Career Talk: Pharmacy Technician Careers
Bridgette Kennedy, Community Liaison at Bidwell Training Center
Sean Parsons, Instructor at Bidwell Training Center
Pharmacy Technician Career Growth
(Source: http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Healthcare/Pharmacy-technicians.htm)
The Pharmacy Technician career field is projected to grow by 20% from 2012-2022.
Pharmacy Technician Career Opportunities
(Source: http://www.pharmacy-tech-test.com/job-description-pharmacy-technician-assistant.html)
• Prescription intake including e-prescribing, faxes, and patients walking in with their prescription in hand
• Gathering patient data including drug and disease information, name, address and contact information, allergy information, and insurance information
• Prescription translation of doctors' handwriting, Greek words and Latin abbreviations
• Performing necessary calculations ranging from days' supply and adjusting refills/short-fills to verifying the proper dosage of chemotherapy drugs and other complex treatment regimens
• Data entry including information about the patient, the prescriber, the third-party payor, prescription information, and drug information
• Filling prescriptions, including labeling and packaging the medication
• Dispensing the filled prescription
• Collecting necessary payments
• Filing prescription forms in an appropriate manner to allow for easy retrieval during audits
• Inventory management including purchasing, rotating stock, and managing short-dated/expired medications
• Non-sterile compounding including preparing oral medications (suspensions, solutions, tablets, capsules, lozenges, oral sprays, etc.), topical medications (powders, ointments, creams, and gels), and otic preparations
• Preparing sterile products ranging from antibiotics, to ionotropic therapy, to parenteral nutrition which may have over 20 ingredients that must be kept sterile during preparation
• Mixing hazardous drugs to prepare chemotherapy for patients working with radiopharmaceuticals ranging from preparing stress tests to tagging white blood cells to help find infections
• Medication delivery ranging from various hospital units, such as nursing units and operating rooms, to patient homes and physician practices
• Cart-fill/Cassette exchange which typically provide patients with a 24 hour supply of medication in hospitals and may be as long as once a month in a nursing home
• Working with automation including filling automated dispensing cabinets, using pneumatic tube systems, and automated counting devices
• Integrating and maintaining databases and pharmacy automation systems
• Working directly for insurance companies assessing non-formulary requests and providing patient services
• Gathering lab work data and scheduling appointments to aid in the provision of patient counseling, medication therapy management, and immunizations
• Training staff or even teaching at a technical school or community college
Bidwell Training Center's Pharmacy Technician Major
Bidwell Training Center Overview
Bidwell Training Center is a nonprofit career training school. Short term, effective training is available at no cost to students. Each accepted student receives a one-time full scholarship that includes tuition, books, and required materials. To qualify, a person must have a high school diploma or GED, be a resident of Pennsylvania, and complete the three-step admissions process.
Pharmacy Technician Overview
• The next start date is February 2, 2015.
• Classes are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 2:55 p.m.
• 2 week pre-training
• 9 months career training (not including holidays)
• Halfway through the training students volunteer one day per week in a community/retail setting.
• The last 6 weeks of the major is an externship at an institution.
A selection of Pharmacy Technician Courses
Anatomy and Physiology Pharmacy Math
Medical Terminology Pharmacy Practice and Special Topics
Community Pharmacy Software Pharmacy Techniques and Pharmacy Lab
Pharmacology Volunteer Program
Pharmacy Automation and Technology Externship
Admissions Process
The first step of the admissions process is to attend a walk-in information session on a Monday or Wednesday at 8:45 a.m.: 1650 Metropolitan Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15233.
Contact Information
www.bidwell-training.org
412-323-4000, Ext. 150
