Most people mixed up the profession of a pharmacy technician with a pharmacy assistant. However, both have their separate domains, as mentioned in this article. The answer to this question is significant for respective career-seeking individuals.
What is a Pharmacy Assistant?
Firstly, by profession, he helps the pharmacist to prepare drugs. Secondly, he looks after inventory, updates patient files, answers queries, and assists in processing insurance claims and billing. This profession involves technical tasks, customer service, and clerical works. For pharmacy assistants, every day can dawn with different responsibilities. That could be answering telephone calls, calculating dosages, making drug compounds, and providing customer information about products. A pharmacy assistant is a person who gets in contact with clients quite often. That makes him the “face” of pharmacy.
What is a Pharmacy Technician?
Somehow this career is identical to pharmacy assistant. The pharmacy technician can complete all supporting tasks done by an assistant. However, there are a few more responsibilities and powers.
First of all, he is became signing authority concerning refill and new prescriptions. Secondly, they have to look after the technical aspect related to prescription. They are independent of receiving prescriptions and of preparing drugs. Thirdly, they had to run a final check to ensure everything is in order. Last but not least, they can step in before handling the medication to the patient. For ensuring everything is in the correct order.
Moreover, they can make a prescription of verbal statements. However, they cannot deal with narcotics, benzodiazepines, controlled drugs, and above all, targeted substances. That increases the practice domain of pharmacy technicians.
The real big difference is that pharmacy technicians get regulated by the College of pharmacists. To become a pharmacy technician, one had to complete the training program. It is essential to get enrolled in a registered College. Then one had to get pass through two exams. This whole procedure is mentioned below:
- Get yourself pre-registered with any registered pharmacist College by paying a fee.
- Complete and approved pharmacy technician program of graduate level.
- Jurisprudence Exam.
- The pharmacy examining board of Canada qualifying exam is necessary for pharmacy technicians.
Pharmacy technician needs to follow rules of College. The accountability should be stringent in following standard practices, policies, guidelines, and codes of ethics. Whereas pharmacy assistants are not regulated. The training program is simple to complete. After completing training, they can start working immediately.
The Career to Choose?
This is a fundamental question, especially when it involves preferences. In general, most of the pharmacist is not comfortable with pharmacy technicians. That is why they mostly hire pharmacy assistants. Moreover, the training programmed for pharmacy technicians is challenging as compared to pharmacy assistants.
Training as Pharmacy Assistant
Our College Bay River is offering Express 34 weeks pharmacy assistant diploma program. This training program is very quick and easy to finish. The training covers primary hands-on skills. They are a basic requirement at any good medical facility. The College also arrange for an internship at any local pharmacy. This practice will get you a real-life experience of work before completing the training program. In this program, we taught students medication preparation, pharmacy software, compounding, avoiding medication error, drugs prescription, dealing over the counter, and basic pharmacy math.
In Need of More Information?
Feel free to contact our admission advisor at Bay River College. They will guide you through class schedules, admission requirements, financial aid, and cost. How to use them appropriately for a training program of pharmacy assistants? Moreover, we have very able admission advisors who are qualified counsellors. They can also provide counselling regarding your career planning.
