If you want to really get to know your patients and help them learn the complexities of their treatment, then practicing in a specialty clinic or in a home healthcare setting could be just for you.

If you are passionate about the treatment of a particular chronic disease, you may want to use your PharmD degree to run a specialty clinic. In addition to passion, you must be able to work seamlessly with other members of a patient’s healthcare team. Additionally, you will likely need additional specialized residency experience to fulfill the technical demands associated with such a clinic. The importance of such clinics cannot be overstated. For example, in the case of anticoagulation, it has been shown in a 2008 retrospective study that a "pharmacist-managed specialty anticoagulation clinic provides better overall patient care than the usual care provided at a physician's office." Many clinical scenarios and testing-intensive diseases (e.g. epilepsy, geriatrics, oncology, depression, HIV, Crohn's disease, growth hormone deficiency, Parkinson's disease, etc.) require detailed and specific patient instruction. Helping to attain the patient compliance necessary for positive outcomes is ideally suited for the training and temperament of a PharmD where patient-centered education is emphasized.

As a home healthcare pharmacist, you will administer and monitor the treatments of chronically ill patients for whom travel is difficult. These pharmacists have the opportunity to form special relationships with their patients and provide a level of care otherwise unavailable.

If you want to really get to know your patients and help them learn the complexities of their treatment, then practicing in a specialty clinic or in a home healthcare setting could be just for you.

If you are passionate about the treatment of a particular chronic disease, you may want to use your PharmD degree to run a specialty clinic. In addition to passion, you must be able to work seamlessly with other members of a patient’s healthcare team. Additionally, you will likely need additional specialized residency experience to fulfill the technical demands associated with such a clinic. The importance of such clinics cannot be overstated. For example, in the case of anticoagulation, it has been shown in a 2008 retrospective study that a "pharmacist-managed specialty anticoagulation clinic provides better overall patient care than the usual care provided at a physician's office." Many clinical scenarios and testing-intensive diseases (e.g. epilepsy, geriatrics, oncology, depression, HIV, Crohn's disease, growth hormone deficiency, Parkinson's disease, etc.) require detailed and specific patient instruction. Helping to attain the patient compliance necessary for positive outcomes is ideally suited for the training and temperament of a PharmD where patient-centered education is emphasized.

As a home healthcare pharmacist, you will administer and monitor the treatments of chronically ill patients for whom travel is difficult. These pharmacists have the opportunity to form special relationships with their patients and provide a level of care otherwise unavailable.