There are many different jobs within the healthcare industry. One such job is a pharmacy technician. While very few states require a pharmacy technician to be certified or trained in any way, there are still schools that do train pharmacy technicians.
These schools train the technicians in a way that will prepare them to perform all the tasks that will need to be performed by a pharmacy technician.
There are very few state laws and no federal laws that dictate any type of training or education for pharmacy technicians. Therefore, a pharmacy technician doesn’t even have to be certified. However, often pharmacies prefer to hire certified pharmacy technicians.
This saves the pharmacy from having to take the time to train the pharmacy technician and it also provides more protection for the customers of the pharmacy and the pharmacy itself. After all, a mistake made by the pharmacy technician could be very costly to a customer and then to the pharmacy.
While pharmacy technicians don’t have a lot of responsibility within a pharmacy they do count pills and place stickers on pill bottles (to name just a couple tasks).
If done incorrectly, these seemingly menial tasks could cost someone their life. And outside a pharmacy the pharmacy technicians often have more responsibilities. In nursing homes and similar care facilities, pharmacy technicians often have to hand out medicine for patients. Obviously this is a very important job and must be done correctly.
So the pharmacy technician schools train the pharmacy technicians so that they can perform every task flawlessly. The training and education is usually pretty quick. It is usually just a training program and not an actual two year degree. Once the training and education is over, the pharmacy technician is required to take a test in order to become certified.
The National Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam has to be passed by anyone hoping to be a certified pharmacy technician. Once this exam is passed then the person is certified and free to seek employment as such.
A certified pharmacy technician has to recertify every two years. In order to be recertified a specific number of training hours has to be completed. Once that is done a pharmacy technician will be recertified.
A certified pharmacy technician just starting out can expect to make somewhere in the neighborhood of $20,000 - $25,000. The actual amount varies depending on the state where the person lives and the pharmacy that the technician works in. While it isn’t a lot of money it does pay pretty well considering the training and education isn’t overly involved.
It is possible for a pharmacy to train a person to be a pharmacy technician. However, the way to become certified is to attend a pharmacy technician school. There are many of these schools in every state in the United States. Eventually they may be expected to follow a certain curriculum but right now there is no such curriculum in existence. So the pharmacy technician schools educate students the way they feel is best for becoming certified as a pharmacy technician.
Pharmacy technicians work closely with pharmacists to provide medication and healthcare products to patients. Online training from Penn Foster Career School will prepare you for a career as a pharmacy technician. Learn more about Penn Foster | Request free info
With a diploma from Penn Foster Career School you can become a pharmacy technician and begin a rewarding career in healthcare. With online classes at Penn Foster Career School, you can learn at your own pace and on your own schedule.
