Cherry Hill is closer to Center City than most of Montgomery County is. For a pharmacist, though, the Delaware River is not a commute — it is a licensing boundary. Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs sit under one board; Camden, Burlington and Gloucester counties sit under another. A pharmacist who lives in the region and holds only one of the two licenses is, for practical purposes, working half the market.
This is an orientation, not legal guidance. Licensure in Pennsylvania is governed by the Pennsylvania State Board of Pharmacy under the Pennsylvania Department of State, and in New Jersey by the New Jersey Board of Pharmacy within the Division of Consumer Affairs. Each is the only authority on its own requirements, and they change; check both directly before planning around a date.
Why the second license matters more here than in most places
In a metro that sits wholly inside one state, a second license is a nice-to-have. In the Philadelphia region it changes the shape of your week. A pharmacist in Cherry Hill with a New Jersey license alone can cover Camden and Burlington counties; with a Pennsylvania license as well, Delaware County, the city and lower Bucks County come within the same drive. A pharmacist in Northeast Philadelphia is in the same position in reverse.
For relief work specifically — where the value of being on a roster is being able to say yes — the number of pharmacies you are eligible to cover matters more than almost anything else on your profile.
How a second license is usually obtained
A pharmacist already licensed in one state generally applies to a second state by license transfer (sometimes called reciprocity or endorsement) rather than by sitting the full examination sequence again. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) operates the license-transfer process that boards use to verify your existing license. Each receiving board then applies its own conditions — typically including a jurisprudence examination on that state's law — and those conditions are set independently by each state.
The slow part is usually paperwork rather than the board itself. Have these ready before you start:
- License verification from every state you have ever been licensed in, including lapsed or inactive licenses
- Your practice history with dates and employers
- Documentation for any name change, so records match across states
- An explanation, in your own words, of anything in your history a board would ask about
Keeping two licenses current
Two licenses means two renewal cycles and two sets of continuing-education rules, which do not necessarily line up. Pharmacists who hold several licenses tend to keep one calendar with every renewal date and CE requirement on it, rather than relying on reminder emails from two different boards. A lapsed second license quietly removes half your eligible shifts until it is restored.
Working the region through HCC
We are building our pharmacist team on both sides of the river. You can see the current postings for Philadelphia, Delaware County, Bucks County, Montgomery County, Cherry Hill and Camden County and Mount Laurel and Burlington County.
An active license — or an application already in progress — in either state is enough to start the conversation. Register as a pharmacist with HCC and tell us which licenses you hold and which you are working on. Assignments go through HCC as independent-contractor engagements, and you hear the pharmacy, the schedule and the terms before anything is sent on your behalf.