Pharmacy Technician
By performing routine tasks like counting tablets and labeling bottles, pharmacy technicians help licensed pharmacists provide health care products and medication to as many patients as possible. Depending upon state regulations, technicians may also be in charge of verifying prescriptions; retrieving, weighing, and measuring medication; preparing prescription labels; and filling and pricing prescriptions. Licensed pharmacists oversee and check all of the prescriptions that their technicians fill.Additional duties for a pharmacy technician include maintaining patient profiles, completing insurance claim forms, and stocking and taking inventory of a facility's medication. Technicians in hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted-living facilities sometimes prepare and deliver prescriptions to patients. Pharmacy technicians work the same hours as pharmacists, which can mean evenings, nights, and weekends in facilities that are open 24 hours a day. Most technicians will receive informal training after they've been hired, but employers look favorably upon applicants who are already certified in this field. Vocational, technical, and community colleges all offer formal training for pharmacy technicians.
Certified pharmacy technicians usually have to renew their training every two years, and individuals with prior records of drug or substance abuse cannot qualify for certification. In general, this job requires you to be alert, organized, and responsible. In 2006, the majority of U.S. technicians worked in retail pharmacies, while the rest were employed with internet pharmacies, hospitals, and pharmaceutical wholesalers. At the time, the middle 50 percent of pharmacy technicians earned between $10.10 and $14.92 an hour. [Figures including job projections, reported median incomes, and salary estimates were revised to reflect data from 2006 on 2/20/08.]