Pharmacy Technician Qualifications
Pharmacy technician qualifications cannot be ignored when you look into enrolling in a program or classes that prepares for the licensing test. You too can become a pharmacy technician, but there may be a few things you have to work on. Accuracy is an essential quality. If you cannot follow a simple recipe from a cookbook without messing it up, forget that career choice. You need to be able to measure liquids, as well as solids, and you have to do it right, every single time. Accurate pharmacy technicians are generally also very timely. Working in the customer service sector requires timeliness. Medical terminology knowledge is also one of the needed pharmacy technician qualifications today.
Pharmacy tech certification is necessary if you want to work in a licensed pharmacy. Most pharmacies will not hire any staff that does not have this piece of paper. Pharmacists have great responsibilities that should not be underestimated. They can be taken to court when one of their staff members messes up. People die when a pharmacy technician is not accurate enough, and since the pharmacist is your supervisor, he is the one who really gets in trouble.
You need to have some organizational skills before you can consider working as a pharmacy tech. You do not want to lose track of prescriptions or medications that are delivered to the store. You will have to compare the delivered goods with the list of things that you ordered, and that the pharmacy is being billed for. Organizing shelves and keeping those stocked is a real job, and not everybody can do it. You should definitely list all your qualifications and start preparing your pharmacy technician resume, even before you are in a program. Writing down how good you are at certain things will give you confidence that you can successfully complete a program, take the test, and get licensed as a pharmacy tech.
It is essential that you are aware of the requirements to work in pharmacy locations. The governmental website of your state comes very handy, once you are ready to see all the requirements and stipulations. It is a good place to start evaluating all the options you have. That same website also keeps track of all those who have a pharmacy technician license, and complaints about pharmacies and pharmacy technicians. You will see what venues you can choose from, as well as the names of the pharmacies that can help you move forward. After all, you are going to have to find a qualified pharmacist who can log your hours of hands-on training. Do not just choose for a pharmacist without doing some research. Ask around. Other people in your program may be able to tell you, how the pharmacist of your choice sees his commitment. Is he just training you to do the work nobody else wants to do in his pharmacy? Or is he really sincere and you can approach him after work hours with any questions you may have. The pharmacist you work for is not only going to be your supervisor, but also your coach.
The medical assistant qualifications are very close to those of a pharmacy technician. The major difference is that a medical assistant helps with the assessment of a patient in a physician office or clinic, and a pharmacy technician is not around at the time a patient is being diagnosed. The medical assistant is usually around before a doctor decides what medication is needed, but by the time the patient sees the pharmacy technician, the diagnosing has taken place already.
Some lifting is required when you work as a pharmacy technician. Pharmacies receive their orders in boxes or in crates, depending on the setting. These boxes or crates need to be emptied and the pharmacy technician has to make sure that what is delivered also matches what was ordered. Good telephone skills are essential for this position. You need to call doctors, insurance companies, and patients and their families, if needed.
Before you can work in a pharmacy, you need to be aware of some diseases and conditions. Diabetic customers will ask your advice on test strips and meters. Others will ask you about nutritional supplements or diet pills. A pharmacy technician should not only know about these things, but also be on the same level as the actual pharmacist. As a pharmacy technician, you do not make any recommendations on over the counter medications, medical devices, nutritional supplements, or things like bandages and splints unless you are absolutely sure that you are on the exact level as the pharmacist you work for. You will work under the supervision and guidance of a pharmacist. If working under the authority of someone else is a problem for you, do not become a pharmacy technician.
Working as a pharmacy technician also means that you have to be good at math. You will not only have to work the till, you need to know all you can about measuring liquids and such. You are not alone if you consider pharmacy technician qualifications to have a very sobering effect on you.