Clinical Pharmacist Practitioners

Consider joining HOSA-Future Health Professionals, a membership organization for middle school, high school, and college students who are interested in pursuing health care–related careers, would like to develop their leadership skills, and would like access to scholarships and competitions. It has more than 260,000 members in chartered HOSA associations throughout the United States, Canada, Germany, and Italy. Visit https://hosa.org for more information.

Check out Pharmacy Is Right for Me (https://pharmacyforme.org), a comprehensive career exploration resource from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American Pharmacists Association, and other national pharmacy associations. The Web site features information on education and career paths, a blog, profiles of pharmacists, and much more.

The American College of Clinical Pharmacy offers a Career Pathways section on its Web site (https://www.accp.com/stunet/pathways.aspx) that provides information on the career opportunities and specialty practice areas for those who want to become clinical pharmacists. There are nearly 30 career categories, including Critical Care, Adult Medicine, and Pediatrics.

Other ways to explore this field include participating in information interviews and job shadowing experiences with CPPs, talking with one’s school counselor about potential career paths, and attending pharmaceutical science summer programs for high school students at colleges and universities.