
Clarify your why for pharmacy and assess if the lifestyle fits you, then build a math and science foundation while exploring prerequisites, dual degrees, and your pharmacist career vision.
Understand the foundations before pharmacy school, from anatomy and physiology basics to PCAT prep, and master the application process with transcripts, letters, and a compelling personal statement.
Master ADMET principles—absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination—and apply pharmacokinetics, calculations, and pharmacogenetics insights to safe dosing across dosage forms in pharmacy.
During rotations, update your CV, document experiences and collaborators, and prepare for residency or fellowship applications by researching programs, networking, and crafting tailored cover letters.
Explore the diverse pharmacy sites beyond retail and hospital, including clinic, informatics, academia, industry, home infusion, nuclear, MTM, and PBM, with pros, cons, and lifestyle considerations.
Navigate post-graduation licensure for pharmacists by understanding transfer vs reciprocity, NPLEX and NPG exams, and state board requirements; then plan ongoing growth with CV updates and continuing education.
Assess the true cost of pharmacy education and practice, covering tuition, fees, relocation, licenses, exams, loans, moonlighting, and long-term planning like retirement and malpractice insurance.
Discover how Strength Finder 2.0 from Gallup identifies your top five strengths as natural thinking patterns and translates them into actions that boost engagement and pharmacy teamwork.
Meet Clem's PharmD, a Minnesota hospital pharmacist with over 20 years' experience across retail, hospital, and hospice. Her inclusive perspective and strengths—in harmony, adaptability, developer empathy, and positivity—inform care.
If you want to learn how to become a pharmacist, then get this “Pharmacist 101” guide today!
In Pharmacist 101, you will learn these top lessons from a real pharmacist.
• Evaluation of the real pharmacy lifestyle
• Broken down into sections for before pharmacy school, during pharmacy school, during rotations, and after graduation
• Additional chapters on finance and extra reading suggestions
• Expanded lesson on surprising areas within the field of pharmacy that pharmacists can be found
o Open discussion of benefits and struggles within each subcategory
o A day in the life of a hospital pharmacist
• Step-by-step description of application process for getting into pharmacy school
• Step-by-step description of process for taking pharmacy board exams and obtaining licensure after graduation
• The real value of experience before and during pharmacy school
• General guidelines for conducting yourself on rotations
• Tips to establish solid professional relationships
• Discussion of critical classes within the pharmacy curriculum
• Considerations for elective courses in pharmacy school
• Information about continuing education requirements after graduation
• How to handle and prevent mistakes within healthcare
• Balancing life and professional obligations
• Writing and updating your Curriculum Vitae
• Resources for determining your school of choice
• Suggestions for dual degree programs
• How to establish a specialty, if you so choose
• Brief overview of sciences required for entry into pharmacy school
• Differences between residencies and fellowships and when each may be applicable
o Application and information for success in each
• Establishing connections within the field
• Conducting yourself professionally
Read “Pharmacist 101” today and all the best in your journey towards becoming a pharmacist!
About the Expert
Ann Klemz, PharmD, is a hospital pharmacist from Minnesota. She graduated from the University of Minnesota, Duluth campus in 2012. She has worked in the field of pharmacy as a technician, intern, and pharmacist for over twenty years. She’s worked in retail, hospital, minor clinical roles, home infusion, and hospice. Her perspective is inclusive and unique.
Her strengths include Harmony, Adaptability, Developer, Empathy, and Positivity, with a punch of Activator and Intellection for good measure. When she’s not at work, she can be found drinking coffee, cross-stitching, and mitigating the craziness of her three-child household with her loving partner, Tim.