The Professional Pharmacy Technician
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A pharmacy technician is an educated, skilled individual trained to work in a pharmacy, under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist; they can assist in all pharmacy activities authorized by the State Board of Pharmacy, that do not require the professional judgment of a pharmacist, e.g., patient consultations.
Pharmacy technicians earn between $11 - $17 per hour, on average, across the United States.
Salary & Benefits
- The national salary range for a pharmacy technician is $24,262 - $36,787, with a median salary of $30,429.
- The national salary range for a certified pharmacy technician is $28,168 - $43,002, with a median salary of $35,454.
- Most full-time pharmacy technicians receive healthcare insurance benefits and paid time off (paid vacation)
- Some pharmacy technicians also receive 401(k) matching, bonuses, pensions and/or college tuition reimbursement.
Pharmacy technician is ranked as the 60th fastest growing job overall in the United States.
Pharmacy technician work in a wide variety of practice settings, including:
- retail pharmacies
- independent pharmacies
- hospital pharmacies
- long term care facilities
- nuclear pharmacies
- mail order pharmacies
- home health care
- the US military
- federal institutions
- inventory management
- correctional facilities
- managed care facilities
- sales/marketing
- management/staff supervision
- technology services/consulting
- education/training
- and many more
The current job growth for the pharmacy technician career is 28.8% with 39,000+ job openings per year.
Pharmacy technician job duties vary widely, but can include:
- Prepare medications under the direction of a licensed pharmacist.
- Measure, mix, count, label and record amounts of dosages of medications.
- Receive written prescriptions or refill requests and verify that information is complete and accurate.
- Maintain proper storage and security conditions for drugs.
- Answer telephones, responding to questions or requests when appropriate.
- Fill bottles with prescribed medications and type and affix labels.
- Assist customers by answering simple questions, locating items, or referring them to the pharmacist for medication information.
- Price and file prescriptions that have been filled.
- Clean and help maintain equipment and work areas.
- Establish and maintain patient profiles, including lists of medications taken by individual patients.
- Order, label and count stock of medication, chemicals and supplies.
- Enter and maintain inventory into the computer system.
- Sterile product preparation, including TPNs (total pareneteral nutrition) and chemotherapy treatments.
- Prepare and process medical insurance claim forms and records.
- Mix pharmaceutical preparations according to written prescriptions (compounding).
- Operate cash registers to accept payment from customers.
- Compute charges for medication and equipment dispensed to health-system patients.
- Deliver medications and pharmaceutical supplies to patients, nursing stations or satellite locations.
- Price stock and mark items for sale.
- Maintain and merchandise over-the-counter medications, products and supplies.
