Pharmacy assistant to specialist pharmacist
A pharmacy assistant already meets 53% of what the specialist pharmacist role asks for. The move turns on 22 required skills not yet in the profile.
61.6/ 100
1 How much of what a specialist pharmacist is expected to do is already part of a pharmacy assistant’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 28 of its required skills as things a pharmacy assistant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- accept own accountability
- adhere to organisational guidelines
- advise on healthcare users' informed consent
- apply context specific clinical competences
- apply organisational techniques
- communicate in healthcare
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 29 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 pharmacy assistant background worth leading with.
- already held pharmacokinetics health and welfare
- already held provide pharmaceutical advice communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held homeopathy health and welfare
- already held pharmaceutical chemistry natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
- already held educate on the prevention of illness communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held advise on healthcare users' informed consent communication, collaboration and creativity
All 29 carried skills, including the 28 the specialist pharmacist role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 31 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 botany required
- still to learn microbiology-bacteriology required
- still to learn inorganic chemistry required
- still to learn organic chemistry required
- still to learn pharmacology required
- still to learn physics required
- still to learn toxicology required
- still to learn cancer risks required
- still to learn pharmacognosy required
- still to learn pharmacotherapy required
- still to learn human anatomy required
- still to learn pharmaceutical industry required
- still to learn pharmaceutical technology required
- optional, not held medical devices optional
- still to learn apply person-centred care required
- still to learn provide anti-cancer medical treatment required
- still to learn provide specialist pharmaceutical care required
- optional, not held manage adverse reactions to drugs optional
- optional, not held prescribe medication optional
- still to learn advise on poisoning incidents required
- still to learn provide specialist pharmaceutical advice required
- still to learn provide medication information required
- optional, not held use foreign languages for health-related research optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
- still to learn review patient's medical data required
- optional, not held perform diagnostic testing for allergies optional
- optional, not held conduct health related research optional
- still to learn provide treatment strategies for challenges to human health required
- optional, not held improve safety of medicines optional
2 further areas in the appendix
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 advise on poisoning incidents practise this
- 02 apply person-centred care practise this
- 03 botany 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 29 skills that carry over
- already held accept own accountability skill
- already held adhere to organisational guidelines skill
- already held advise on healthcare users' informed consent skill
- already held apply context specific clinical competences skill
- already held apply organisational techniques skill
- 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 develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship skill
- already held educate on the prevention of illness 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 inform policy makers on health-related challenges skill
- already held interact with healthcare users skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held manage healthcare users' data skill
- already held pharmaceutical chemistry knowledge
- already held pharmacokinetics knowledge
- already held promote inclusion skill
- already held provide health education skill
- already held provide pharmaceutical advice 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 homeopathy knowledge
The 2 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn pharmacy law required
- optional, not held maintain medical devices optional
9 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held improve safety of medicines optional
- optional, not held manage adverse reactions to drugs optional
- optional, not held perform diagnostic testing for allergies optional
- optional, not held prescribe medication optional
- optional, not held conduct health related research 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
- not needed by the target role check for medication expiry terms skill
- not needed by the target role check information on prescriptions skill
- not needed by the target role communicate by telephone skill
- not needed by the target role communicate in foreign languages with health service providers skill
- not needed by the target role communicate with customers skill
- not needed by the target role ensure quality assurance for pharmaceutical products skill
- not needed by the target role ensure the appropriate supply in pharmacy skill
- not needed by the target role follow procedures to control substances hazardous to health skill
- not needed by the target role handle petty cash 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 pharmaceutical records skill
- not needed by the target role medicines knowledge
- not needed by the target role medicines for self-medication 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 phytotherapy knowledge
- not needed by the target role prepare prescription labels skill
- not needed by the target role process medical insurance claims skill
- not needed by the target role take pharmaceutical inventory skill
- not needed by the target role transfer medication skill
15 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 botany required
- still to learn cancer risks required
- still to learn microbiology-bacteriology required
- still to learn pharmacognosy required
- still to learn pharmacotherapy required
- still to learn human anatomy required
- still to learn inorganic chemistry required
- still to learn organic chemistry required
- still to learn pharmaceutical industry required
- still to learn pharmaceutical technology required
- still to learn pharmacology required
- still to learn pharmacy law required
- still to learn physics required
- still to learn toxicology required
- optional, not held medical devices optional
Common questions about this move
Can a pharmacy assistant become a specialist pharmacist?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A pharmacy assistant already covers 53% of what a specialist pharmacist is expected to do: 29 skills carry over, 28 of which the specialist pharmacist role treats as required.
What skills does a pharmacy assistant need to become a specialist pharmacist?
22 required skills are missing, plus 9 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by natural sciences, mathematics and statistics. The single most important is advise on poisoning incidents.
How hard is the move from pharmacy assistant to specialist pharmacist?
Its learning distance is 61.6 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.