How to Become a Pharmacist in Mexico City?

July 16, 2008 5:16 PM

Farmacias mexicanas: Cuéntenme de los requísitos para ser farmacista en DF. (How to legally become a pharmacist in Mexico?)

I'm helping someone who is moving to DF. She is an American pharmacist who would like to know how to use her Pharm.D. in Mexico City. Does anyone know what is required to do this - school, exam? Any help you can provide is appreciated.

posted by mynameismandab to law & government (2 comments total)

I have no idea, but she could contact the UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México). I think the equivalent degree might be Chemical Pharmaceutical Biology (I don't know if that's the most accurate translation).
posted by clearlydemon at 8:08 PM on July 16

We don't really have pharmacists in Mexico nowadays. At least not in the U.S. sense of the word. Your corner farmacia will be little more than a drugstore that sells brand name pillls. Sometimes they will demand a doctor's prescription, if the pills in question are in the 'dangerous' or in the 'can make meth with this' list. There will be no on-site mixing of active components and no little orange tubes as depicted in the movies.

They will probably have a QFB (Químico Fármaco-Biólogo) on the premises, which is what clearlydemon linked to, as the party responsible for handling and selling drugs, from a legal point of view.

Having said that, a college degree from the U.S. is not something to be sneezed at down here. Especially something as highly technical as your friend's qualifications. If she can tell you what it is she wants to do with a little more precision, jobs are plentiful in the field. Some quick Googling results in a very promising first link.

Good luck, and Mefi Mail me if I can help.
posted by Cobalt at 9:50 PM on July 16