Pharmacy Technician

Career Overview

Pharmacy Technicians prepare medications, process prescriptions, manage inventory, enter patient information, and work with pharmacists to help patients receive their medications safely. They may also prepare specialized medications and use automated dispensing and computerized pharmacy systems.

Education

A two-year Pharmacy Technician college program is the typical educational pathway, including supervised practical training. Professional certification, registration, or licensing may also be required. In some settings, pharmacy technicians can enter through employer-based training.

Work Environment

Pharmacy Technicians work in community pharmacies, hospitals, long-term care facilities, and pharmaceutical settings. They prepare medications, manage prescriptions and inventory, use computerized pharmacy systems, and work closely with pharmacists and other healthcare professionals. Some positions include evenings, nights, or weekends.

Future Outlook

Pharmacy Technicians should have good employment opportunities. Growing demand for medications, an aging population, and the increasing role of pharmacists in patient care are expected to support demand. Automated dispensing systems, electronic prescriptions, and other digital pharmacy technologies are also changing the work.

Recommended High School Courses

Chemistry
Biology
Math
Communication
English
Health science
Computer Studies

Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Mathematics - Using mathematics to solve problems.
Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.

Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

Arm-Hand Steadiness - The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Far Vision - The ability to see details at a distance.
Finger Dexterity - The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Manual Dexterity - The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Mathematical Reasoning - The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Number Facility - The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Perceptual Speed - The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Selective Attention - The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Visual Color Discrimination - The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

Perform clerical work in medical settings.
Verify accuracy of patient information.
Prepare medications or medical solutions.
Process medical billing information.
Maintain inventory of medical supplies or equipment.
Record patient medical histories.
Enter patient or treatment data into computers.
Clean medical equipment or facilities.
Maintain medical equipment or instruments.
Sterilize medical equipment or instruments.
Merchandise healthcare products or services.

Schools

Alvernia University

Angelo State University

Atlanta Technical College

Atlantic Technical Colleg...

Auburn University

Augustana University

Austin Community College...

Ball State University

Barry University

Baylor University

Belmont University

Bemidji State University

Bismarck State College

Bob Jones University

Bowling Green State Unive...

Butler University

Carrington College- Albuq...

Carrington College- Boise...

Carrington College- Citru...

Carrington College- Mesa...

Carrington College- Phoen...

Carrington College- Pleas...

Carrington College- Portl...

Carrington College- Sacra...

Carrington College- San J...

Carrington College- San L...

Carrington College- Spoka...

Carrington College- Stock...

Carrington College- Tucso...

Central Arizona College

Central New Mexico Commun...

Central Texas College

Centre College

Coe College

Colby Community College

Columbus State Community...

Cook Inlet Tribal Council

Cornell College

Cuyahoga Community Colleg...

D’youville College

Durham Technical Communit...

Eastern Oregon University

Elizabethtown College

Emily Griffith Technical...

Fairmont State University

Ferris State University

Florida Agricultural And...

Fortis College- Dothan Ca...

Lake Technical College- E...

Nebraska Methodist Colleg...

North Central Texas Colle...

Pennsylvania State Univer...

Praxis Institute- Hialeah...

Praxis Institute- Miami C...

Saint Michael's College

San Bernardino Valley Col...

San Joaquin Valley Colleg...

Suny Plattsburgh

Vista College- El Paso Ca...

Wofford College

Anderson College Of He...

Bow Valley College- Do...

Campion College

Canadian Career Colleg...

Canadian Mennonite Uni...

Cape Breton Business C...

Cdi College- Edmonton...

Cdi College- Red Deer...

Cdi College- Surrey Ca...

Cdi College- Vancouver...

Cts Canadian Career Co...

Eastern College- Frede...

Fanshawe College- Lond...

Fleming College- Suthe...

Herzing College- Ottaw...

Ics Canada

Keyin College

Manitoba Institute Of...

Medix College- Brampto...

Medix College- Scarbor...

Medix College- Toronto...

Mohawk College- Instit...

Niagara College- Wella...

Norquest College

Robertson College- Mai...

Saskatchewan Polytechn...

Sheridan College Insti...

Sprott Shaw Community...

Stenberg College

Vancouver Career Colle...

Western College

Westervelt College

USA

Canada

Potential Scholarships

5 Strong Scholarship

Agnes M. Lindsay Scholars...

Approx Salary Expectation

Low End:

$36,000.00 /yr

Avg/Med:

$46,000.00 /yr

High End:

$61,000.00 /yr

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References

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/.
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.