Pharmacy Technician Program
Pharmacy technicians work under the direct supervision of a pharmacist. Pharmacy technicians conduct the more basic, repetitive activities of preparing prescription medicines for patients, such as counting pills, putting medicines in containers, labeling, and packing, after a pharmacist checks a doctor’s prescription for errors or potential problems. Pharmacy technicians use computers to search for medical insurance information and generate prescription labels. Pharmacy technicians create individual patient doses (also known as ‘unit doses’) of each drug a patient will receive that day in hospitals. Pills or capsules, intravenous medications, and injections are all examples of this. Pharmacy techs mix intravenous pharmaceuticals into solution bags and transfer liquid medicines into syringes.
Available in:
Length of Study
Career Level
Delivery Type
Duties
- Receive written prescription or refill requests and verify that information is complete and accurate.
- Enter prescription information into computer databases.
- Establish or maintain patient profiles, including lists of medications taken by individual patients.
- Maintain proper storage and security conditions for drugs.
- Receive and store incoming supplies, verify quantities against invoices, check for outdated medications in current inventory, and inform supervisors of stock needs and shortages.
- Answer telephones, responding to questions or requests.
- 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.
- Mix pharmaceutical preparations, according to written prescriptions.
- Operate cash registers to accept payment from customers.
- Price stock and mark items for sale.
- Order, label, and count stock of medications, chemicals, or supplies and enter inventory data into a computer.
- Clean and help maintain equipment or work areas and sterilize glassware, according to prescribed methods.
- Prepack bulk medicines, fill bottles with prescribed medications, and type and affix labels.
- Compute charges for medication or equipment dispensed to hospital patients and enter data in computer.
- Prepare and process medical insurance claim forms and records.
- Transfer medication from vials to the appropriate number of sterile, disposable syringes, using aseptic techniques.
- Restock intravenous (IV) supplies and add measured drugs or nutrients to IV solutions under sterile conditions to prepare IV packs for various uses, such as chemotherapy medication.
- Supply and monitor robotic machines that dispense medicine into containers and label the containers.
- Deliver medications or pharmaceutical supplies to patients, nursing stations, or surgery.
- Maintain and merchandise home healthcare products or services.
Career Opportunities
Day in the Life
Job Outlook
California has a projected growth of 13% between 2018-2028, median annual salary $45,090