The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most regulated industries on the planet—and with good reason. Whether a pharmaceutical product is providing much-needed pain-relief to a patient or helping to rid them of a tough bacterial infection, pharmaceutical products need to work properly and predictably each time they are taken. That’s why drug manufacturers need to employ dedicated professionals with a top education in order to ensure that pharmaceutical products are always of the highest quality.
If you’re interested in this in-demand career path, then completing your diploma in quality assurance and quality control is crucial. Throughout your training, you’ll learn everything from good manufacturing practices to dissolution testing, which you’ll need to make a smooth transition into your future career path.
But once you graduate and secure your first job in quality assurance, what will your workdays be like? Read on to discover what a career in quality assurance includes, and why it just might be the perfect career path for you.
Why Quality Assurance is Important: What Students Learn During their Pharma Courses
Pharmaceutical products need to meet strict safety guidelines and regulation. That’s why to become a quality assurance professional, you’ll need to complete a thorough education. As you begin your pharma courses, you’ll gain an in-depth knowledge of important topics, including—but not limited to—the following:
- Post Approval Activities and Compliance
- Pharmaceutical Dissolution Testing
- Pharmaceutical Laboratory Testing
- High Performance Liquid Chromatography
- Labeling and Product Summaries
- Good Manufacturing Practices
- Workplace Hazardous Material Information Systems (WHMIS)
- Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Methods
- Technical Writing and Scientific Communication
There’s an important reason why each of these courses is included in the curriculum. As you’ll soon learn, they will each play an important role in your future career in pharmaceutical quality assurance. For example, once you begin your career in quality assurance, you might be asked to update all production records. This means that you might apply what you learned about good manufacturing practices as well as use your technical writing skills—and that’s only for one task.
Students develop the hands-on skills they need to make a smooth transition into their future career
The Duties of a Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance Professional
Once you complete the Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance and Quality Control Diploma Program at AAPS, you’ll get to take the next step in your career journey. You could view our job openings page to see which new positions are available for AAPS graduates, or you could simply begin your career search through your favourite job search website. But no matter which employer you decide to work for, there are a few important duties that you’ll be responsible for throughout your future career.
Pharmaceutical quality assurance professionals work in the quality assurance (QA) department of a pharmaceutical manufacturer. As such, they are responsible for ensuring that each product properly follows both company and governmental regulations.
Pharmaceutical quality assurance professionals evaluate each step of the production process
Quality assurance professionals help both create and monitor document control programs, Quality Systems, and standard operating procedures. That’s why a sound knowledge of good manufacturing practices is a must for these professionals. If you have a keen eye for detail, then you’ll be well suited to this position. Throughout your workday you might write up procedures to be followed, or evaluate current systems to see if there are any areas for improvement. If you spot a potential contaminant or other mishap, it’ll be your responsibility to report the situation as soon as possible so that it can quickly be fixed.
Because quality assurance professionals are also responsible for writing up procedures and sometimes even preparing training manuals, your technical writing and communication skills will come in handy throughout your future career in quality assurance. Other duties that might fill up your future workday include:
- performing quality audits
- designing and implementing a quality assurance system
- ensuring that proper documentation is written
- reporting and documenting any manufacturing problems
As a result, no two days will ever be the same once you start your career!
Trying to decide between pharmaceutical certification programs?
Visit our website or speak with one of our advisors to see which pharmaceutical program is the right fit for your career goals.