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Useful experience for pharmacists includes:

• pharmacy technician and pharmacy assistant work
• any customer service experience
• any work in the health industry.

Pharmacists may do some or all of the following:

• prepare, mix, check and dispense medicines
• keep accurate records and stock take medicines
• provide information and advice on medicines, health issues and lifestyle choices
• supervise and check the work of other pharmacy staff
• offer services such as cholesterol testing
• carry out vaccinations
• design and implement policies, procedures, budgets and clinical trials for medicine use.

Clincial pharmacists:

• improve the safety of medicines and ensure people get the most benefit from them 
• advise health care teams on medicines and their use, and review medicine choices 
• design and implement medicine policies.

Strong demand for pharmacists

Chances of getting a job as a pharmacist are good due to:

• an ageing population, which means an increased demand for health care of all types
• an increase in long-term conditions such as diabetes that put extra demand on services
• a shift to pharmacists treating minor ailments, doing tests and vaccinations, prescribing some medicine and doing health checks.

Pharmacist appears on Immigration New Zealand's Green List. This means the Government is actively encouraging skilled pharmacists from overseas to work in New Zealand.

According to the Census, 3,576 pharmacists worked in New Zealand in 2018.

Pharmacists mostly work in community pharmacies

Pharmacists mostly work in community pharmacies.

They can also work for:

• Te Whatu Ora
• universities and polytechnics
• pharmaceutical companies.

Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand

(04) 802 0030 - p.society@psnz.org.nz - www.psnz.org.nz

Pharmacy Council of New Zealand

(04) 495 0330 - enquiries@pharmacycouncil.org.nz - www.pharmacycouncil.org.nz

The Māori Pharmacists' Association Ngā Kaitiaki o Te Puna Rongoā o Aotearoa

(07) 376 7149 - admin@mpa.maori.nz - www.mpa.maori.nz

Pharmacists may progress to own a pharmacy, or move into other pharmacy-related work such as:

• research and development or production and marketing in the pharmaceutical industry
• policy work with the Ministry of Health and Pharmac
• advocacy and management within pharmacy professional organisations
• teaching
• medi cal publishing.

Pharmacists can specialise as clinical pharmacists, and further specialise within that as pharmacist prescribers.

Clinical Pharmacist

Clinical pharmacists make sure patients get the best medicine for them in the way that is safest and will benefit them the most. 

Pharmacist Prescriber

Pharmacist prescribers are specialist clinical pharmacists who also prescribe medicine for patients. 

Pharmacists need to be:

• honest and efficient
• responsible and careful, particularly when dealing with drugs
• able to work within a professional code of ethics and keep information private
• accurate, organised and observant, with an eye for detail
• friendly, patient and helpful, with communication and listening skills
• good researchers
• able to manage and train staff
• good at maths, and have record-keeping skills.

Pharmacists also need to have an understanding and awareness of a variety of cultures.