The growth of employment in pharmacy is estimated to be much more than any other field, resulting in a 22% increase in pharmacy jobs between 2006 and 2011 as shown by The Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.org). This provides a great opportunity to the people who are involved in this field and are determined to take it as a career. An online pharmacy degree may help you to prepare yourself for the opportunities which are there in the field of pharmacy. 

It should be kept in mind that many positions in pharmacy require an advance degree. An Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree is required for the initial positions and a Master’s degree for high level positions. You can find it worthy to go for an online certification program as it will save you precious time. Flexibility in scheduling and online accessibility enables you to access the course anywhere and anytime. 

With an online pharmacy certification or degree, you can qualify for various pharmacy jobs. In addition, it will give you a chance to work in different environments, ranging from general retail stores or outlets to large healthcare institutions and hospitals. It also provides a good prospect of a medium level income which is much better than an average income in any other field.

This is a kind of work in which you don’t feel bored as it mainly involves interaction with the different people in different places and usually comprises of mobile work. If you don’t want to waste your time sitting and working behind a single desk or with laptops and computers then this will be the best option for you as it helps you to groom your personality and improvise your communication skills. Not only that, it also provides great knowledge about different drug therapies, health issues and products, and the response of patients to different medications. 

Numerous courses are there in the online pharmacy area providing a wide range of coursework for the novices and also for those who want to reach a good position in this field. Some of the courses are listed below:

• Pharmaceutical science
• Professional communication
• Chemistry
• Pharmacology
• Pharmacy administration
• Biology
• Physics
• Public Health concepts
• Ethics in pharmacy
• Medical distribution system management

In online pharmacy you will get ample amount of opportunities. Working with a certification or degree in pharmacy will enable you to participate in different responsibilities like patient education, administer vaccination, customer services, label, dispense medication, and many other administrative duties. You also need to provide information about the side effects, clinical effects and dosages of different drugs. There are some other posts for which you become eligible after getting an online certification such as Pharmaceutical Researcher, Pharmacy Aide, Pharmacy Technician, Pharmacist, College Instructor, Teacher or professor of pharmacy.

A Pharmacy Technician is one who is professionally trained to perform various tasks in pharmacy which   includes assisting pharmacists, some simple tasks like calling doctor’s office, answering calls, counting pills and various other duties. Pharmacy technicians can work in a hospital or work in a separate pharmacy. Flexibility in working hours is also an advantage as in some cases pharmacists have to work in different work shifts.    

In the healthcare industry, you may opt for a profession of your choice, but one of the remarkable features about this profession is the space it provides to achieve a high level position in the healthcare industry. But again that depends on how willing you are to go for additional training sessions. In addition you will also learn about different treatments through the prescriptions of patients, which will help you to get in-depth knowledge about the medical field.  

One of the major drawbacks in this career is that you may find it a little bit different and may feel separated from the other careers in healthcare because all the clinics and hospitals don’t always have a pharmacy department. While dealing with patients or working with nurses or doctors, it seems that there may be some gap or difference between the clinics or hospitals and pharmacies.

A high school degree or diploma degree is enough to get you into the industry of healthcare where you can get clerical jobs or basic administrative department jobs with work like stocking shelves, updating paperwork, answering calls and handling transactions, but you may also need some additional training to get an idea about the different healthcare industries. From the view of academic qualifications, this is the easiest and simplest way to start your career in healthcare industry. But there are some drawbacks too in this job because you need to work for long hours and the amount you get is much lower than the average income. Also the growth in the clerical level is probably much low.

Pharmacy technicians earn a good amount as compared to the pharmacy aides, however if you are willing to earn a big amount in the healthcare field you have to be a pharmacist. This usually involves responsibilities like dispense medication, filling prescriptions, counseling patients, and expressing their opinions to doctors. But this profession requires a good academic qualification as it requires a Pharm.D degree from accredited universities and colleges. You would need a prior experience of at least two years in college to get into a Pharm.D program.

With a degree of Pharm.D you may also need to complete some exams like North American Pharmacist Licensure Exam and Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Exam to be a licensed pharmacist. As a result of high academic requirements they also get a good amount of money and earn a lot, with an average income of $100,480 in 2007 which is well above than the average level of compensation or income.

So you can get into the healthcare industry as pharmacy aides or pharmacy technicians by taking help of various online programs to continue your education. Eyeing to become a pharmacist would surely improve your earning possibilities.