When Raya Al-Shaikhly was a little girl, she used to pretend to be a pharmacist, emulating her own pharmacist parents. It’s little wonder she followed their path and in 2014 completed a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy at Lebanese American University in Lebanon.

“I was surrounded by a pharmacy environment and I remember that I went with my mother to her pharmacy several times,” says Al-Shaikhly, whose mother owned a pharmacy in Iraq before retiring. Her father is currently the dean of the pharmacy school at Al Rasheed University College in Iraq.

Al-Shaikhly emigrated from Baghdad, Iraq, to Jordan following the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. After getting married and moving to Lebanon, she began her pharmacy degree at LAU, which she describes as having “an excellent reputation, ACPE accreditation, dedication and commitment of faculty, preceptors, advisers and staff.” The university offers Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees.

[Explore which Arab region universities produce the best pharmaceutical research.]

Al-Shaikhly, who received training in a community and hospital pharmacy as part of her program, says she is proud of her accomplishments, including graduating with distinction. She also gave birth to two children during the course of the five-year program.

The six-year Doctor of Pharmacy is the only such program outside the U.S. that is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, a U.S.-based organization responsible for the accreditation of professional degree programs in pharmacy. Anthony Capomacchia, an associate professor and the assistant dean for student affairs in pharmaceutical sciences at LAU, says the school was recently re-accredited for the maximum allowance of eight years. Pharm.D. grads, he says, can sit for licensure and practice in any state in the U.S.

While the job market for pharmacists in the Middle East varies from country to country, in general there is great demand for pharmacists, particularly in the Gulf, says Tarek Aboul-Fadl, a professor of medicinal chemistry and vice dean for education and student affairs in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Assiut University in Egypt.

Aboul-Fadl says Assiut offers both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in pharmaceutical sciences and clinical pharmacy, as well as a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences. He says the university has 12 undergraduate students from Syria and Bahrain studying pharmacy, out of around 3,500 students, and undergraduate and graduate alumni from several Arab countries.

[Check out other medical education options in the Arab region.]

“Our graduates typically find jobs at drug stores; drug companies, either local or international, in production lines or as medical representatives; hospitals; and food and drug assurance labs,” says Aboul-Fadl.

The average salary for pharmacists in the Middle East varies based on country and position. Aboul-Fadl says, for example, the average monthly salary in Egypt for a retail pharmacist working in a drug store is 1,200 Egyptian pounds (about $153) a month. For a medical representative, it is 3,000 Egyptian pounds (about $383) a month, and for a hospital pharmacist and pharmacists working in production lines in local drug companies it is 2,000 Egyptian pounds (about $255) a month.

“However, these numbers are multiplied at least five times in Saudi Arabia,” says Aboul-Fadl.

Cecilia Chui, a senior analyst for IHS Life Sciences, which provides global industry insights, says the Middle East pharmaceutical industry is growing along with “ambitious health care reform from some of the governments in the region.” She says that will likely lead to “a higher demand of pharmacists with a more heavily invested health care system.”

This could bode well for expatriate pharmacists seeking employment in Gulf countries. For example, Saudi Arabia is the largest pharmaceutical market in the Gulf, with 59.4 percent of the Gulf’s overall pharmaceutical industry and with the most advanced health care system in the region, according to Chui’s research.

Chui found that many staff members in the health authorities, such as the Ministry of Health and Saudi Food and Drug Authority, who are involved in the pricing or approval of medicines hold a pharmacy degree — which highlights other career paths in the health care sector available to pharmacy students.

“Local pharmaceutical manufacturing is extensive in some countries, such as Egypt, and with this comes opportunities for employment for pharmacists in production and sales in industry,” she says.

Chui says that countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates “suffer from a shortage of locally qualified pharmacists” but says that some countries only permit nationals to practice pharmacy and do not license expatriates.

[Find out the factors to consider when choosing a university in the Arab region.]

Lebanon is among them. As such, recent LAU grad Al-Shaikhly is weighing her career options. She is contemplating whether to pursue a Pharm.D. at LAU, which would allow her to sit for licensure in the U.S. She has also considered working as a pharmacist alongside a registered pharmacist in Lebanon and has applied to pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies.

“I’m enjoying spending time with my family and kids, but still have the desire to work,” says Al-Shaikhly. “I hope one day I can go back to my country, Iraq, and work there.”

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Arab Region Pharmacy Schools Prep Students for Multiple Career Paths originally appeared on usnews.com