Pharmacy Technician Requirements

Since the job requirements of a pharmacy technician is crucial, most employers want to hire people that have had proper training and a good education. For an education, you may go to a trade school that offers pharmacy technician courses. Courses can take from a year up to two years.

In the courses, you would get hands on training in the laboratory. The hands on training allows you to get a feel for what it is like to work in a real pharmacy so once you are on the job, everything would be familiar. After you have completed your courses and done some training on the job, you can then take the pharmacy technician certification examination.

How to Get a Pharmacy Technician License?

There are two entities where you can get your pharmacy technician certificate: The Institute for the Certification of Pharmacy Technicians and the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board. If you want to take the exam, you must not have been convicted of a felony within the last five years. You also must not have any drug related convictions and you must have a high school diploma or a GED. You can take courses that will help you to pass the exam. Once you have gotten your certificate, you have to renew it every two years. You will need to take 20 hours of continuing education within the two years. Four of those hours must be in pharmacy law. Part of your hours can received through training on your job as pharmacy technician and the other part of your hours can be received through a training program offered by a school.

With the right credentials and training, you will be head and shoulders above other people that have no training. You would be easily hired by pharmacies and usually offered a higher salary than others. And you would be more likely to be promoted over others.

Pharmacy Technician Job Description

What Does A Pharmacy Technician Do?

 

Depending on where the pharmacy technician works, their duties can vary quite a bit. For example, techs that work in hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities will have other tasks that techs working at a retail pharmacy does not have. Even though there are differences in the job description, for the most part, Pharmacy techs will have to take prescription orders and make sure that the information is correct, mix and blend medications according to the doctor’s orders, move medicine around and take inventory, measure, count, and weigh medications, and fill and label medication bottles according to the doctor’s prescription.

All of these duties would be performed under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist. A pharmacy tech is not limited to these duties though. They also have to help in the management of the pharmacy store. These store related duties include helping customers with their questions and requests, taking payment from the customer and using the cash register, managing the inventory and making sure that medications are stocked, managing patient’s data and files, processing insurance claims from the customers.

A pharmacy technician must have very good customer service skills because they will talk to customers all day long. They will have to deal with all types of customers and know how to manage each one under different circumstances. The pharmacy tech should be able to take direction from the pharmacist and also be able to act independently.

Pharmacy techs must be organized and take extreme precaution on their job. When dealing with filling and mixing medication, one wrong move could prove to be fatal for a customer. Staying focused while working under pressure is a must for a pharmacy tech. If you have all the above mentioned skills then you should have a very successful career as a pharmacy tech.

Pharmacy Technician Salary

Pharmacy technicians enjoy a positive career outlook because the demand in this field has been increasing rapidly.  In fact, this is one of the few career fields where the growth is better than most other occupations.  For those just starting out in this career field, you can expect to make on average about $20,000 in your first year.  As you gain more skills, your pay will increase as well. 

Employers typically prefer hiring those that have went to school for pharmacy technicians and are certified.  In school, the students would learn about drug measurements, reading prescriptions, and arranging a pharmacy.  Although not absolutely required in getting hired as a pharmacy technician, these traits would certainly boost your salary over those that have no training.  Also, those with formal training would more likely get promoted to higher positions.  

How Much Does a Pharmacy Technician Make?

 

The entry level pay of a pharmacy technician is around $25,000 to $30,000 per year.  After working in the field for 4 to 6 years, your pay will increase to $30,000 to $40,000 per year.  And for those who have worked at least 6 years in the field, you can expect to earn more than $40,000 per year.  Along with a good wage, pharmacy technicians can typically expect to get other benefits such as health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, paid time off, sick leave, and paid holidays.

The pay for a pharmacy technician can vary depending on the location of the job.  Typically larger cities will pay more but the cost of living in these bigger cities will also be higher.  These factors must be taken into account when you are looking for a job as a pharmacy technician.  You can use salary calculators like Salary.com which would give you a good idea of the salary for a specific area dependent on your level of experience.  Remember that the calculators can only give estimates.  You may be able to negotiate a higher salary depending on your situation.

How to Become a Pharmacy Technician

In order to become a pharmacy technician you will have to go to a trade school that offers courses in that field.  These courses usually take about six months to two years to complete.  Other places that offer pharmacy technician courses include hospitals, community colleges, and military school.

By going to school to become a pharmacy technician, you will learn about the basics of the pharmacy field.  For example, you will learn about the different types of drugs and their formulation, how to calculate drugs, pharmacy laws, and inventory management.  After completing your education as a pharmacy technician, you should be ready to work in your field with great success.

After you finish school and get your first job, you will have to undergo a period of on the job training.  This will get you acquainted with real world workings of the pharmaceutical field and also you would be able to apply the things that you learned in school at work.  While at work you will learn about how to dispensing and measuring medication, you will also get to work with customers directly.  This allows you to develop your customer service skill which is a very important skill to have when you are working as a pharmacy technician.

The pharmacy technician starts off with a respectable wage and their wage will increase as they gain more skills.  A person will get a higher wage if they attend school for pharm tech as opposed to those who have no education and no training. 

The job market for a pharmacy technician is in high demand and is expected to increase in the coming years.  This is due to the fact that the baby boomers are retiring soon.  A pharmacy technician will typically work in the hospital, retail pharmacy, or a pharmaceutical association.  With the increasing demand in this field, it would be wise to pursue this career.