How to become a Pharmacist
Official title: Pharmacist (patient care)
Also called: Clinical pharmacist, Druggist, Health services pharmacist, Hospital pharmacist, Pharmacist (dispensing), Retail pharmacist, Specialist pharmacist, Druggist, Retail pharmacist, Specialist pharmacist
Pharmacist (patient care) makes or dispenses medicaments and related preparations according to prescriptions or formulae. He/she also performs tests to determine identity, purity and strength of drugs and preserves pharmaceuticals against deterioration.
Main tasks
- Receiving prescriptions, checking patients’ medicine histories, and ensuring proper dosage and methods of administration and drug compatibility before dispensing
- Preparing or supervising the preparation and labelling of liquid medicines, ointments, powders, tablets and other medications to fill prescriptions
- Providing information and advice to prescribers and clients regarding drug interactions, incompatibility and contra-indications, side effects, dosage and proper medication storage
- Collaborating with other healthcare professionals to plan, monitor, review, and evaluate the quality and effectiveness of the medicine therapy of individual patients, and the effectiveness of particular drugs or therapies
- Maintaining prescription files and recording issue of narcotics, poisons and habit-forming drugs
- Storing and preserving vaccines, serums and other drugs subject to deterioration; supplying non-prescription medicines, and diagnostic and therapeutic aids
- Supervising and coordinating the work of pharmaceutical technicians, and pharmacy sales assistants
How to become one
Pharmacists are required to register with the Singapore Pharmacy Council (SPC) or its equivalent in order to practise pharmacy in Singapore.
Ways in
- University: Pharmacy degrees, Offered by 2 universities in Singapore
- Licence or registration: Pharmacists must be registered with the Singapore Pharmacy Council and hold a practising certificate. Local pharmacy graduates first complete a period of supervised pre-registration training at an approved training centre and must reach the Council's competency standards. Law: Pharmacists Registration Act 2007. Regulator: Singapore Pharmacy Council (SPC) (https://www.spc.gov.sg).
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: $65,592 a year. The middle half earn $54,048 to $88,152 a year.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
How do I become a Pharmacist?
Pharmacists are required to register with the Singapore Pharmacy Council (SPC) or its equivalent in order to practise pharmacy in Singapore.
How much does a Pharmacist earn in Singapore?
Median full-time pay is $65,592 a year (Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg)). The middle half earn $54,048 to $88,152.
Will AI change the work of a Pharmacist?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg): Resident Occupational Wages (Occupational Wage Survey) (June 2024 (data.gov.sg update 2026-04-01)), Singapore Open Data Licence v1.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Singapore Department of Statistics (SingStat): Singapore Standard Occupational Classification (SSOC) 2024 (SSOC 2024 (definitions and index updated 2026-06-24)), Singapore Open Data Licence, retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026