Pharmacy Technician: A Worthy Career
 If you are
looking for a career in the field of healthcare that will open up a wide door of opportunities and
earning potential, then becoming a pharmacy technician is something that you may want to think
about. As a pharmacy tech, your primary role is to provide assistance to a licensed pharmacist in
order to ensure that the pharmacy is running smoothly and efficiently. You can expect to be involved
in tasks such as preparing prescription medications, attending to customer needs, and providing
assistance in administrative duties in such environment. One of the best ways of becoming successful as
a pharmacy technologist is by undergoing a formal training program and receiving pharmaceutical tech
certification.
A typical day for a pharmacy tech involves receiving prescription requests, labelling of medicine
bottles, counting and weighing tablets, and mixing medications. Upon filling of a prescription, it
will then be priced and filed, and then a licensed pharmacist proceeds to check if everything is
complete and in order before the prescription drug is given to a patient. Besides working with
prescription drugs, a pharmacy technician may also be involved with administrative tasks such as
maintaining patient profiles, answering phone calls, performing inventory of medications, processing
of insurance claim forms, and handling of cash register transactions.
Pharmaceutical techs work under the direct supervision of licensed pharmacists. Besides hospitals and
retail/mail-order pharmacies, they may also find employment in medical stores, nursing homes, health
and personal care stores, and in assisted living facilities as well. Work environment is also
something to look forward to in this career because the workplace is usually somewhere that is
clean, well—ventilated, organized, and well-lighted. Work schedules will vary depending on the place
of employment, but it is not uncommon to be required to work on nightshifts, weekends, and holidays
as well, especially in pharmacies that have 24-hour operating hours.
Even though there are no formal training requirements for pharmacy technicians, enrolling in a
formal training program offered by pharmacy technician schools is recommended since it can provide
an individual with a broad range of employment opportunities and a higher earning potential. Formal
training programs accredited by such schools or colleges are offered in vocational schools,
community colleges, and in select hospitals as well. These can be completed in as short as 6 months
and as long as 2 years and usually consist of theoretical studies and laboratory work that tackles
relevant law, working ethics, pharmaceutical terminology, pharmaceutical calculations, and proper
record keeping.
A career as a pharmacy technologist also presents an individual with an excellent
job outlook since
employment is forecasted to increase by 31 percent through the year 2018 based on the statistics
provided by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Since prescription drugs will always
be in demand regardless of the economic situation, job security is generally not an issue for this
career. Excellent employment opportunities await pharmacy technicians with a good educational and
training background, adequate working experience, and certification. During the year 2008, the BLS
reported average earnings for pharmaceutical techs at $13.32 per hour, while the lowest and highest 10
percent of the population had earnings of less than $9.27 per hour and more than $18.98 per hour
respectively.
Healthcare Workers on the
Hunt for Pharmacy Technicians and Medical Assistants
Despite the fact that the rate of unemployment in the United States was constantly increasing beyond
the 9 percent mark over the last two years, it’s surprising to see how a lot of businesses are still
having a hard time filling vacant positions. Even with plenty of employment opportunities, the main
problem that a lot of healthcare companies face is finding potential healthcare workers who have
sufficient qualifications, particularly those who have undergone accredited training programs.
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Study Reveals That More
Responsibilities Should Be Awarded to Pharmacy Technicians
According
to two recent surveys, there is reason to believe that there is a need to assign more duties
to pharmacy technicians despite the fact that their duties have significantly increase over
the last few years.
It was the American Society for Health System Pharmacists which
headed the two surveys and based on their analysis, they believe that pharmacy technicians
will remain to be a primary role player in improving the healthcare sector of the United
States. According to public policy experts and economists, they foresee an improvement in
the healthcare sector of the United States as the years go by. And with the number of
patients increasing each day, the demand for medical assistants will only go higher and
higher.
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