Choosing Pharmacy Technician Career

There is no better time than now to venture into pharmacy technician career. The increased responsibilities given to pharmacists has led to a huge shortage of these professionals and in turn increased the demand as well as the pharmacy technician responsibilities. Their numbers are too increasing with more people venturing into this seemingly little ventured profession.

Pharmacy technicians’ also known as pharmaceutical technicians are health workers who work under the supervision of pharmacists or any other licensed health professional. Pharmacy technicians’ in modern world are however finding themselves their own bosses especially with increased private practice within the medical sector. In the US for example, it is said that 75% of pharmaceutical technicians work in retail settings, such as independently owned drug stores and online pharmacies.

Traditional duties of a pharmacy technician have been amongst them dispensing prescription drugs and other medical devices to patients, reviewing prescription requests, retail and hospital pharmacy practices, customer care, inventory management, hospital software management, infection control and other basic pharmacy therapeutic practices. 

However, with this career becoming more demanding, these experts have found themselves in more extreme fields  and locations like long term care facilities for instance nursing homes, pharmaceutical manufacturers, insurance companies, computer software companies as well as in government and schools. Pharmaceutical technicians are also starting to interact with patients directly at an independent level helping them with issues such as timely medication awareness as well as drug prescriptions within their private drug stores.

Requirements to become pharmacy technician 

A high school certificate is however considered a very basic requirement within this profession. Known and practiced Skills and knowledge in this field are mainly earned from technical colleges, community colleges, hospitals or correspondence schools. Tanzania for instance, has two well known pharmaceutical technician schools, one of them being a public sector institution.

Zimbabwe too has a pharmaceutical training polytechnic run by the ministry of health and child welfare offering a three-year diploma. India also offers full training on pharmacy technician. Canada, USA and the UK have known training institutions in this area as well as training modalities and procedures that a technician has to pass through to become eligible to practice. Intern pharmacists can also be deployed in this field, though many employers within the health sector consider certified technicians more favourable to recruit.

Certification and licensing within this field also varies widely across countries. In the UK and Tanzania, pharmacy technicians’ are required to be registered with the national regulatory council. The Tanzania Pharmacy Council enrols and enlists technicians while the General Pharmaceutical Council has to register a technician in order to assume that title as well as practice.

Is pharmacy technician career rewarding? 

Well considering its increased demand and responsibilities, the possibilities are endless. The Bureau of Labor Statistics in the US estimates that a pharmacy technician earns an average of $28, 400, the bureau further identifies that 75% of the pharmaceutical technicians are in retail setting, which is a field with endless possibilities as far as making money is concerned. 

A 2009 assessment in Ghana reported that nearly half of the pharmacies as well as pharmaceutical manufactures across the country needed one or more pharmaceutical personnel. The fact that in Nigeria, pharmacy technicians’ account for at least 75% of the country’s pharmaceutical workforce is yet another reason to conclude that pharmaceutical career is not a bad place to venture after all.

About the author:

I am Jason Holmes, once a pharmaceutical aspirant who has tremendously transformed his pharmaceutical skills and become versed with every aspect of pharmacy. I have an objective of helping other people who want to be like me realize their dream. I own and run a legit pharmacytechnicianinfo.net blog, which has whole lot of information that I wish to share with you. Come join me so that we share ideas and make medical life a real meaning of the word.