An aspiring pharmacist must usually start with at least three years of undergraduate education or a bachelor's degree. He then applies to pharmacy school to work toward a Doctor of Pharmacy degree, which takes four years. He should have taken undergraduate courses in chemistry, physics, mathematics and social sciences. However, some pharmacy schools give preference to applicants with a bachelor's degree, according to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). Some colleges, such as Ohio Northern University and St. John's University, allow a person to enter the Doctor of Pharmacy program directly after high school graduation. A student must submit an application that includes Advanced Placement (AP) and standardized test scores such as the SAT. These pharmacy programs are called "zero to 6" because the student has to complete two years of pre-pharmacy studies before starting on the four years needed to earn the Doctor of Pharmacy degree.
Besides classroom instruction, a student must complete clinical instruction. Clinical experience requires an aspiring pharmacist to work under of the supervision of a licensed pharmacist. Typically, she will work in pharmacies, hospitals or nursing homes to apply knowledge learned in the classroom.
An aspiring pharmacist learns all topics related to drug therapy such as side effects, interaction and dosages. For instance, he receives classroom instruction in courses such as business management, pharmacy ethics, patient care and various drugs and their uses. In addition, the aspiring pharmacist learns how to mix ingredients to create medications, called "compounding."
According to the AACP, about two-thirds of American colleges and pharmacy schools require aspiring pharmacists to take the Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) for admission. The PCAT includes seven subtests, such as biology, reading comprehension, verbal ability and chemistry. There is also a written essay. The exam consists of about 280 multiple choice questions and takes approximately five hours to complete.