Learn more about the duties, practice settings, typical workdays, and educational opportunities, as well as personal advice from pharmacists in this practice area.
What is geriatric / senior care pharmacy?
Geriatrics or senior care pharmacy is a pharmacy career path with a focus on the unique pharmacotherapeutic needs of the older individual.
Where does a geriatric / senior care pharmacist work?
A geriatric/senior care pharmacist can work just about anywhere – all you need is a cohort of individuals who are older than 65. Senior care pharmacy, rather than being location-focused (e.g. ambulatory care) is population-focused, so it’s really flexible. It’s important to understand, however, that just because a pharmacist takes care of older adults, they aren’t necessarily a senior care pharmacist. Being a senior care pharmacist is about knowing guidelines and medications inside and out, but also understanding the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes that change as we age; how diseases, disease presentation, and goals of care change; and patient-level determinants (e.g., affordability, ability to adhere) that can impact a pharmacotherapeutic plan.
What does a typical workday look like?
For a geriatric/senior care pharmacist, a typical workday varies from day to day and depends on the location. For pharmacists in long-term care consultant pharmacy, the typical day may include driving a few hours to the facility where they will do medication regimen reviews for all residents in the facility, observing medication pass, providing education to staff and families, doing drug destruction and controlled substance inventories, ensuring the facility is doing its best to meet the myriad regulations, and preserving solid clinical metrics for the vulnerable elders they serve. In the hospital, they may be on a senior-focused consult service or acute care for the elderly (ACE) unit where they provide recommendations specific to older adults for a variety of inpatient ailments. The senior care pharmacist could be in a geriatric pharmacotherapy-specific clinic or in one that is more disease-focused – again, senior care pharmacy is more about the way pharmacists care for their patients, rather than whom they care for.
What education and training are needed to pursue this pharmacy career path?
- In addition to preparing for residency, take as many geriatrics-focused courses you can.
- Gain onsite experience on a geriatrics clinical rotation.
- Read the textbook Fundamentals of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy for more information about geriatric pharmacy.
What educational opportunities are available for pharmacists in this area?
- Geriatric pharmacists can become a Board Certified Geriatric Pharmacist (BCGP). To find out more about board certification you can visit the Board of Pharmacy Specialties Board Certification webpage.
- There are also many geriatrics-focused webinars and high-level programs through ASHP and ASCP.
How can I learn more about this career path?
- Find a BCGP in your area (https://www.bpsweb.org/find-a-board-certified-pharmacist/), strike up a conversation with them, and build your network.
- Additionally, ASHP and ASCP both have career resources for both senior care and consultant pharmacy. Get involved in organizations early in your career.
Member Career Profiles
Amie Taggart Blaszczyk, Pharm.D., BCGP, BCPS, FASCP
Associate Professor & Division Head – Geriatrics
Texas Tech University HSC School of Pharmacy
What interested you in pharmacy and this career path?
“I have always loved working with older adults from the time I was little. My mother worked in a long-term care facility, and on snow days, she would take us in to the facility with her and drop us off with the activities director. My sister and I would call BINGO numbers and paint pottery, and I even started interviewing the residents for a ‘Senior of the Week’ poster I made. I knew I wanted to be a pharmacist when I was 16 years old, working in a little independent pharmacy in my hometown. The pharmacist there was so smart, and I loved seeing our community come to her for advice. Truthfully, it was the ‘smarty pants’ aspect of the pharmacist’s job that I fell in love with first. When I got to pharmacy school, it was there that I realized the beautiful marriage of working with older adults and pharmacy, and it’s been my life’s work since.”
What advice do you have for someone interested in this career field?
“Take as much geriatrics-focused coursework as you can, and get a geriatrics rotation before you graduate. I would also recommend reading Fundamentals of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy. I realize I just recommended reading a textbook, but it’s got so much wonderful information and is so helpful in ‘getting up to speed’ on geriatric pharmacotherapy. If the residency route is in your future as a student pharmacist, a PGY2 in Geriatric Pharmacotherapy is always a great opportunity to really polish up your skills.
I often say that becoming a senior care pharmacist is a conscious choice. Pharmacists around the country care for older adults, but becoming a senior care pharmacist takes commitment to understanding more than just the ‘ins and outs’ of medications. It takes commitment to understanding the why’s, where’s and how’s of medication therapy. It’s more than following guidelines – it’s assessing the patient in front of you, and determining (with their assistance) whether their goals of care and life expectancy match with the pharmacotherapeutic plan. Truly, any pharmacist can take care of seniors, but it takes a conscious effort to be a senior care pharmacist.”
