Video:How to Become a Pharmacist

Transcript:How to Become a Pharmacist

Hi. I'm Bill Brownstein. Pharmacist and owner of Kids RX in New York, New York. Here, for About.com. If being a Pharmacist is what you want to do, here's what you need to know.

Steps for Becoming a Pharmacist

In order to become a Pharmacist it requires Pharmacy School, college. The way I did Pharmacy school was I went to two years of community college, got an associate's degree in math and science and then transferred those credits to Arnold and Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy. When I went to Pharmacy School it was six years. It's now seven years. The more traditional way to do it is to graduate out of high school, get accepted to a pharmacy school and do the entire program with your core sciences and the pharmacy program all in one. So, typically, it's two years of pre-pharmacy. And, then, what was four years, now five years of Pharmaceutical studies. So, your Pharmaceutical Chemistry. It's the physiology, the math, and it's now a seven year program.

Before Becoming a Pharmacist

In your last year of school, you usually do a residency and an internship. So, they want you to work in a hospital setting and in a retail setting. And then, when you finish your rotations, you'll take boards. There's a compounding board, there's a written exam, and there's a law exam. And once you've completed those, they issue your license.

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