Life As A Pharmacy Technician: Orders In - Orders Out

For decades the only person allowed by state and federal laws to dispense pharmaceutical drugs was a licensed pharmacist. Today there are not enough pharmacists to meet the demands of the marketplace due in part to an aging population who takes more prescription medicine than ever before. Pharmacies are open more hours also increasing the demand for staff. Lawmakers have allowed other people to work behind the pharmacy counter to fill prescriptions under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist. These assistants are often called pharmacy technicians. Other titles may be used depending on the area of the United States such a simply pharmacy helper, pharmacy assistant, or pharmacy clinician.

The foremost duty of a pharmacy technician is to help out in duties that make filling and dispensing medicines. As the population increases, so too does the importance of filling these jobs. The pharmacy technician's work, such as filling prescriptions into containers, must be verified for accuracy by the pharmacist before it is given to patients.

Ordering and stocking the pharmacy area is another important duty performed by pharmacy technician. Even though you see a technician working in a store, the actual employer is the pharmacy and not directly the store. While specialized training is recommended for this position in healthcare, a technician does not have to have a college degree.

The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) was formed in 1995 and in its ten-year history has certified nearly 200,000 technicians through its National Certification Exam. Potential technicians must complete a course of study before they can take the exam. The coursework includes basic anatomy, medical and pharmacy terminology, pharmacy calculations, and of course the medications themselves. Students become familiar with insurance and other reimbursement practices. Students also learn about interacting with patients.

The second part of coursework is supervised clinical training in both the retail pharmacy and hospital pharmacy settings. This training must total no less than 20 hours, supervised by pharmacist who reports the student's progress.

What do these student take with them from this coursework?
Below is a list of some tasks where the student must demonstrate an understanding.

1.~ Federal and state pharmaceutical laws
2.~ Ethics in pharmaceutical care of patients
3.~ Doctor orders and written prescription interpretation
4.~ Medicine packaging and dispensing
5.~ Pharmaceutical terms and abbreviations
6.~ Mathematics used in pharmacy
7.~ How medications work on the human anatomy
8.~ Patient and medical staff interactions
9.~ Insurance and government carrier billing
10.~ Inventory control

Do you see yourself as a pharmaceutical technician?
This career suits you best if you are detail-oriented and want to enter the health-care field. Jobs in this field are currently very abundant in both retail and hospital sites across the nation.