Become a Pharmacy Technician

What is a Pharmacy Techinician?

Pharmacy technicians assist pharmacists in providing patients with medication and other health care products.

Duties may include receiving and verifying prescriptions, preparing medication for clients through mixing, counting pills and labeling bottles.

Pharmacy technicians also work in patient care facilities. They are responsible for reading patient charts, then preparing the medication, verifying the prescription and delivering it to the patient.

What are other common tasks for a pharmacy technician?

• Patient paperwork
• Aiding in insurance claims
• Checking inventory
• Stocking medications

Several paths exist to become a pharmacy tech. It is possible to learn on the job, but employers prefer pharmacy techs who have formal training and certification. Coursework for formal training includes medical and pharmaceutical terminology, pharmaceutical calculations, pharmacy recordkeeping, pharmaceutical techniques and pharmacy law and ethics. An internship may be part of the training. Depending on the school attended and state employed in, a diploma, certificate or associates degree would be awarded.