Tuesday 25 December 2012

Choosing A Career As A Pharmacy Technician

By Julie Wiggins


A pharmacy technician is a person who is a member of the pharmacy crew and works under the control of a certified pharmacist. He is responsible for helping the pharmacist do related work which usually includes providing medication and health care products to patients. Before an individual can work as a pharmacy technician, he must receive qualified pharmacy technician training from a legitimate pharmacy tech school, not to mention having other important qualities in order to work efficiently as one.

The main duty of a pharmacy technician is to aid registered pharmacists in providing patients with medicine and health care products. They are also generally involved with assisting in arrangement of prescribed medication, counting medicine stocks and applying labels. They can also deal with customer inquiries and other operations of the pharmacy.

Pharmacy technicians may work in a pharmacy which has retail or mail-order setting, and will generally involve varying work that depends on the state they are currently in and the laws that govern it. They can be sent prescriptions by a doctor and will be required to study them to make sure they are accurate and complete before the prescription is assembled. After which they will now assemble the prescription while making sure they make precise measurements and dosage of the medication they are preparing.

When working in hospital or nursing home environment, pharmacy technicians may be required to perform additional work like analysis of patient records and preparing of medication. Upon verification of a prescription by the pharmacist, it will now be up to the technician to bring it to the patient, after which he will take down a log of the important details in administering the medicine. They also make sure that patients have a 24-hour supply of their needed medication.

Pharmacy technicians have the privilege of a clean and organized working environment, often in areas with proper ventilation and lighting. Their work will involve some physical and mental tasks and requires that the person be in good health and shape. They will usually work in the same hours as duly-licensed pharmacists, and may work on night shifts, weekends and even holidays, specifically on hospitals and other establishments which are open for 24 hours.

A lot of pharmacy technicians engage in an on-the-job training before working, but formal pharmacy technician training programs are also available. Certified technicians are usually given priority, but that doesn't mean those who are not certified perform less effectively. In the US, there isn't any clear Federal law which covers the matter of requiring technicians to acquire certification before working.

As with regular education programs, formal pharmacy technician training will require classroom and laboratory hours and be educated properly about pharmaceutical and medical terms, as well as its recording, calculations, techniques, laws and ethics. It is also paramount that they have a good understanding of medicine names, its attributes and safe dosage. The program will also have internships, which can provide students with vital experience and exposure in the field. After going through the training, a diploma, certificate or associate's degree can be granted by the pharmacy tech school to a student, whichever is appropriate.

To have a better chance of success in this industry, one must posses great skills in customer support and working with a group because they will be interacting with patients, professionals and co-workers most of the time. They will also benefit from having a good foundation in reading, spelling and mathematics. It is important that a technician is very observant, can work with initiative, responsible, organized, alert and has passion for work. Equally important is having precision in skills and actions since we are dealing with human lives here, and we can't compromise anything.

Opportunities for pharmacy technicians are growing each day as the demand for people to assist pharmacists in their ever-expanding duties also grows. Pharmacy technicians can have rewarding financial benefits, much more with those who get proper certification. For this reason, it is suggested that you seek out a good pharmacy tech school and engage in a formal pharmacy technician training before taking the job on.




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