Spotlights
Job Description
Pharmacy technicians help pharmacists dispense prescription medication to customers or health professionals.
Rewarding Aspects of Career
- Job security
- It's a great first step toward becoming a certified pharmacist.
- Good pay for a career that doesn’t need a 4 year degree.
$32,700
The Inside Scoop
Job Responsibilities
- Collect information needed to fill a prescription from customers or health professionals
- Measure amounts of medication for prescriptions
- Package and label prescriptions
- Organize inventory and alert pharmacists to any shortages of medications or supplies
- Accept payment for prescriptions and process insurance claims
- Enter customer or patient information, including any prescriptions taken, into a computer system
- Answer phone calls from customers
- Arrange for customers to speak with pharmacists if customers have questions about medications or health matters
- Resolve insurance issues
- Quality control: identify potential harmful drug interactions and therapy duplication
Skills Needed on the Job
- Interpersonal skills
- Attention to detail
- Extremely organized
- Problem Solving – Gathers and analyzes information skillfully; works well in group problem solving situations.
- Technical Skills – Assess own strengths and weaknesses; pursues training and development opportunities; possess and obtain knowledge of drug names – generic and trade; ability to recognize subtle differences in names and numbers; knowledge of medical terminology.
- Customer Service – Responds promptly to customer needs; responds to requests for service or assistance; meets commitments.
- Interpersonal – Maintains confidentiality; listens to others without interrupting; remains open to others’ ideas and tries new things.
- Team Work – Balances team and individual responsibilities; exhibits objectivity and openness to others’ views; contributes to building a positive team spirit.
Different places of employment
- Pharmacies in grocery store (i.e. CVS, Walgreens)
- Hospital pharmacy
- Private pharmacies
- Pharmacy benefit manager
- Administration
Expectations/Sacrifices Necessary
- Work nights and weekends
- Work on your feet for extended periods of the day
What kind of things did people in this career enjoy doing when they were younger…
- Loved biology, chemistry and math
- Desire to help people
- Liked talking with people from a wide range of backgrounds
Education and Training Needed
- HS Diploma
- Training: There is no national educational requirement. Each state varies in their requirements. Go to https://www.ptcb.org/resources/state-regulations-and-map to figure out what your state’s requirements are.
- On the job training: Community or hospital based
- Postsecondary accredited program in pharmacy technology.
- Certification: 2 options
- Pharmacy Technician Certification Board: Take exam and get the credential. Go to https://www.ptcb.org/
- National Healthcare Association (NHA) certification must be at least 18 years old, have a high school diploma, and have completed a training program or have 1 year of work experience. Technicians must re-certify every 2 years by completing 20 hours of continuing education courses.
Typical Roadmap
How to land your 1st job
- During training, complete an externship to gain experience in a real-world pharmacy.
- Apply to a pharmacy environment that best suits your particular interests.
- Hospitals
- National chain drugstores
- Big-box retailers
- Mail-order pharmacies
- Independent pharmacies
Advanced Roles
In Community Pharmacy Practice
Clinical Support Technician
Patient Assistant Program Technician
Management or Supervision
Tech-Check-Tech (TCT)
In Institution/Health System Pharmacy Practice
Controlled Substance Surveillance Technician
Medication Reconciliation Technician
In Technology
Automation / IT Technician
Telepharmacy Technician
In Quality Assurance Medication Safety
Documentation
Research
Regulatory Compliance
Pharmacy Accreditation Preparation
For description of these roles, go to Slides 15-20 on this presentation https://slideplayer.com/slide/13279088/
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