Careers
Registered pharmacists have excellent careers prospects in different sectors of practice including: hospital, community, primary care/GP practices and industrial pharmacy.
The Programme Delivery Team organises a Careers event for trainees in March of each training year (as part of Residential 3). We invite several practising hospital pharmacists from different specialties and stage of career as well as pharmacists from other sectors of practice e.g. primary care, industry and academia. The event aims to support trainees in their career choices and mainly promotes careers in hospital pharmacy. The trainees really enjoyed the experience. See comment from one trainee below:
“I appreciated the Careers night held as part of the UEA training programme. It gave me a chance to speak to pharmacists practising in lots of sectors and an insight into the career path I might like to pursue.”
Hospital Pharmacy
Nearly half of our trainee pharmacists secure Band 6 pharmacist posts either in the same hospital where they trained or another hospital in the East of England. An additional 25 – 30% opt to work as Band 6 pharmacists in other parts of the country.
Hospital pharmacy posts normally offer post-registration development opportunities via Postgraduate Diplomas and progression to Band 7 posts and options to pursue a specialist area of practice is possible within 2-3 years.
Vacancies in the East of England are communicated informally to all Trainee Pharmacists via the Foundation Training Managers Group. Interested individuals can then apply via: https://www.jobs.nhs.uk
Community Pharmacy
Only a small proportion of our trainees opt for permanent jobs in community pharmacy but this is changing due to the fact that modern community pharmacy services are patient-centred and include delivery of a range of clinical services under contract with the NHS.
To read more about careers in community pharmacy visit:
https://psnc.org.uk/psncs-work/about-community-pharmacy
Primary Care/GP practices
Traditionally pharmacy careers in primary care were focussed on prescribing advice and cost effectiveness and attracted experienced individuals following several years practice in either hospital or community pharmacy settings.
This is changing rapidly with increasing opportunities for both junior and senior clinical pharmacist posts at GP practices. Several hospitals in the East of England offer opportunities for structured placements at GP practices.
To find out more visit:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/gp/gpfv/workforce/building-the-general-practice-workforce/cp-gp
Industrial Pharmacy
There are opportunities for a newly qualified pharmacist to work in the pharmaceutical industry in a variety of roles:
• Medical Science e.g. Drug Development
• Medical Information
• Quality Assurance
• Regulation of Pharmaceuticals
About 4% of pharmacists currently working in the UK are employed by the pharmaceutical industry.
We have 5 trainees in the East of England who undertake 6-month split posts with GSK or Pfizer. Nearly all of them opt for an industrial pharmacy post or to pursue post-graduate studies in pharmaceutical sciences.
http://careers.abpi.org.uk/working-in-the-industry/research/pharmacy/Pages/default.aspx
