Clinical Pharmacist Practitioners

Employers

Clinical pharmacist practitioners are employed in hospitals and their affiliated outpatient clinics, physicians’ offices, emergency departments, community-based clinics, nursing homes, managed care organizations, and community pharmacies. Some launch their own consulting firms, while others work as educators at pharmacy schools.

Starting Out

The first step to becoming a clinical pharmacist practitioner is to earn a Pharm.D and complete one to two years of postgraduate training in clinical pharmacy. Some graduates choose to obtain a year or two of experience as a general pharmacist, while others enter a clinical role after finished their education.

Job leads can be obtained from the career services office of pharmacy school, through contacts made during internships or other experiential learning opportunities, by attending career fairs and other networking events, by using the resources of recruiters, and by contacting potential employers directly about job openings. Job applicants should also consider also joining CareerPharm (https://www.ashp.org/professional-development/careerpharm), an online community for pharmacists and pharmacy residents.