Pharmacist to industrial pharmacist
A pharmacist already meets 67% of what the industrial pharmacist role asks for. The move turns on 4 required skills not yet in the profile.
39.4/ 100
1 How much of what an industrial pharmacist is expected to do is already part of a 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 industrial pharmacist role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
An industrial pharmacist role treats 15 of its required skills as things a pharmacist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- accept own accountability
- comply with legislation related to health care
- human anatomy
- improve safety of medicines
- inorganic chemistry
- microbiology-bacteriology
What stands in the way is 4 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 27 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An industrial pharmacist role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a pharmacist background worth leading with.
- already held pharmacotherapy health and welfare
- already held ensure pharmacovigilance assisting and caring
- already held manage medication safety issues management skills
- already held test medicinal products information skills
- already held pharmacognosy health and welfare
- already held manage medical supply chains management skills
All 27 carried skills, including the 15 the industrial pharmacist role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 19 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 apply context specific clinical competences required
- optional, not held implement marketing strategies optional
- optional, not held inform policy makers on health-related challenges optional
- optional, not held recommend product improvements optional
- still to learn adhere to organisational guidelines required
- optional, not held apply safety procedures in laboratory optional
- optional, not held wear appropriate protective gear optional
- still to learn pharmaceutical processes required
- still to learn develop pharmaceutical drugs required
- optional, not held report medication interaction to pharmacist optional
- optional, not held analyse experimental laboratory data optional
- optional, not held analyse medication's impact on brain optional
- optional, not held assist in the production of laboratory documentation optional
- optional, not held contribute to registration of pharmaceutical products optional
- optional, not held perform toxicological studies optional
- optional, not held maintain medical laboratory equipment optional
- optional, not held perform laboratory tests optional
2 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries an industrial pharmacist role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 pharmaceutical processes study this
- 02 apply context specific clinical competences practise this
- 03 adhere to organisational guidelines 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 27 skills that carry over
- already held accept own accountability skill
- already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
- already held human anatomy knowledge
- already held improve safety of medicines skill
- already held inorganic chemistry knowledge
- already held microbiology-bacteriology knowledge
- already held organic chemistry knowledge
- already held pharmaceutical chemistry knowledge
- already held pharmaceutical technology knowledge
- already held pharmacognosy knowledge
- already held pharmacokinetics knowledge
- already held pharmacotherapy knowledge
- already held pharmacy law knowledge
- already held physics knowledge
- already held toxicology knowledge
- already held botany knowledge
- already held conduct health related research skill
- already held contribute to public health campaigns skill
- already held ensure pharmacovigilance skill
- already held maintain medical devices skill
- already held manage adverse reactions to drugs skill
- already held manage medical supply chains skill
- already held manage medication safety issues skill
- already held manufacture medicines skill
- already held provide pharmaceutical advice skill
- already held sales strategies knowledge
- already held test medicinal products skill
The 2 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held quality assurance methodologies optional
- optional, not held safe management of medicines optional
15 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held report medication interaction to pharmacist optional
- optional, not held analyse experimental laboratory data optional
- optional, not held analyse medication's impact on brain optional
- optional, not held apply safety procedures in laboratory optional
- optional, not held assist in the production of laboratory documentation optional
- optional, not held safe management of medicines optional
- optional, not held contribute to registration of pharmaceutical products optional
- optional, not held implement marketing strategies optional
- optional, not held inform policy makers on health-related challenges optional
- optional, not held maintain medical laboratory equipment optional
- optional, not held perform laboratory tests optional
- optional, not held perform toxicological studies optional
- optional, not held quality assurance methodologies optional
- optional, not held recommend product improvements optional
- optional, not held wear appropriate protective gear optional
59 held skills the industrial pharmacist role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role accounting techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role advise on healthcare users' informed consent skill
- not needed by the target role advise on poisoning incidents skill
- not needed by the target role analytical chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role applied therapeutics related to medicines knowledge
- not needed by the target role apply blended learning skill
- not needed by the target role apply organisational techniques skill
- 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 communicate in healthcare skill
- not needed by the target role communicate with customers skill
- not needed by the target role comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
- not needed by the target role contribute to continuity of health care skill
- not needed by the target role counsel healthcare users on medicines skill
- not needed by the target role deal with emergency care situations skill
- not needed by the target role dispense medicines skill
- not needed by the target role empathise with the healthcare user skill
- not needed by the target role ensure client orientation skill
- not needed by the target role ensure safety of healthcare users 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 clinical guidelines skill
- not needed by the target role handle the logistics of medicinal products skill
- not needed by the target role homeopathy knowledge
- not needed by the target role hygiene in a health care setting knowledge
- not needed by the target role interact with healthcare users skill
- not needed by the target role listen actively 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 healthcare users' data skill
- not needed by the target role manage personal professional development skill
- not needed by the target role medical devices knowledge
- not needed by the target role medical statistics knowledge
- not needed by the target role medicines knowledge
- not needed by the target role monitor patients' medication skill
- not needed by the target role nutrition knowledge
- not needed by the target role obtain healthcare user's medical status information skill
- not needed by the target role operate cash register skill
- not needed by the target role participate in medical inventory control skill
- not needed by the target role pedagogy knowledge
19 further entries not listed here
3 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 pharmaceutical processes required
- optional, not held safe management of medicines optional
- optional, not held quality assurance methodologies optional
Other moves recorded from pharmacist
- hospital pharmacist 82% covered · adjacent
- specialist pharmacist 69% covered · moderate
- pharmacy technician 63% covered · moderate
- pharmacy assistant 63% covered · moderate
- homeopath 46% covered · substantial
- healthcare assistant 45% covered · substantial
- dental hygienist 43% covered · substantial
- physiotherapy assistant 42% covered · substantial
Common questions about this move
Can a pharmacist become an industrial pharmacist?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A pharmacist already covers 67% of what an industrial pharmacist is expected to do: 27 skills carry over, 15 of which the industrial pharmacist role treats as required.
What skills does a pharmacist need to become an industrial pharmacist?
4 required skills are missing, plus 15 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is pharmaceutical processes.
How hard is the move from pharmacist to industrial pharmacist?
Its learning distance is 39.4 out of 100, which is the moderate 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.