According to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, more than twenty million prescription errors are made every year. More than 7,000 deaths occurred due to these errors in the early 2000s. As the number of prescriptions rise, employees in pharmacy settings continue to work harder than ever to fill the medication needs of all of their clients. Sadly, many pharmacists are now overworked and becoming more prone to making dangerous mistakes.

In busy pharmacies, the addition of a pharmacy technician can be an advantageous solution to overworked pharmacists. Pharmacy technicians can help a pharmacist in many ways. Pharmacy technicians are responsible for:

  • Taking prescription forms from patients
  • Accepting call-in prescriptions from doctors
  • Ensuring that the prescription forms are complete
  • Taking insurance information
  • Preparing and/or mixing prescriptions
  • Counting out pills
  • Printing labels to apply to the medication bottles
  • Printing out contraindication information
  • Delivering prescriptions to clients
  • Directing client questions to the appropriate pharmacist
  • Maintain thorough inventories of all prescription and non-prescription medications

Any prescription that is mixed or counted by a pharmacy technician is always double-checked by a pharmacist. This second check helps prevent mistakes when filling prescriptions.

While patients can always check their own prescription, not all are perceptive enough to realize how to look up the prescription on the computer and verify that the pills and doses match what appears on the pharmaceutical company’s website. Another serious issue is that more than 40% of all Americans cannot read, therefore they cannot verify the information found on their prescription bottle. They rely on what they hear the doctor or pharmacist tell them to take. This can be dangerous!

To become a pharmacy technician, it is advisable to complete a training program. Usually, these programs require under one year’s time. Courses include:

  • Anatomy
  • Communication
  • Drug Usage and Types
  • Ethics & Patient Privacy
  • Hospital Practices for Dispensing Medications
  • Introduction to Pharmacy Assisting
  • Mixing Prescriptions
  • Pharmacy Assisting Lab
  • Pharmacy Law
  • Pharmacy Math
  • Physiology
  • Prescription Administration

View a list of schools in California offering pharmacy technician programs.

Pharmacy technicians will often find themselves working odd hours. Though a pharmacy is open normal business hours, a middle of the night earache or hospital emergency may require a pharmacist to leave his or her bed to fill emergency prescriptions. Any parent who has had a screaming toddler fighting a wee hour ear infection knows the importance of a pharmacy that will open for any emergency situation. Quite often, a pharmacist dealing with multiple emergencies will then ask his or her pharmacy technician to also come in and help fill the prescriptions.

In 2004, California passed a law requiring all pharmacy technicians to gain a license. The license requires a $50 payment, proof of completion of an accredited pharmacy technician program, and transcripts of your schooling. You are also required to prove you have completed 240 hours of practice under a licensed pharmacist /teacher’s eye. If you worked as a pharmacy technician before the law was passed, this does not qualify as practice.

You need to submit a current photograph (no Polaroids) and pass a background check before the state will approve your application. It sounds strict, but this important licensing procedure helps prevent illegal trafficking of prescription drugs.

If you have completed certification with the PTCB (Pharmacy Technician Certification Board,) you will need to submit the paperwork to the state of California. PTCB offers an online certification exam that takes two hours. The $129 exam fee makes a job applicant far more acceptable as the PTCB exam tests a person’s capacity to fill prescriptions while working under other’s command. The test contains 100 questions and covers all aspects of working as a pharmacy technician. Visit PTCB for more information.

Additionally, membership with the National Pharmacy Technician Association (NPTA) may be of use. The NPTA is a wonderful organization that offers pharmacy technicians many benefits. It also demonstrates a pharmacy technician’s willingness to keep up with the current laws and medications. This makes the technician more attractive to any prospective employer. Other perks to membership include:

  • Discounted continuing education courses
  • Support groups
  • Product discounts
  • A monthly magazine that lists new medications, the latest news, and other industry related tidbits
  • Email newsletters with recent news and law changes

To gain certification with NPTA, you must visit their website www.pharmacytechnician.org and fill out the required online forms.

Prescription mix-ups can happen to anyone. For this reason, it is important to look for pharmacies that employ pharmacy technicians. The double-check system can help save lives. Pharmacy technicians are in high demand. As this career is growing in leaps and bounds, you will find it easy to gain a great job with a decent salary.