Occupation: 251513 – Retail Pharmacists
(Community Pharmacist)
Dispenses prescribed pharmaceuticals to the public, educates customers on health promotion, disease prevention and the proper use of medicines, and sells non-prescription medicines and related goods in a community pharmacy.
Skill Level:
The entry requirement for this occupation is a bachelor degree or higher qualification and a 1 year traineeship (ANZSCO Skill Level 1). Registration or licensing is required.
Tasks Include:
- receiving prescriptions, checking patients’ medicine histories, and ensuring optimal dosage and methods of administration and drug compatibility before dispensing
- preparing or supervising the preparation and labelling of liquid medicines, ointments, powders, tablets and other medications to fill prescriptions
- advising prescribers on drug incompatibility and contra-indications
- reviewing and monitoring the medicine therapy of individual patients, and assessing the effectiveness of the total medicine therapy
- maintaining prescription files and recording issue of narcotics, poisons and habit-forming drugs
- storing and preserving vaccines, serums and other drugs subject to deterioration
- supplying non-prescription medicines, and diagnostic and therapeutic aids
- supervising and coordinating the work of Pharmacy Technicians, pharmacy interns and Pharmacy Sales Assistants
- conducting research to develop and improve pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and related chemical products
- conferring with Chemists, Engineering Professionals and other professionals about manufacturing techniques and ingredients
- testing and analysing drugs to determine their identity, purity and strength in relation to specified standards
- developing standards for drug used in pharmaceuticals
