Pharmacist to specialist pharmacist
A pharmacist already meets 69% of what the specialist pharmacist role asks for. The move turns on 16 required skills not yet in the profile.
46.3/ 100
1 How much of what a specialist 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 specialist pharmacist role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A specialist pharmacist role treats 34 of its required skills as things a pharmacist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- accept own accountability
- advise on healthcare users' informed consent
- advise on poisoning incidents
- apply organisational techniques
- botany
- communicate in healthcare
What stands in the way is 16 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 42 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 pharmacist background worth leading with.
- 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
- already held advise on poisoning incidents communication, collaboration and creativity
All 42 carried skills, including the 34 the specialist pharmacist role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 18 missing skills fall into 5 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
- still to learn provide specialist pharmaceutical advice required
- still to learn develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship required
- still to learn educate on the prevention of illness required
- still to learn inform policy makers on health-related challenges required
- still to learn provide medication information required
- still to learn work in a multicultural environment in health care required
- still to learn apply person-centred care required
- still to learn provide specialist pharmaceutical care required
- still to learn adhere to organisational guidelines required
- still to learn promote inclusion required
- optional, not held prescribe medication optional
- still to learn cancer risks required
- still to learn pharmaceutical industry required
- still to learn provide treatment strategies for challenges to human health required
- still to learn respond to changing situations in health care required
- still to learn review patient's medical data required
- optional, not held perform diagnostic testing for allergies optional
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.
- 01 apply context specific clinical competences practise this
- 02 apply person-centred care practise this
- 03 cancer risks 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 42 skills that carry over
- already held accept own accountability skill
- already held advise on healthcare users' informed consent skill
- already held advise on poisoning incidents skill
- already held apply organisational techniques skill
- already held botany knowledge
- already held communicate in healthcare 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 empathise with the healthcare user skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held human anatomy knowledge
- already held inorganic chemistry knowledge
- already held interact with healthcare users skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held manage healthcare users' data skill
- 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 pharmacology knowledge
- already held pharmacotherapy knowledge
- already held pharmacy law knowledge
- already held physics knowledge
- already held provide anti-cancer medical treatment skill
- already held provide health education skill
- already held provide pharmaceutical advice 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 homeopathy knowledge
- already held improve safety of medicines skill
- already held maintain medical devices skill
- already held manage adverse reactions to drugs skill
- already held medical devices knowledge
- already held use foreign languages for health-related research skill
- already held use foreign languages in patient care skill
2 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held perform diagnostic testing for allergies optional
- optional, not held prescribe medication optional
44 held skills the specialist pharmacist role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role accounting techniques knowledge
- 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 biological chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role check information on prescriptions skill
- not needed by the target role communicate with customers skill
- not needed by the target role contribute to public health campaigns 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 client orientation 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 handle the logistics of medicinal products skill
- not needed by the target role hygiene in a health care setting knowledge
- 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 medical supply chains skill
- not needed by the target role manage medication safety issues skill
- not needed by the target role manage personal professional development skill
- not needed by the target role manufacture medicines skill
- 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
- not needed by the target role perform project management skill
- not needed by the target role perform therapeutic drug monitoring skill
- not needed by the target role phytotherapy knowledge
- not needed by the target role prepare doses of medication according to patient needs 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 provide medicines information skill
- not needed by the target role radiopharmaceuticals knowledge
- not needed by the target role recruit employees skill
- not needed by the target role refer healthcare users skill
4 further entries not listed here
2 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 cancer risks required
- still to learn pharmaceutical industry required
Other moves recorded from pharmacist
- hospital pharmacist 82% covered · adjacent
- industrial pharmacist 68% 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 a specialist pharmacist?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A pharmacist already covers 69% of what a specialist pharmacist is expected to do: 42 skills carry over, 34 of which the specialist pharmacist role treats as required.
What skills does a pharmacist need to become a specialist pharmacist?
16 required skills are missing, plus 2 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is apply context specific clinical competences.
How hard is the move from pharmacist to specialist pharmacist?
Its learning distance is 46.3 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.