In Germany only doctors can prescribe, but there's a big class of pharmaceutical products that can be sold without a prescription, but only by at pharmacies (e.g. not at a supermarket or convenience store). The vocationally trained pharmacy worker ("technician") can do that selling as well I think, but a university trained ("pharmacist") is required in a supervisorial role (e.g. the "technician" level cannot run their own pharmacy, not even a chain branch).

Much of the university requirement is a bit of an anachronism because a lot of the underlying reasoning is nominally based on the scenario of pharmacists manufacturing their own drugs in the backroom, but fortunately there seems to be a lot of political agreement that opening up requirements for theoretical efficiency gains would only enrich aggressive investors without making health noticeably cheaper.

Oh yes that is correct. Sorry then I compared apples and oranges here. “Pharmacists” in Germany only hand out the medics and produce some. Doctors are the only ones who can prescribe.

Same in US, except pharmacist in the US must go to school for at least 6 years.

I think this is outdated to a degree. Pharmacists like that would be needed in the pharma industry. The times when they mixed ingredients themselves on demand are probably gone.

I think it’s still pretty common; there are plenty of compounding pharmacies in my city. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compounding

A niece of mine is a pharmacy technician at a Walmart in Indiana. She compounds drugs all day long. It's still extremely common.

She had to take a bunch of classes at the local branch of the state university system and then pass a certification.

And then they end up at some fluorescent-lid counter at a Walgreens filling pill boxes. Kind of sad when you think about it.

But then doctors often end up looking at people's rashes all day and handing out hydrocortisone and tylenol.

There's a lot more advanced stuff pharmacists are qualified to do. Pills don't require much work, but liquids and powders may need to be mixed. Also they often can prescribe certain things like morning after pills for birth control.

Also pharmacists work in other places besides retail like hospitals.

They are very well compensated for what they do. The work is less strenuous and mentally taxing than being a line cook.

They are usually the highest paid employees in a store, unless it's a Walmart where the general store manager can make just over six figures.

It's not a terrible gig, with only a 2-year program after your bachelor's.

That’s true in most countries, but pharmacists are trained to understand the side defects of medication better, able to detect mistakes made by doctors (dosage etc) and provide alternatives.