Becoming a pharmacy technician is a great career opportunity. As a student you will need to follow the same path that an individual looking to become a pharmacist travels but only stopping short of completing your PharmD degree. A pharmacy technician serves both patients and the pharmacist. A pharmacy technician has duties that are both challenging and rewarding too.
Median hourly earnings for pharmacy technicians vary by geographical location as well as by the level of individual experience. The variance is anywhere from eight pounds hourly to sixteen pounds and fifty cents an hour.
The job outlook for pharmacy technicians is phenomenal. Any pharmaceutically based occupation will certainly be important now and also in the future. With people living longer and medicines becoming more sophisticated and numerous there is no way to go wrong with a career in medicine. Pharmacist and pharmacy technicians will always be in demand. Pharmacy technicians are more in demand due to the fact there can be as many as four technicians aiding one single pharmacist.
Pharmacy technicians have several options for workplace settings. The overall duties will not vary greatly in the field of pharmacist technicians. The variations in workplace choices add just enough spice to the career opportunities to make becoming a technician greatly appealing. Seven of the ten jobs occupied by pharmacist technicians are in retail pharmacy positions. Retail pharmacy encompasses both independently owned or chain store pharmacy settings.
Nearly two of ten pharmacy technician jobs are in hospitals. There are also miniscule proportions that belong to the obscure aspects of the pharmaceutical trade such as mail order, clinic and wholesalers.
It takes grand people skills to participate as a pharmacist technician. Technicians that are successful are alert, organized, dedicated and efficient in their work. A technician should have an eye for detail and not be easily distracted. An independent reliable nature encourages the pharmacist for which you work under to be confident you can handle all types of situations. Your work is directly related to life and death in more ways than one.
As a technician you will have to interact daily with patients, pharmacists, and various healthcare professionals. Teamwork is an important part of the successful career of any pharmacy technician as you will be working closely with pharmacy aids and pharmacists too.
As a pharmacy technician your duties will vary greatly from those of any other health care professional but will relate directly to the duties of a pharmacist. Your responsibilities are receiving prescriptions sent electronically for your patients where by, you as a technician; have to verify the information is accurate and complete. Then the prescription must be prepared.
These tasks take special attention to details. Prescriptions must be measured, counted, and weighed in some cases in order to for them to equal the dose requested by the physician for the patient involved. Technicians will label and price the prescriptions. Then the information has to be filed in an accurate and timely manner. There is no room for error in this type of career.
The appeal to become a technician is probably not based on such things as workplace environment but it is an opportunity to breathe easy knowing pharmacy technician’s work in clean, well ventilated work areas. All in all the desire to become a technician has to match the things we now know as vital and important to becoming a very dedicated and highly sought after technician of pharmacy.
The medical field has always offered wonderful career opportunities and seems to provide not only job security but favorable incomes in many facets of the medical environment. The demand is a constant and unless people quit getting sick, it appears there wont be any problems in the future finding a need for the medical professional.
Careers in the medical field vary but you can certainly find many different opportunities. You can go into mental health or family practice as a tech, doctor or nurse. You can set your own hours with a career which offers flex-time, part-time and full time opportunities. You can be your own boss in many areas of the medical field especially if you are a physician or psychologist in private practice. The career possibilities are endless.
In the mental health field, registered nurses are in high demand. Psychologists and Psychiatrists can find a job with ease. Social workers are in demand in mental hospitals and drug treatment centers. Psych techs are in high demand now within mental health facilities and many psych techs are paid up to sixteen pounds an hour in larger cities and thats for someone who has a high school diploma and a willingness to learn through on the job training!
In pediatrics, the medical field is wide open. Careers for child psychologists and nurses are available and of course, physicians who are ready to go to work in private practice or as an important part of a family group practice will be pleasantly surprised with their working environments in most cases.
Careers for nurse practitioners and physician assistants are in high demand. Many physician assistants and nurse practitioners are making as much as a family physician if they are in the right field. Surgery Physician Assistants make over 100,000 in some areas and most of them have a three or four day work week which can give a career opportunity a lot of appeal.
Dermatology offers registered nurses, PAs and medical techs many possibilities and often the dermatology offices are closed either on Monday or Friday which again, offers appeal. Dermatologists draw good salaries and career minded physicians can work alone in private practice or in a group.
There are so many careers to consider in the medical field. If you arent sure of the many possibilities, then take a look at our comprehensive list below. The following opportunities are available and make great career choices with most of them in high demand!
Physicians ranging from Pediatricians to Psychiatrists
Nursing opportunities ranging from registered nurses to LPN and CNA possibilities
Medical techs such as psych techs, radiology techs and medical techs
Medical transcribing
Medical records and billing opportunities for clerical work and auditing
Counseling and crisis work for psychologists and psychiatrists
Clerical work in many capacities
There are many other medical field opportunities and there are many opportunities for food service employees too. Medical personnel in the hospitals count on the food service within the deli or cafeteria twenty-four hours a day. People who want stability in their careers in the food service industry often choose food service careers within the medical industry. They need the job security and find the salaries are often far better than those realized in the restaurants in the surrounding areas.
When you begin your search for a career, look online at the Occupational Handbook placed online by the US Labor board and see if you can find a career thats not only in high demand but one which will satisfy your long term goals for salary and educational requirements. Be familiar with your career opportunities before you lock yourself into a permanent career choice.