A pharmacy technician is an exciting and emerging career for many
as more and more individuals are dependent on medications and as
more and more conditions are finding cures with pharmaceuticals.
Pharmacy technicians are vital to the business of the local pharmacy
and going through a proper training program will help ensure you
are hired for the best and most well paid pharmacy technician position
available.
The Role of a Pharmacy Technician
Just what does a pharmacy technician do? The pharmacy technician
does many things behind the counter to keep the pharmacy running.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics pharmacy technicians
complete several things during a given shift. The major goal of
the pharmacy technician is to help licensed pharmacists get medication
and other such products to patients. To that end the technician
verifies prescriptions, ensures everything is correct on the prescription
and makes sure that all needed information is on the prescription.
Then in preparing the medication the technician retrieves, counts,
pours, weighs, measures, and sometimes mixes medication. Then the
technician makes medication labels, chooses a container for the
medication, and applies the label and any additional warning labels
to the container. The Pharmacists checks all medications the pharmacy
technician has prepared prior their release to the patient. The
technician then prices and files the prescriptions, maintains patient
profiles, files insurance claims, takes inventory and stocks shelves.
If a patient has any questions regarding medications or health the
pharmacist is the one to answer all questions that patients have.
The technician is not to render any advice or answer health and
prescription related questions. Some technicians can work in a hospital
setting where their roles are a little bit different as they have
a bit more responsibility.
Career Path
The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that Technicians who are
successful often find themselves as supervisors, mentors or trainers.
Another option is to go into pharmaceutical sales. Still others
choose to go into specialized medical fields like chemo therapy
or nuclear pharmacy technician.
Pharmacy Technician Education Programs
Students entering into a Pharmacy
Technician Program generally enter with a specific set of
skills such as a high school diploma or GED, no history or record
of drug abuse in their past. In addition a love of customer service,
listening to people, attention to detail, ability to be alert, observant,
organized and responsible are vital. Math, spelling and reading
skills complete the list of required skills. Teamwork is important
but it is also important to be able to work independently. These
skills are vital to success according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
If you have some or all of these skills than look into this program.
In the Pharmacy
Technician Schools students learn from books and labs. The
courses include medical and pharmaceutical terminology, pharmaceutical
calculations, pharmacy record keeping, pharmaceutical techniques,
pharmacy laws and pharmacy ethics. In addition to all these vital
courses students in a Pharmacy Technician Education Program will
also learn medication names, generic alternative names, mechanisms
of actions, usages of medications and doses of medication. According
to the Bureau of Labor Statistics an Internship is often the end
requirement of a Pharmacy Technician Education Program. Depending
on the type of Pharmacy Technician Education Program you enrolled
in you will either receive a certificate of training completion
or an associate’s degree so, choose carefully.
Why should I go into a Pharmacy Technician Education Program?
While some pharmacies do train technicians onsite it is not the
formal training that one receives from training programs. It is
job specific and isn’t transferrable. That is it’s not
universal. Pharmacies are more likely to hire someone who has attended
and completed a Pharmacy Technician Education Program and that individual
is likely to make more money during their career. The pharmacy technician
position career is expected to grow 32% over the next few years
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Get started now. View a complete list of Pharmacy
Technician Schools
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