What do people in this career do?
Pharmacists dispense medications to patients according to doctors’
prescriptions, and provide information about how to take them.
What are the working conditions like for people in this career? (e.g. Where do they work? What are their
typical work hours? What challenges do they face?)
Pharmacists work in retail stores, wholesale pharmacies, hospitals, and pharmaceutical manufacturing companies.
They
may spend long hours on their feet. This can be tiring. But like all
health care professionals, they must be alert all the time, even in
stressful situations. The slightest mistake when issuing drugs and
medicine can affect a patient’s health.
Pharmacists must
double-check dosage amounts, confirm patient information, consider how
taking more than one type of drug may affect a patient, and handle
insurance claims. All this is done while fielding questions from doctors
and customers as well as managing the pharmacy technicians.
When working with potentially dangerous pharmaceutical products, pharmacists wear gloves and masks and use protective equipment.
Pharmacists
generally work a 35 to 40-hour week. However, many retail and hospital
pharmacies are open long hours, so weekend and evening work is very
common.
2. Click on Earnings and Sample Career Path. Investigate the following:
What salaries do people in this career earn?
Most pharmacists make somewhere between $79,000 and $134,000 a year. The median income for this career is about $109,000 a year.
How do their job responsibilities change as they gain more experience and seniority (i.e. as they move
along the Sample Career Path)?
Earnings vary depending on experience and responsibilities, as well as
the size and type of business. For example, those who work in pharmacies
in department stores have a higher median income than those who work in
hospitals.
Click on Related Careers. Click on a career that interests you.
Career:
Anesthesiologist
3. Read the Job Description and Working Conditions. Answer the following questions:
What do people in this career do?
Anesthesiologists are medical doctors who give drugs and gases (anesthetics) to patients to keep them pain-free during surgery.
What are the working conditions like for people in this career? (e.g. Where do they work? What are their
typical work hours? What challenges do they face?)
Anesthesiologists work in hospitals, clinics, and pain treatment
centers. A large portion of anesthesiologists’ work is done in the
operating room, where they work as part of a team that includes nurses
and surgeons. For complex surgeries, they may spend up to 8 hours in an
operating room at a time.
In addition to the operating room,
anesthesiologists work in the intensive care unit, the maternity unit,
and the pre-admission clinic. They may also spend part of their day in
an office doing patient consultations. This work can include performing
physical examinations of patients, reviewing laboratory test results,
and assessing the need for further testing before going ahead with
surgery.
Those who work in hospitals may have to work long hours,
usually 60 to 65 hours a week. Weekend or overnight work is often
required, especially for those who are on call. Those who work in pain
treatment centers may not have to work on weekends and they are not
usually on call.
4. Click on Earnings and Sample Career Path. Investigate the following:
What salaries do people in this career earn?
In general, anesthesiologists can earn anywhere from less than $100,000
to upwards of $400,000 a year. Those who are self-employed, either by
themselves or as partners in a clinic, must spend part of their earnings
on office expenses.
How do their job responsibilities change as they gain more experience and seniority (i.e. as they move
along the Sample Career Path)?
According to a survey published by the American Medical Group
Association (AMGA), the median compensation for anesthesiologists is
about $378,000 a year. This figure takes into account doctors’ base
salaries plus any bonuses and earnings from overtime and on-call work.
The
lowest salaries are earned by residents. All doctors spend time
learning their specialty on-the-job by working as residents after
graduating from medical school. Their earnings during this period vary
depending on where they do their residency and their level of
experience, but residents can generally expect to earn between $45,000
and $65,000 a year.
Salaried doctors who work for hospitals and
other medical organizations receive benefits in addition to their
salaries. Benefits may include health and life insurance, pension plans,
and paid vacation and sick days. Doctors who work for themselves must
supply their own benefits.
SUMMARY – YOUR VIEWS
5. Now that you have learned a little about these two related careers, answer the following questions:
What is similar about the two careers?
they both deal with medicine
Which career do you think you would like more and why?
Pharmacy because it makes more money
