Specialist pharmacist to hospital pharmacist
A specialist pharmacist already meets 55% of what the hospital pharmacist role asks for. The move turns on 14 required skills not yet in the profile.
55.2/ 100
1 How much of what a hospital pharmacist is expected to do is already part of a specialist 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 hospital pharmacist role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A hospital pharmacist role treats 16 of its required skills as things a specialist pharmacist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- accept own accountability
- adhere to organisational guidelines
- advise on healthcare users' informed consent
- advise on poisoning incidents
- apply context specific clinical competences
- communicate in healthcare
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 30 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A hospital pharmacist role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a specialist pharmacist background worth leading with.
- already held provide specialist pharmaceutical care assisting and caring
- 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
All 30 carried skills, including the 16 the hospital pharmacist role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 22 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 information on prescriptions required
- still to learn maintain pharmacy records required
- still to learn obtain healthcare user's medical status information required
- optional, not held evaluate scientific data concerning medicines optional
- optional, not held test medicinal products optional
- optional, not held process medical insurance claims optional
- still to learn ensure pharmacovigilance required
- still to learn manage hospital-acquired infections required
- still to learn prepare medication from prescription required
- optional, not held perform therapeutic drug monitoring optional
- optional, not held treat endocrine disorders optional
- still to learn counsel healthcare users on medicines required
- still to learn monitor patients' medication required
- still to learn dispense medicines required
- still to learn ensure the appropriate supply in pharmacy required
- still to learn manage medical supply chains required
- optional, not held manage medication safety issues optional
- still to learn maintain adequate medication storage conditions required
- optional, not held follow procedures to control substances hazardous to health optional
- still to learn medicines required
- optional, not held applied therapeutics related to medicines optional
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a hospital pharmacist role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 biological chemistry study this
- 02 check information on prescriptions practise this
- 03 counsel healthcare users on medicines 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 30 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 advise on poisoning incidents skill
- already held apply context specific clinical competences skill
- already held communicate in healthcare skill
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held pharmacognosy knowledge
- already held pharmacokinetics knowledge
- already held pharmacotherapy knowledge
- already held pharmacy law knowledge
- already held provide anti-cancer medical treatment skill
- already held provide pharmaceutical advice skill
- already held provide specialist pharmaceutical care skill
- already held toxicology knowledge
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
- already held conduct health related research 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 improve safety of medicines skill
- already held inform policy makers on health-related challenges skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held manage adverse reactions to drugs skill
- already held perform diagnostic testing for allergies skill
- already held physics knowledge
- already held prescribe medication skill
- already held promote inclusion skill
- already held provide health education skill
- already held use e-health and mobile health technologies skill
The 1 learning area not shown above
- still to learn biological chemistry required
8 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held applied therapeutics related to medicines optional
- optional, not held evaluate scientific data concerning medicines optional
- optional, not held follow procedures to control substances hazardous to health optional
- optional, not held manage medication safety issues optional
- optional, not held perform therapeutic drug monitoring optional
- optional, not held test medicinal products optional
- optional, not held treat endocrine disorders optional
- optional, not held process medical insurance claims optional
30 held skills the hospital pharmacist role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role apply organisational techniques skill
- not needed by the target role apply person-centred care skill
- not needed by the target role botany knowledge
- not needed by the target role cancer risks knowledge
- not needed by the target role comply with legislation related to health care 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 empathise with the healthcare user skill
- not needed by the target role ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- not needed by the target role homeopathy knowledge
- not needed by the target role human anatomy knowledge
- not needed by the target role inorganic chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role interact with healthcare users skill
- not needed by the target role maintain medical devices skill
- not needed by the target role manage healthcare users' data skill
- not needed by the target role medical devices knowledge
- not needed by the target role microbiology-bacteriology knowledge
- not needed by the target role organic chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmaceutical chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmaceutical industry knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmaceutical technology knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmacology knowledge
- not needed by the target role provide medication information skill
- not needed by the target role provide specialist pharmaceutical advice skill
- not needed by the target role provide treatment strategies for challenges to human health skill
- not needed by the target role respond to changing situations in health care skill
- not needed by the target role review patient's medical data skill
- not needed by the target role use foreign languages for health-related research skill
- not needed by the target role use foreign languages in patient care skill
- not needed by the target role work in a multicultural environment in health care skill
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 biological chemistry required
- still to learn medicines required
- optional, not held applied therapeutics related to medicines optional
Common questions about this move
Can a specialist pharmacist become a hospital pharmacist?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A specialist pharmacist already covers 55% of what a hospital pharmacist is expected to do: 30 skills carry over, 16 of which the hospital pharmacist role treats as required.
What skills does a specialist pharmacist need to become a hospital pharmacist?
14 required skills are missing, plus 8 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information skills. The single most important is biological chemistry.
How hard is the move from specialist pharmacist to hospital pharmacist?
Its learning distance is 55.2 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.