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Career · Medicine and health

Pharmacist

Checks medicines, storage conditions and records, and helps people understand information about medicines.

What a day looks like

Imagine a pharmacist working a shift in a community pharmacy. This is an illustrative day, not every pharmacy’s timetable. Before opening, the pharmacist checks temperature records, receives a delivery and compares packages with the paperwork. A damaged box or a quality concern cannot simply be put on a shelf: the pharmacist follows the established procedure and informs the responsible colleague. Similar names and different forms of the same medicine need particular attention.

Visitors then arrive. The pharmacist reads prescriptions carefully, checks the necessary information and contacts a medical professional if something is unclear. They explain information from the leaflet in plain language, protect privacy and stay within their qualifications. A conversation may be harder than checking a package: someone is anxious, in a hurry or cannot remember a product’s name. Calm, accurate communication matters more than promising an instant answer.

Between visitors, the pharmacist checks expiry dates, updates stock records and completes paperwork. Some of the day is spent at a computer and some standing. At handover, they note unresolved questions and explain important changes to a colleague. Hospital, manufacturing and laboratory roles involve different tasks, including quality control, supply and research. If you enjoy chemistry but prefer less customer contact, explore these settings too. A school student can try source checking and fictional record keeping, without selecting treatments, mixing medicines or giving dosage advice.

Try it yourself this week

  • 30 minutes

    Ask a science question and check the answer in two sources

    1. Choose a question about chemistry, biology, physics or space that really interests you, for example: why does a vaccine protect you if you haven't had the disease yet?
    2. Write down your guess — what you think now, before you search.
    3. Find the answer in two different sources: a textbook, a popular science website, an encyclopedia. Write down where they agree and where they differ.
    4. Note which source you trust more and why, and how the answer differs from your guess.

    What you'll learn about yourself: Whether you like digging down to the real explanation and comparing sources — or the first answer you find is enough for you.

  • 35 minutes

    Make a home first-aid guide from a reliable source

    1. Choose three everyday situations: a cut, a burn from hot water, a nosebleed.
    2. Find out what to do from a reliable source: a school textbook, the Red Crescent website or a clinic's website. Don't take advice from comments.
    3. For each situation, write 3–4 short steps and one line: “when to call 103 or 112 urgently”.
    4. Show the guide to an adult and ask if everything is clear. Note which part was harder for you: working it out, or imagining blood and pain.

    What you'll learn about yourself: Whether you're interested in how the body works and how to help someone — and how you feel about the unpleasant side: blood, pain, responsibility.

What you can do next

  1. Next 3 months

    • Explore a pharmacist’s responsibilities

      Read the O*NET occupation profile and make two columns: working with people and working with records. Choose three tasks you would like to understand better.

    • Check scientific information

      Complete t21 with a question about dissolving a substance from school chemistry. Compare a textbook and a scientific source; do not use medicines in an experiment.

  2. In six months

    • Make a fictional storage log

      Invent products, delivery dates and storage periods. Mark what needs checking first in a table; do not inspect your household medicine cabinet independently.

    • Interview a professional

      With a teacher or adult, arrange an interview with a pharmacist. Ask about checks, instructions and difficult conversations, without discussing other people’s medical information.

  3. In a year

    • Compare two study routes

      Explore the KazNMU and SKMA programmes. List subjects and questions about placements; ask the universities about current admission requirements.

    • Build a small portfolio

      Bring together your table, scientific source comparison and interview notes. Write what you enjoyed and what was difficult, and discuss your observations with a mentor.

What it pays

No verified information is available in this section yet.

Where to study

Universities

You apply after grade 11, based on your UNT results.

How to get into college

College gets you a profession faster than university. You can apply after grade 9 or after grade 11.

  • Colleges accept students both after grade 9 and after grade 11. After grade 9 you study longer — about 3 years 10 months; after grade 11, about 2 years 10 months. The exact length depends on the college and the specialty.
    Source: kchk.edu.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • About 80% of students admitted to colleges in the 2024/25 school year study on a state order, which means in state-funded places (in 2023/24 it was about 70%). But each college and each specialty has its own number of state-funded places.
    Source: inbusiness.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • There are also paid colleges. For example, training as a nurse at ADILMED costs 450,000 ₸ per year. Check the price and conditions on the college's website.
    Source: adilmed.kz (opens in a new tab)
UNT: which subjects to take for university

The UNT (Unified National Testing) is Kazakhstan's national university entrance test. You need it to get into university after grade 11.

  • The UNT 2026 has three compulsory subjects: History of Kazakhstan, Reading Literacy and Mathematical Literacy. On top of these, you take two profile subjects, chosen to match your specialty.
    Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • In total, the test has 120 questions (maximum 140 points) and you get 4 hours. The format is the same as in 2025.
    Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • Profile subjects depend on the group of specialties. For example: information technology — Mathematics and Computer Science; nursing and veterinary medicine — Biology and Chemistry; electrical engineering — Mathematics and Physics; law — World History and Fundamentals of Law. The full list is published by the National Testing Center.
    Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • For creative specialties (for example, media and design), you take History of Kazakhstan and Reading Literacy through the UNT, and two creative exams at the university itself.
    Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • Some universities have their own admission rules. Nazarbayev University, for example, requires a UNT score of at least 85, a GPA of 4.0 and English at IELTS 6.0 level.
    Source: nu.edu.kz (opens in a new tab)

Courses and opportunities

No verified information is available in this section yet.

History of the career

One way to explore pharmacy history is to follow the shift from descriptions of medicinal materials to testable research. Tu Youyou entered the pharmacy department of Peking University’s medical school, studying substances and analytical methods.

Her later team examined traditional texts, but did more than repeat recipes: isolation of a substance was followed by work on its chemistry, pharmacology and stability, and by clinical studies. Plant research thus became part of developing artemisinin. This example shows how modern pharmacy combines chemistry, documentation and quality control. A historical description of a remedy alone does not establish its safety or effectiveness.

Source: nobelprize.org (opens in a new tab)

Well-known people in this field

Article sources

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