- still to learn handle petty cash required
- optional, not held operate cash register optional
- still to learn empathise with the healthcare user required
1 further area 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 advise on healthcare users' informed consent practise this
- 02 check for medication expiry terms practise this
- 03 check information on prescriptions 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 apply organisational techniques skill
- already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
- already held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
- already held contribute to continuity of health care skill
- already held deal with emergency care situations skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held hygiene in a health care setting knowledge
- already held inform policy makers on health-related challenges skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held manage healthcare users' data skill
- already held promote inclusion skill
- already held provide health education skill
- already held respond to changing situations in health care skill
- already held use e-health and mobile health technologies skill
- already held work in a multicultural environment in health care 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 homeopathy knowledge
- already held phytotherapy knowledge
The 1 learning area not shown above
- optional, not held pharmaceutical chemistry optional
5 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held operate cash register optional
- optional, not held provide pharmaceutical advice optional
- optional, not held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers optional
- optional, not held pharmaceutical chemistry optional
- optional, not held pharmacokinetics optional
64 held skills the pharmacy assistant role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role address problems critically skill
- not needed by the target role address side effects of menopause skill
- not needed by the target role advise on childbirth skill
- not needed by the target role advise on family planning skill
- not needed by the target role advise on pregnancies at risk skill
- not needed by the target role advise on pregnancy skill
- not needed by the target role anaesthetics knowledge
- not needed by the target role analgesics knowledge
- not needed by the target role apply acupuncture skill
- not needed by the target role assess the course of breast-feeding period skill
- not needed by the target role assist on pregnancy abnormality skill
- not needed by the target role care for the new-born infant skill
- not needed by the target role carry out treatment prescribed by doctors skill
- not needed by the target role childbirth knowledge
- not needed by the target role collect biological samples from patients skill
- not needed by the target role company policies knowledge
- not needed by the target role conduct research on reproductive medicine skill
- not needed by the target role conduct spontaneous child deliveries skill
- not needed by the target role dietetics knowledge
- not needed by the target role embryology knowledge
- not needed by the target role empathise with the woman's family during and after pregnancy skill
- not needed by the target role epidemiology knowledge
- not needed by the target role examine the new-born infant skill
- not needed by the target role female reproductive system pathology knowledge
- not needed by the target role health care legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role health care occupation-specific ethics knowledge
- not needed by the target role health education knowledge
- not needed by the target role human anatomy knowledge
- not needed by the target role lactation knowledge
- not needed by the target role microbiology-bacteriology knowledge
- not needed by the target role monitor pregnancy skill
- not needed by the target role neonatology knowledge
- not needed by the target role obstetric ultrasonography knowledge
- not needed by the target role pathology knowledge
- not needed by the target role pedagogy knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform antepartum fetal monitoring skill
- not needed by the target role pharmacology knowledge
- not needed by the target role postpartum legal protection knowledge
- not needed by the target role postpartum period knowledge
- not needed by the target role pregnancy knowledge
24 further entries not listed here
4 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 medicines required
- optional, not held pharmaceutical chemistry optional
- optional, not held pharmacokinetics optional
Other moves recorded from midwife
- maternity support worker 74% covered · moderate
- healthcare assistant 56% covered · moderate
- physiotherapy assistant 51% covered · substantial
- dental hygienist 50% covered · substantial
- dental technician 50% covered · substantial
- specialist pharmacist 49% covered · substantial
- respiratory therapy technician 49% covered · moderate
- orthoptist 47% covered · substantial
Common questions about this move
Can a midwife become a pharmacy assistant?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A midwife 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 midwife need to become a pharmacy assistant?
22 required skills are missing, plus 5 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information skills. The single most important is advise on healthcare users' informed consent.
How hard is the move from midwife to pharmacy assistant?
Its learning distance is 64.2 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.