Healthcare offers plenty of careers that do not involve direct intervention with patients suffering from illnesses, diseases, and injuries. Think of your local pharmacy. A pharmacy technician is a healthcare professional whose interaction with patients is limited to what might be expected in a retail setting. Pharmacy techs are not dealing with broken bones and runny noses.
Here at ProTrain, we are thrilled to come alongside future pharmacy technicians with courses that prepare them to sit for a certification exam. Our courses are self-paced, meaning students do their work as quickly or as slowly as they need to. As a student, you would fit studying into your current schedule. As long as you finish up within the allotted amount of time, you can pace yourself in whatever way works best for you.
The Pharmacy Technician Career
If you’re not quite sure what a pharmacy technician does, allow us to explain. The pharmacy technician has been described as the pharmacist’s right hand. This is the number two person who works side-by-side with a pharmacist to ensure that medications are dispensed safely and accurately.
The average pharmacy tech has a number of responsibilities:
- Prescription Processing – Pharmacy techs process prescriptions by checking them for accuracy and completeness. They also make sure that prescriptions are filled correctly.
- Medication Prep – In terms of filling prescriptions, pharmacy technicians often prep medications by measuring, counting, and packaging. Technicians are largely responsible for labeling as well.
- Inventory Control – It is not unusual for pharmacy techs to be responsible for inventory control, at least to some degree. They keep track of stock so as to ensure there is always enough on hand to fill prescriptions.
- Patient Assistance – There is often some measure of patient interaction with the pharmacy tech job. Technicians might collect patient information, discuss a patient’s medical history, and even answer questions about medications.
Retail pharmacies represent a busy work environment. Oftentimes that means additional duties for pharmacy technicians. A tech might be expected to help maintain pharmacy records or process insurance claims.
Why Choose a Self-Paced Program
Aspiring pharmacy technicians have no shortage of options in terms of receiving the necessary education. The question for you might be why you should choose a self-paced program. A self-paced program offers a number of advantages, including the following:
- Flexibility – A self-paced program, by design, has flexibility built in. You are not locked into attending pre-scheduled classes at a time that may not be conducive to your schedule. You have the flexibility to study when it is most convenient for you.
- Intensity – Some students find the fast-paced nature of classroom education too intense. There is too much pressure to perform. In a self-paced program, you are studying at your own pace. There are no comparisons to other students. You can relax and study in a way that makes sense to you.
- Convenience – Making the self-paced program work is the study-at-home model. How convenient is that? Rather than having to commute to a physical campus three or four days per week, you study from the comfort of your own home.
Self-paced learning is not for everyone. However, it does work well for a lot of people. By studying online and at your own pace, you could be ready to sit for a pharmacy technician credentialing exam within a year. If you’re a fast learner, you could be ready even sooner.
ProTrain offers a number of pharmacy technician courses ready for you to start. Just search ‘pharmacy’ here on our website and take a look. We are here to answer any questions you might have prior to enrolling. To speak with a career counsellor, call 1 (844) 292-8641.