Overview of a Pharmacy Technician
- Katie Reigelsperger
- Aug 9, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 25, 2023
What Is a Pharmacy Technician?
If you are looking to obtain a career in the healthcare field, a career as a pharmacy technician is a great way to get started!
A pharmacy technician is a health care provider who performs pharmacy related tasks while working directly under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist in order to help and support patients and ensure that they receive the best care possible.
What Does a Pharmacy Technician Do?
All pharmacy technicians are legally required to work under the supervision of licensed pharmacists. Pharmacy technicians assist the pharmacist in maintaining the overall efficiency, safety, and accuracy of pharmacy operations and their time is often split between using their technical skills for prescriptions and providing outstanding customer service.
The role of a pharmacy technician can differ depending on the setting they work in, but most pharmacy technicians supply medications; prescription or over-the counter (OTC) to patients, assemble medications for prescriptions, and provide information to patients and other healthcare professionals.
What Are Some Important Traits of a Pharmacy Technician?
Pharmacy technicians need to be detail oriented and must have excellent communication skills. Most pharmacy technicians work with a group of others, so teamwork is important. As the healthcare industry is always changing and growing, it is important that pharmacy technicians be flexible and adaptable to change as well. KLR Pharmacy Technician Training School met with four pharmacists and asked them what they thought the most important traits of a pharmacy technician were. You can read that blog post by here:
How Does a Pharmacy Technician Spend Their Days?
Pharmacy technicians spend their days preparing and filling prescriptions, interacting with customers and answering questions on the telephone and in person, managing inventory and performing organizational tasks in the pharmacy, filling automated dispensing cabinets, and more. There are more specialized roles for pharmacy technicians that require more responsibility.
Where Does a Pharmacy Technician Work?
Pharmacy technicians can work in a wide variety of settings including places like community (also known as retail) pharmacies, hospital pharmacies, pharmaceutical production, pharmacy sales, mail-order, prisons, primary care, education, military, and veterinary practices.
While pharmacy technicians have many options of which setting they land in, it is important to note that each of these can have different roles for the technician and each state has its own regulations on what a pharmacy technician can do.
How Do You Become a Pharmacy Technician?
Pharmacy technicians must have a high school diploma and, in most states, they must take a board-approved course in order to be eligible to sit for the national exam. Once you have taken your exam and passed it, you will need to obtain a state license in order to legally work in any pharmacy. This is done with a simple online application, background check, and application fee. KLR Pharmacy Technician Training School assists students fully in this process and covers the fees associated with the exam and license.
Will I Be Able to Find Work as a Pharmacy Technician?
In recent years, and due to increased workloads brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and pharmaceutical regulations, the demand for healthcare services has skyrocketed and there is a massive demand for healthcare occupations, including pharmacy technicians. In 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that healthcare occupations are among the fastest growing sectors in the economy and as a part of this ballooning market, jobs for pharmacy technicians are expected to continue to increase.
• What Interests you most about pursuing a career as a pharmacy technician
-What interests me is the availability to learn as a pharmacy technician, while being able to gain knowledge to help me become a pharmacist
•Why do you think pharmacy technicians are in high demand?
-I think they are in high demand because they are very useful in a hospital setting and in general in the making of medicine they are very helpful and the more that are hired the more work can be done
•What Pharmacy setting do you find most appealing and why?
-Hospital, this is because it seeming like a good work environment while being able to help many people at once.
What interests you the most about pursuing a career as a pharmacy technician?
I am excited to understand and learn everything that a Pharmacy Techniciann has to handle and what they do on a regualr basis. I would like to see what they get to do and what goes through their head and how far along and what they had to do to get here.
Why do you think pharmacy technicians are in high demand?
Because they are constantly dealing with people who need help medically and physically and the are in medical management with also all the training programs and with that carrying on specialized roles. With all of everything Pharmacist go through it keeps expanding healthcare
What pharmacy…
I think getting experience in the Pharmacy and deciding whether or not I want to go on to pursue more training to become a full on pharmacist.
I think pharmacy technicians are in such high demand because people don't really know to much about the difference of pharmacy tech or pharmacist and just assume both take years to get the license for when in reality becoming a pharmacy tech doesn't even require classes to become.
I find the hospital setting most appealing because I would like ocassional slow moments where it's not as stressful but also be able to gain experience in a hospital so that if I want to go somewhere else I have good experience for my resume…
I think that having a very helpful stepping stone into my dream job of being a pharmacist, along with working with medications and getting to understand them better is what interests me most about becoming a pharmacy tech.
I think pharmacy techs are in such high demand because they are vital to the functioning of a pharmacy, the hospital that pharmacy may be in, and the communities surrounding those pharmacies.
I find a hospital pharmacy setting the most appealing because I want to work on inpatient medications and IVs one day.
.I like helping people get the right medicine. It’s interesting to learn about different medicines and how they work. I also like organizing and making sure everything is correct.
.There are many pharmacies and hospitals that need help. Pharmacy technicians make sure patients get their medicines safely. More people need healthcare now, so more technicians are needed.
.I like working in a retail pharmacy because I can meet patients every day. It’s fast and there are many different tasks to do, which makes the job interesting.