Careers: most popular articles from 2014

Online readers of the Pharmaceutical Journal, Clinical Pharmacist and Tomorrow’s Pharmacist were drawn to practical advice about starting or advancing their career, according to statistics on careers articles published in 2014.

Last year, as you may be aware, we relaunched the Journal in print and online. We now publish three distinct types of career-related articles: career profiles provide an in-depth look at the career and achievements of a particular pharmacy professional; career Q&As allow pharmacy professionals and pharmaceutical scientists to answer questions about their career or specific areas of knowledge; and career features cover a variety of topics that affect pharmacy professionals’ careers at all stages, from studying to retirement. Since July, when the website was relaunched, the most popular career articles were features, most of which gave advice for specific tasks such as securing a pre-registration interview or gaining a promotion, or for deciding in which sector of the profession to work.

During the past year, some articles from our archive have also proved they have timeless popularity. Articles from Tomorrow’s Pharmacist about how to qualify as a pharmacist in Canada and the USA — published in 2011 and 2013, respectively — remained valuable to readers in 2014. Additionally, readers were interested in how to secure a summer pharmacy placement (published in 2013) and considered doctoral study as a possible career pathway (published in 2012).
These are the top ten most popular careers articles that were published in 2014:

1. Specialist roles in pharmacy

The most popular careers article of 2014, written by Christine Wassef and Kathryn Moffitt, aimed to give young pharmacists insight into the variety of careers available to those with pharmacy qualifications, including law, primary care and regulation.

2. Five tips to reduce stress and increase your wellbeing

Wellbeing at work was an important topic this year and proved popular with our readers. At the Royal Pharmaceutical Society conference, I learnt that charity Pharmacist Support now offers workshops to help pharmacy professionals improve their overall wellbeing — and I had the opportunity to attend a session myself. In this article, Helen Tester shared some concise tips about reducing stress.

3. Surviving your first year in practice: dos and don’ts

The first year in practice can be exciting and overwhelming for newly registered pharmacists — they may be faced with ethical dilemmas, medical emergencies and dispensing errors. This article from Eamonn McArdle provided some survival advice.

4. How to prepare for your hospital pre-registration interview

Securing a pre-registration interview in a hospital is competitive, so once a student has an interview it is important he or she is well prepared. This article, written by Gill Shelton, Janet Whittam and Jill McDonald, offered an insight into the interview process and the characteristics that recruiters look for.

5. Changing sector: transferring from community to hospital pharmacy

When we examined what information readers were searching for on our website, changing from the community to the hospital sector recurred often. Sasa Jankovic discussed how pharmacists can prepare for this competitive career move.

6. Getting started in the pharmaceutical industry

Early in 2014, I attended a session for pre-registration trainees that provided an introduction to the pharmaceutical industry at GlaxoSmithKline. I wrote this article to help pharmacy students and trainees who were keen to pursue a career in the sector.

7. How to become an independent prescriber

A conversation with a pharmacy student revealed that many students were unaware that pharmacists could complete a non-medical prescribing qualification. In this article, independent prescriber Anja St Clair Jones explained what the role involves and how to qualify.

8. Which career pathway: community or hospital?

Although there are a wide variety of jobs available for pharmacy graduates, many find they face the choice of joining the community or hospital sector. This feature from Gareth Malson compared the two on a variety of measures, including what the roles involve and what a career in each sector looks like.

9. Consider a career as a locum

Participants in online forums were vocal about problems they faced as locums, particularly when they were new to the role. I thought this article, written by Gareth Malson, may help to address some of these queries and help prepare newly registered pharmacists for a career as a locum.

10. How NHS pharmacists can secure a promotion

Again via online pharmacy forums, I discovered that many hospital pharmacists were struggling to gain a promotion once they had reached NHS ‘Agenda for change’ pay band 7. This article, also from Gareth Malson, explained why it can be difficult to secure such a promotion and how pharmacists can prepare for a band 8a role.

Your feedback is always welcome, so please get in touch via emma.page@pharmj.org.uk or @Legitimate_page if you have any comments or ideas.