Are you planning to become a pharmacist? Pharmacy is the career field with enormous scope. In order to become a certified pharmacist, the person needs to go through the entire process.
It includes completing the undergraduate program, finishing the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program, and getting licensed. Apart from these steps, the individual also needs to have good enough knowledge, skills, and experience in the pharmacy.
Coming to the main question, “what are the age requirements to work in a pharmacy?”
People think too much about this. If you are unsure whether you are eligible to get into this field, note that, there are no age limits to entering in the pharmacy field. No matter whether you are 20 or 40, you can get into this field and get the job. You are never too old for learning something new.
Even if you are older, you need to follow the same procedure to work in the pharmacy.
Is 40 too old to become a pharmacist?
The answer is No. There is no age limit for pharmacist. Even if you are 40 years old, you are free to get pharmacy education, complete Doctor of Pharmacy, obtain license, and become the certified pharmacist.
We have seen many great examples of people getting into this field in their 30s and even 40s and becoming pharmacists. So, there is no age limit to becoming a pharmacist.
It’s not just about the pharmacy. No matter what career profession you want to get into, age is just a number. If you are really passionate about that field, you will achieve your goal. Coming to another question.
How long does it take to become a pharmacist?
Becoming a pharmacist is the step by step process. To become a pharmacist, it’s imperative that you complete all the education, exams, gain sufficient experience, and get the licensed.
The Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) requires a minimum of two years of specific undergraduate college. After the completion of undergraduate study, the applicant needs to complete four academic years of professional pharmacy study.
After completing your pharmacy education and getting the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree, you will not be considered as a certified pharmacist. In order to become a certified and licensed pharmacist, you need to pass the licensure exams. Licensure exam includes NAPLEX (North American Pharmacist Licensure Exam) and MPJE (Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination).
Do you need to be good at math to be a pharmacist?
The answer is YES. You need to have excellent math skills to be a pharmacist. Before even applying for pharmacy school, you need to build your math skills. It includes calculus, biostatistics, pharmacokinetics, and much more.
If you are not good at math, and you want to chase your dream of becoming a pharmacist, you can build your math skills with consistent practice.
Do you have to be 18 to be a pharmacy tech?
It depends on your state. The age requirements to work as a pharmacy technician differs from one state to another, not just age requirements, other requirements as well.
Some states allow teenagers to work as a pharmacy technician, while in some states, you need to be at least 18 in order to be a pharmacy tech. In the majority of states, there is a standard age requirement.
For example, in Virginia and Alabama, the minimum age requirements to be a pharmacy tech is 17. If you are in Virginia or Alabama, you need to be at least 17 years old to work. Retail outlets do technician trainees that are 17 years old.
The National Healthcareer Association (NHA) Certification has a minimum age requirement to work as a pharmacy technician is 18 years. Apart from this, it also requires individuals to have a high school diploma, completion of a formal training program, and also the minimum experience of 1 year before getting into a certification exam.
As the majority of states require pharmacy technicians to take certification exams and pass it, this becomes a standard requirement.
Average Age and How Old Too Old For Pharmacist?
We didn’t want you to only take our word for it on the age of Pharmacists so we went out to forums and found the real opinions of future and past Pharmacists.
This information was curated and the only thing we changed was any spelling or grammar where needed.
Real Pharmacist Opinions
1. Attticus27 “Average age 25” – The avg age is usually 25. Plenty of 30+ up to 50s in all types of grad schools. Not everyone follows the same track after high school for many reasons.
2. UBCmicrobi “The older could be much better” – I’m sorry, but this is absolutely ridiculous. Entering pharm school at 24 is by no means too old, in fact I think that is just about the perfect age!! I would definitely say it is wise to live a little, gain life experience and maturity before entering pharm school.
I started pharm school at 25 (nearly 26), and I don’t have kids or any other special circumstances (unless you count a previous 4 year Bachelor’s degree). Lots of the “older” students will already have a degree, but by no means are they mostly married with kids, already have a career types.
I think waiting and gaining that maturity will put you at an advantage compared to the 20 year olds!!
Good luck!
3. IrishRxMan “First year 50 year olds show never too old” – At my school in the first class there was someone in their early 50’s and a few 40-somethings. I was 29 when I started pharmacy school. You’re never too old to start a new profession unless you’re looking at drawing social security in a few years. (even then it depends on your attitude and outlook on life)
4. UES Girl “Never too old” –
1. Look at UCSF website, avearge entering age is 25.
2. You are asking strangers on the internet how you should feel about it ? :confused: :laugh:
So what if someone thinks it’s too old, do you really give a damn ?
There are people that I know that graduated college at 18 and 14 even !, will graduate medical school by the time I just start, so if I wasted time thinking I was behind or caring about some other nonsense like this, I’d never get things done. There is always going to be someone ahead of you in life, you just do the best you can and feel great about it.
People enter school at a different age (than 22 as you suggesting) because they have different circumstances – I opted to pursue 2 different majors and do research on top of that, even though it took significantly longer for me to graduate than if I haven’t. I don’t regret it one bit. I’m much more ready for school now and have a different attitutde than I have had 2 years ago.
5. Gwarm01 “Graduated when 28” –
Graduated at 28. Took a year off from school after high school to party and be a bum. Did three years of undergrad full-time, then decided to get married and move to a different city. When I transferred colleges I lost some credits and had to retake classes, and also switched from full-time to part-time since I was also working. Once I was accepted into pharmacy school I quit my job, became a full-time student, and worked part-time as an intern at a local hospital.
I’d say I certainly took the scenic path, but I was far from the oldest student at graduation. I may have been slightly higher than average though. I wish I would have powered through school and graduated sooner, but I had a good time so no worries.
6. Zelman “I took the scenic route” – 18 years old when I graduated high school
still 18 when I dropped out of engineering school (after 1 semester)
worked as a full time pharmacy tech for a while
21 when I started a 6 year pharmacy program
27 when I graduated with a PharmD
27 when I started my MS
29 when I finished my MS in Applied Pharmacoeconomics
7. Rxgirly2012 “Any path is fine as long as you finish” – I did 2 years at a community college, then another 3 at a university to get my BS in Biology (also while working part-time as a pharmacy tech). I took a year off to accumulate some funds for when I applied to school (it can be $$$ if you apply to more than a couple of schools) and also took some additional classes I thought would be beneficial for pharm school that I didn’t squeak in during undergrad (Biochem, Immunology, etc.), which was incredibly beneficial. Went to a 3-year school and graduated at 27.
8. Ndearwater “24 is average for going for PharmD” – Two schools where I interviewed last year said the average age was 24.
The youngest in my class is 20 (about 4-5 people). The oldest has a 22 year old daughter, not sure the student’s exact age but you can imagine 45ish.
Most of the people in my class (p1) seem to be between 22-25.
9. OkiePharmD “34 when I started PharmD” – I’m 33 and hope to get in this next fall. I was wasting my life starting a family and having 4 beautiful, wonderful children.:D
Ill be 34…I can still easily work 20 + years and still retire young enough to do a lot of playing.
10. DuskAndLight “Not age that matters” –
People are right, Its not the age that matters, I just have had my life planned out for years growing up in a really bad family. I wanted to go above that and prove myself. I plan on doing the 6 year program but so what. I plan on taking most of those classes and applying to get a bs in chem or somthing. I want more than one degree, I have my C++ certification for computers and I have a few awards for science stuff but I want to diversify. Get a degree as my final perfect job as a pharmacist, have a pysc degree, end up earning diff stuff, so i dont spend my life doing one thing. I dont plan on being in a regular pharmacy, im going to work in a lab and make them or at least try to bring new idea’s in the labortory. Like ways to cure cancer, maybe even a reasercher. I have that plan. or make a program that would expand the reaserch in a more simpler way. I already did a year long project on a theory to cure aids. I was in the top ten of all the competitors.
its not that I live to gain money, I live to help. at least give people a chance.
Requirements to work as a pharmacy technician
As we have seen, the age requirements differ from one state to another. Apart from age, other factors also matter a lot. Here are all the requirements you need to fulfill to work as a pharmacy technician:
- License
- High school diploma or GED
- Application fee
- Fulfill age requirements (depending on the state it could be 17 or 18)
- Certification
- Proof of residency
Apart from these things, some states may ask for copy of photo, self-query report, and/or your fingerprints. Based on the state you want to work as a technician, make sure to fulfill all the requirements.
Can anyone be a pharmacy tech?
Do you want to work as a pharmacy technician without going through any specialized training?
Yes, you can. Note that depending on your state, the requirements may differ. Some states require candidates to register with the state, while some states do not need them.
If you do not want to go through licensing or much training, you can consider Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Main, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, and West Virginia.
These are the states that do require pharmacy technicians to be registered with the state’s Board of Health. However, they do not need to have any specific training or licensing.
When it comes to becoming a pharmacy technician without any specialized training or licensing, the vital thing matters is the individual’s skills and knowledge. You need to convince the interviewer that you have all the skills they are looking for. In a pharmacy tech, hiring managers look for attention to detail, necessary math skills, communication skills, etc.
No matter how old you are, if you are passionate about becoming a pharmacist, you can pursue it. The good thing is there is no age limit to becoming a pharmacist.
