Enjoy An Exciting Pharmacy Technician Career
The pharmacy technician career is an exciting career. As a technician, the person works shoulder to shoulder with a licensed pharmacist. Approximately 71 percent of the pharmacy technicians work in places such as department stores, retail pharmacies, mass retailers and grocery stores.
Do you know what a pharmacy technician’s job includes? Their job responsibilities often depend on where they work. A general overview is that they always work under a licensed pharmacist, and they help patients with their health care and medication needs.
They may help to prepare medicine prescribed by a doctor by counting tablets or labeling bottles. Being responsible for administrative duties, such as answering the phone, stocking shelves or running the cash register, is part of their job.
Job responsibilities differ somewhat from those above if you work in mail order or retail pharmacies. You would receive the refills or prescriptions that doctors prescribe directly from the patient or from the doctor’s office by electronic means.
In the retail or mail order world, their first responsibility is to read the prescription, verify it and make sure it is accurate and complete. They help in the preparation by doing whatever is necessary to fill the prescription. This could include, counting, weighing, measuring or mixing a medication. Once it is prepared, it must be labeled, priced and filed, in order to be ready for the patient. They can, also, work with insurance claim forms and inventory.
Pharmacy technicians never have to worry about their work environment. It will always be in well lighted, clean and comfortable areas. This job does require you to be on your feet a lot, climb ladders and lift heavy boxes.
Your schedule, as a pharmacy technician, can be quite variable and will mainly depend on the type of establishment you work for. You could be asked to work days, evenings, nights, weekends or holidays. This is especially true if you work in a place that is open 24 hours. As with any job, you will have more control over your hours, the more time you work in a place. There is also part time work available in retail or hospitals.
What many people like is that you don’t even have to go to college to become a pharmacy technician. You will be trained by the head pharmacist right at the place. Some states require certification, which, in turn, requires you to take a two and a half month course to help you prepare for the exam.
In order to become a pharmacy technician, you need to enjoy mathematics, be able to follow orders and have a love for people. In the first 10 years, salaries average between $25,000 and $35,000 a year. There are always job openings in the pharmacy technician career.
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