A critical care pharmacist is a specialized clinical pharmacist who works in an intensive care unit (ICU) or critical care unit as part of a treatment team of doctors and nurses (CCU). A critical care pharmacist works within an intensive care unit with an embedded unit or adjacent pharmacy, rather than filling medication orders from a remote hospital pharmacy for a patient known only by name. A critical care pharmacist is familiar with each patient’s diagnoses, prognosis, treatments, and, of course, allergies and medications as part of the treatment team. To the rest of the treatment team, she frequently suggests medication alternatives, administration protocols, and dosage calculation formulas. To become a critical care pharmacist, you must first earn a bachelor’s degree, then a master’s degree, state licensure, and specialty certifications as a clinical pharmacist.
In the United States, the first step toward becoming a critical care pharmacist is to enroll in and complete a bachelor’s degree program in biology, chemistry, or a related field. The pharmacy field is extremely competitive, and admission to a pharmacy school is based on undergraduate grades, so students must strive for the highest possible grades. Most undergraduate students find themselves studying twice as much as usual while completing their degree requirements and preparing for the Pharmacy College Admission Test, which is required for admission to pharmacy school (PCAT). Students begin applying for admission to schools that offer a Doctor of Pharmacy (D. Pharm) degree as they near the end of their undergraduate degree requirements. Admission to pharmacy school is determined by a student’s undergraduate grades and PCAT score, as well as any other criteria that the school deems important.
Pharmacy school is the second educational hurdle to overcome in order to become a critical care pharmacist. Depending on the subjects studied as an undergraduate, a Doctor of Pharmacy degree usually takes two to four years to complete. A four-year bachelor’s degree in pharmacy science was once available, but with the profession’s growing professional status, this option has been eliminated. Students rotate through outpatient and inpatient clinical interactions with patients in addition to physiology, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics classes.
A graduate pharmacist must pass an examination for licensure in the state or states where she wishes to practice after completing pharmacy school. Before working as a clinical pharmacist in a hospital, a licensed pharmacist may be required to complete study and certification in clinical pharmacology, depending on the state and the specific healthcare facility. Additional certification in cardiology, infectious disease, or another specialty, as provided by the Board of Pharmacy Specialties, may be required to secure this type of position within an intensive care unit (BPS).