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Pharmacist

Stable

Healthcare

Dispenses medication and advises on drug use in hospitals, community pharmacies and industry. Requires Pharmacy Board Malaysia registration and compulsory service for public-sector graduates; owning a community pharmacy raises mid-career pay.

PharmacyScienceNursing

Picture the job

Where you'd usually workA pharmacy

  • Mostly indoors
  • On your feet for most of the day
  • Dealing with customers or the public
  • Regular working hours

An illustration of a typical workplace, not a photo. The work-style notes come from US O*NET data, so read them as a guide.

Pay in the private market

Monthly pay from fresh grad to mid-career, from the salary guide cited on this page.

Entry

Private
RM3,000 – RM3,800

Mid-career

Private
RM5,000 – RM8,000

Government pay isn't shown: we haven't yet sourced the SSPA civil-service salary tables, and we won't estimate them.

Job demand outlook

Stable

Steady, reliable demand: a consistent number of openings.

Your readiness

How your current SPM subjects line up with this career.

Add your SPM grades to see how ready you are for this career.

Add my grades

How far is this from you?

Roughly how much preparation this job usually takes. In Malaysia your UPU route and the programme's syarat still decide entry, so treat this as a guide, not a gate.

  1. 1

    Entry straight after SPM

  2. 2

    SPM + sijil / short TVET course

  3. 3

    Diploma / TVET (sijil–diploma)

  4. 4

    Degree (ijazah sarjana muda)

  5. Typical entry

    Postgrad (sarjana / PhD) or professional route

Typical educationDoctoral degree
The full route to this careerThe steps from school, UPU programmes and sourced costs, read against your answers.

How to get here

Post-SPM pathways with programmes in this career's fields. Tap one to see real programmes and entry requirements.

Matriculation

One or two years, heavily subsidised with allowance. Competitive, quota-based entry.

12–24 months

Asasi / Foundation

One-year runway into a specific university: public via UPU or private direct entry.

12 months
Compare routes against your results and interests

Programmes that lead here

Programmes from the official UPU (KPT) and MQA catalogues whose field of study typically leads to this career. Matched by field, not a job guarantee.

Search the programme catalogue

Check what you may qualify for

Enter your SPM grades and see which routes and programmes you may qualify for. An estimate to plan with, not an offer.

Check my eligibility Not sure yet? Take the quiz

Quick answers

How do you become a Pharmacist in Malaysia?

Routes after SPM that lead here include Matriculation and Asasi / Foundation.

What should I study to become a Pharmacist?

Related fields of study: Pharmacy, Science and Nursing. SPM subjects that help most: Biology, Chemistry, Additional Mathematics and Mathematics.

How much does a Pharmacist earn in Malaysia?

Published figures put starting pay at RM3,000 – RM3,800 a month, and RM5,000 – RM8,000 with experience (source: Indeed Malaysia, Jan 2025).

Biotechnology & STEM · Career guide

Pharmacist

Dispenses and checks medicines and supports their appropriate use.

Work overview based on O*NET occupation sources; Malaysian study examples and context are linked below. Actual requirements depend on the programme and post.

What does the work involve?
  • Review prescriptions and medicine use.
  • Explain medicine use and related considerations.
  • Manage medicine preparation or supply within the practice scope.
O*NET — Pharmacists (work overview; US occupation data) ↗
Work settings and skills

Community pharmacies, hospitals or other professional pharmacy settings, depending on the post.

  • Reading Comprehension
  • Active Listening
  • Speaking
O*NET — Pharmacists (work overview; US occupation data) ↗
Study areas and planning after SPM

A pharmacy degree recognised by the Pharmacy Board Malaysia.

Planning example: SPM → a pre-university route meeting programme requirements → a recognised pharmacy degree → the applicable Pharmacy Board Malaysia qualification, training and registration process.

Check the exact qualification and institution against the Pharmacy Board Malaysia list of registrable degrees.

These are study areas to explore, not verified admission rules for every programme. Check special requirements, recognition and curriculum directly with the institution.

Further study and professional checks

Choose further study according to the area you want to deepen and the post's requirements. Compare coursework and research modes and read the university's admission criteria.

A medicine-related degree is not automatically a registrable pharmacy qualification. Check recognition and the current examination and registration requirements.

Check the actual vacancy before treating a qualification as sufficient. Study or training does not guarantee admission or employment.

Sources and checked date

Checked: 2026-11-10

What you'd do all day

The tasks that matter most in this job, most important first.

  1. 1Review prescriptions to assure accuracy, to ascertain the needed ingredients, and to evaluate their suitability.
  2. 2Assess the identity, strength, or purity of medications.
  3. 3Provide information and advice regarding drug interactions, side effects, dosage, and proper medication storage.
  4. 4Analyze prescribing trends to monitor patient compliance and to prevent excessive usage or harmful interactions.
  5. 5Maintain records, such as pharmacy files, patient profiles, charge system files, inventories, control records for radioactive nuclei, or registries of poisons, narcotics, or controlled drugs.
  6. 6Collaborate with other health care professionals to plan, monitor, review, or evaluate the quality or effectiveness of drugs or drug regimens, providing advice on drug applications or characteristics.
  7. 7Plan, implement, or maintain procedures for mixing, packaging, or labeling pharmaceuticals, according to policy and legal requirements, to ensure quality, security, and proper disposal.
  8. 8Order and purchase pharmaceutical supplies, medical supplies, or drugs, maintaining stock and storing and handling it properly.
  9. 9Compound and dispense medications as prescribed by doctors and dentists, by calculating, weighing, measuring, and mixing ingredients, or oversee these activities.
  10. 10Contact insurance companies to resolve billing issues.
  11. 11Work in hospitals or clinics or for Health Management Organizations (HMOs), dispensing prescriptions, serving as a medical team consultant, or specializing in specific drug therapy areas, such as oncology or nuclear pharmacotherapy.
  12. 12Advise customers on the selection of medication brands, medical equipment, or healthcare supplies.
  13. 13Update or troubleshoot pharmacy information databases.
  14. 14Manage pharmacy operations, hiring or supervising staff, performing administrative duties, or buying or selling non-pharmaceutical merchandise.
  15. 15Prepare sterile solutions or infusions for use in surgical procedures, emergency rooms, or patients' homes.
  16. 16Teach pharmacy students serving as interns in preparation for their graduation or licensure.
  17. 17Offer health promotion or prevention activities, such as training people to use blood pressure devices or diabetes monitors.
  18. 18Provide specialized services to help patients manage conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, smoking cessation, or high blood pressure.
  19. 19Refer patients to other health professionals or agencies when appropriate.
  20. 20Publish educational information for other pharmacists, doctors, or patients.

Also known as

What this job is called on JobStreet, LinkedIn and in job ads. Search these too.

  • PIC
  • Pharm D
  • Druggist
  • Apothecary
  • Pharmacist
  • Pharmacists
  • Prescriptionist
  • Radiopharmacist
  • Float Pharmacist
  • Pharmacy Resident

Subjects that matter here

The SPM subjects worth your effort for this career, with the reason for each.

BiologyDraws directly on Medicine and Dentistry — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
ChemistryDraws directly on Medicine and Dentistry — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
Additional MathematicsDraws directly on Mathematics — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
MathematicsDraws directly on Mathematics — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
EnglishDraws directly on English Language — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).

What you'd need to know

The subject areas this job leans on most, and the SPM subjects that build them.

  • Medicine and Dentistry93%

    BiologyChemistry

  • Mathematics90%

    Additional MathematicsMathematics

  • Customer and Personal Service83%
  • English Language83%

    English

  • Chemistry82%

    Chemistry

  • Biology79%

    BiologyAdditional Science

Skills to build

EmpathyCalm under pressureTeamwork

Tools you'd use

Software and equipment that show up in this job, worth learning early.

Where to learn these, free

Scholarships & funding

What the work feels like

Day-to-day working conditions, so you can tell whether the job suits how you like to work.

  • Face-to-face discussionsEvery day
  • Contact with other peopleConstant contact
  • Dealing with customers or the publicVery high
  • Leading or coordinating othersVery high
  • Handling conflict situationsOften
  • Indoors, air-conditionedEvery day
  • Outdoors, in all weatherAlmost never
  • Noisy environmentAlmost never

AI and demand for this job

A few real, dated data points, not a single score. AI making some tasks faster usually means a job changes, not that it disappears.

29%

Share of everyday tasks today's AI can already help with (2023)

This estimate is from 2023, already out of date, since AI moves fast. Treat it as a rough, aging starting point, not the current picture.

0.13%

Of Malaysian Claude conversations, about this kind of work

Measures how much people use Claude for this work, not how many Malaysians do this job, and more AI use can mean people relying on it, not that it's replacing them.

Growing role in the US

US Bureau of Labor Statistics data, not Malaysian. Shown because it's the only forward-looking demand estimate we have for this job.

On Malaysia's official shortage list

TalentCorp and ILMIA's Critical Occupations List, evidence of a real hiring shortage in Malaysia right now.

Pharmacists · Shortage indicators met: 6/11

What beginner adverts asked for

We read 28 internship and fresh-graduate adverts in related fields (August 2026). A small sample from one job site, not every vacancy.

14 of 28 were internships

Allowance or pay, when stated

RM800 – RM2,000

17 of 28 adverts printed an amount: usually between RM800 and RM2,000 a month. Many print none.

Minimum CGPA asked

3.00 to 3.00

Stated in 2 adverts. Others did not state one.

Languages named

Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin

An empty line means the adverts did not say, not that employers have no requirement. Check each employer's own advert before you plan around it.

Related careers

If this interests you, these are worth a look too.

About this information

This describes what the job involves. Pay, demand and entry routes differ in Malaysia, so check the Pathways and Programmes pages for local requirements.

O*NET occupation: Pharmacists

Source: Indeed Malaysia · as of Jan 2025

Check the salary figures yourself:Indeed Malaysia

Job responsibilities, knowledge areas and work context from O*NET 30.3, US Department of Labor, used under CC BY 4.0. onetcenter.org