Pharmacist
The medicines expert: dispensing, checking interactions, advising patients, and increasingly running health services from the counter.
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- Typical pay
- €28k–€60k
- Usual education
- Pharmacy degree (5 years)
- Outlook
- Stable; hospital and industry routes pay more than community pharmacy.
A day in the life
Prescription checks, patient advice, stock and legal controls, vaccination campaigns, and hospital pharmacists preparing chemotherapy doses.
Ways in
- Science Bachillerato
- Five-year Pharmacy degree
- Community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy (FIR exam) or industry
- Option to own a pharmacy
What to study at 16
The subjects you choose for the final years of secondary school can shape which degrees, exams and careers are easiest to reach. This is about choosing courses, not choosing a school.
Spain
Bachillerato de Ciencias y Tecnología
Portugal
Ciências e Tecnologias
France
Bac général — spécialités
Germany
Oberstufe — Leistungskurse
Italy
Liceo scientifico
Netherlands
Profiel Natuur & Gezondheid
Exams you'll need
The gates between you and this job, and when each one comes.
Browse all examsSkills that matter
Best courses to take
The study routes that lead most directly into this career.
Pharmacy and Parapharmacy (Grado Medio)
Dispensing support, stock control and patient advice in pharmacies and hospitals.
Work in a pharmacy in two years as a technician instead.
Helpful school subjects: Pharmacology, Patient care, Stock control
Degree in Pharmacy
Five years on medicines: how they are made, what they do in the body and how to use them safely.
Required to own or run a pharmacy.
Helpful school subjects: Organic chemistry, Pharmacology, Galenic pharmacy, Toxicology, Clinical pharmacy
Places that hire for this
Grifols
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Novo Nordisk
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Philips
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Roche
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Sanofi
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SYNLAB
Laboratory, quality and technical routes into health science.