Celebrate Your Colleagues on National Pharmacist Day 2023

National Pharmacist Day is celebrated annually on January 12, offering a day to celebrate the differences pharmacists make in patients’ lives each day.

Pharmacists work in nearly every health care environment, including retail, hospitals, specialty pharmacy, and more. The profession is also growing, with an expected 2% growth between 2021 and 2031, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.¹

Pharmacists play a key role in the health care system, far beyond dispensing medications. In addition to educating patients about their prescriptions and working daily to ensure medication compliance and provide medication therapy management services, pharmacists also partner with other health care providers to provide holistic care.

Although these responsibilities can be fulfilling, pharmacists report a myriad of reasons for joining the profession, including the connections they can build with patients. According to the Pharmacy Times 2022 Salary and Job Satisfaction Survey, the top 3 drivers of job satisfaction were pride in the profession (16.3%), compensation (16.3%), and autonomy (12%).²

“When I think about the value of a pharmacist, I think every pharmacist has a story of a time where a pharmacist intervened and impacted [a patient’s] life,” said Carlie Traylor, PharmD, director of Strategic Initiatives and Student Affairs at the National Community Pharmacists Association, in an interview with Pharmacy Times. “So, the value of the pharmacist [is] in how we take care of our patients.”

To see more of the work that pharmacists do, visit our Pharmacy Heroes resource center and tag Pharmacy Times on social media to show us how you’re celebrating!

REFERENCES

1. National Pharmacist Day: January 12, 2023. News release. United States Census Bureau; January 12, 2023. Accessed January 11, 2023. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/pharmacist-day.html#:~:text=The%20Occupational%20Outlook%20Handbook%20by,a%20Doctor%20of%20Pharmacy%20(Pharm.
2. Antrim, A. Pharmacists Are Moderately Satisfied With Compensation, Slightly Less With Overall Job, Survey Shows (Part 1). Pharmacy Times. Accessed January 11, 2023.