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Studies & Degrees in Geriatric Pharmaceutical Care

Geriatric pharmaceutical care is the part of pharmacy practice that looks after the medicines of older people. Its aim is that each person takes the medicines that suit them, at the right dose, and avoids those that carry more risk than benefit. It is a specialisation within pharmacy, not a separate first degree.

The need for it grows as populations age. The World Health Organization (WHO) expects that by 2030 one in six people in the world will be aged 60 or over, and that between 2015 and 2050 the share of the world's population over 60 will nearly double, from 12% to 22%. As people age they are more likely to live with several long-term illnesses and to take several medicines at once, which the WHO treats as a patient safety priority in its 2019 technical report on medication safety in polypharmacy. In the United States, more than 88% of older people use at least one prescription medicine and more than 66% use three or more in any given month, according to national health statistics cited by the American Geriatrics Society (AGS).

What students learn

Training builds on general pharmacology and adds what changes with age: how the body handles medicines differently, how illnesses and medicines interact, and how to review a long list of prescriptions. A standard tool is the AGS Beers Criteria, a list of medicines that older people should potentially avoid or use with caution. It was first developed in 1991, the AGS has maintained it since 2011, and the latest update dates from 2023. Its lists cover, among other cases, medicines to avoid with specific health conditions, combinations with a risk of harmful interactions, and medicines to dose differently when kidney function is reduced.

Students also learn to work in a team. The Spanish Society of Hospital Pharmacy describes the frail chronic patient as someone with several illnesses, multiple medicines, functional decline and geriatric syndromes, and sees the pharmacist as a key member of the multidisciplinary team that cares for them.

Qualifications and levels

The route starts with a pharmacy degree and continues with postgraduate training.

  • United States: pharmacists typically need a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree, which usually takes four years, and every state requires a licence. Those who want a clinical position may complete a residency or fellowship of one to two years, and may earn a certification in a specialty area, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
  • Spain: pharmacist is a regulated profession. The bachelor's degree (grado) in Farmacia has 300 ECTS credits under Order CIN/2137/2008, and its required competences include clinical and social pharmacy following the pharmaceutical care cycle. Specialisation in older patients comes afterwards, through postgraduate study and hospital practice.
  • Short courses: universities and professional bodies offer continuing education in the field. At the University of Maryland, for example, the Peter Lamy Center on Drug Therapy and Aging is the school of pharmacy's focal point for research, education and clinical initiatives in geriatric pharmacotherapy.

Course names vary: geriatric pharmacy, geriatric pharmacotherapy, senior care pharmacy or pharmaceutical care for older people. Ask each school what qualification the course gives and what recognition it has.

Where to study

SpainExchange lists three active schools for this subject, one each in Ukraine, the United States and Argentina.

  • Bukovinian State Medical University in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, lists Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacy among the specialities it has trained since 1944.
  • Saint Louis University in St. Louis, United States, has a Division of Geriatric Medicine in its School of Medicine. The division offers fellowship training and houses the Gateway Geriatric Education Center, which provides resources on older adult care for students, professionals and caregivers.
  • Fundación CIEP in Villa María, Argentina, is a training foundation with short vocational courses and officially recognised higher-level programmes. Ask the school which course in this area it currently offers.

Because the list is short, it is worth looking at pharmacy faculties in general and asking whether they offer an elective, a postgraduate course or a residency focused on older patients.

Careers

Pharmacists with this training work in hospitals, community pharmacies and care homes, reviewing treatments and advising doctors, nurses, patients and carers. There are no separate official statistics for the speciality. For pharmacists as a whole, the BLS counted about 325,200 jobs in the United States in 2025, with pharmacies and drug retailers (37%) and hospitals (32%) as the largest employers. It projects employment to grow 5 percent from 2025 to 2035.

Frequently asked questions

Can I study geriatric pharmaceutical care as a first degree?

No. It is a specialisation. You first need a pharmacy qualification, such as a Pharm.D. in the United States or the 300-credit degree in Farmacia in Spain, and then take postgraduate or continuing education.

What are the Beers Criteria?

They are a list, maintained by the American Geriatrics Society, of medicines that older people should potentially avoid or use with caution. The society presents them as a clinical, educational and quality assurance tool.

How long does the training take?

It depends on the country. In the United States a Pharm.D. usually takes four years and a residency one to two more. In Spain the pharmacy degree has 300 ECTS credits, which is five academic years.