Become a Pharmacy Technician

With more and more retail and grocery stores providing pharmacy services the scope of job opportunities for pharmacy technicians has increased. A pharmacy technician can find jobs in hospitals, drug stores, grocery and some retail stores. Licensed pharmacists supervise Pharmacy Technicians and the technicians perform routine duties like preparing prescribed medication for patients.

How to Become a Pharmacy Technician?

To become a certified pharmacy technician, you need to pass the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam after graduating the certification program. A certified pharmacy technician finds better employment opportunities. For a certificate program, students should study mathematics, health and life sciences in high school. The program is typically 1 year long, after which you can gain work experience as a pharmacy assistant. Experienced assistants can easily find good jobs after graduation. Certified technicians should re-certify every two years by completing 10 contact hours of related pharmacy education each year.

While pharmacy technicians generally obtain informal training on their job, having a high school diploma is definitely an advantage. Candidates with strong communication skills and familiarity in handling inventories are preferred by the employers.

Duties of a Pharmacy Technician

The technicians receive prescriptions from doctor's office or requests for prescription refills from patients. They have to verify the information and check whether or not it is complete and accurate. For preparing the prescription technicians have to retrieve, count, pour, weigh, measure and mix the medication. Then they are required to prepare the prescription labels and affix the auxiliary labels to the container. It is also a part of technicians’ duty to price and file the prescription which is verified by the pharmacist. Technicians also maintain patient profiles; prepare insurance claim forms and stock inventory of prescription. Technicians in hospitals and nursing homes have added responsibilities like preparing patients' charts and delivering medicines to patients.

Pharmacy Technician Career Outlook

Expansion of retail pharmacies has opened doors for various jobs for pharmacy technicians. Demand for pharmaceuticals is and will go on increasing considering the increased number of elderly people. The role of technicians is also increasing due to the cost conscious insurers, pharmacies and heath care facilities. Once you become a pharmacy technician, you can work in retail pharmacies; find jobs in hospital, work in wholesale industries or government organizations. There are various full time and part time good job opportunities for aides with some job experience.

With advancements in technology, robotic machines are used for assistance. However, this does not limit the role of a pharmacy technician. Rather, the technicians are required to learn and master the new technology. Thus the pharmacy technicians need to continuously update their skills.

Georgia Medical Institute is one of many schools offering Medical Assistant training. Please check with them directly for accurate information.