Pharmacy Technicians help licensed pharmacists provide medication and other health care products to patients. Technicians usually perform routine tasks to help prepare prescribed medication for patients, such as counting tablets and labeling bottles. Technicians refer any questions regarding prescriptions, drug information, or health matters to a pharmacist.
Technicians receive written prescriptions or requests for prescription refills from patients. They may also receive prescriptions sent from the doctor's office. They must verify that the information on the prescription is complete and accurate. To prepare the prescription, technicians retrieve, count, pour, weigh, measure and sometimes mix the medication. Then, they prepare the prescription labels, select the type of prescription container, and affix the labels on it.
Once the prescription is filled, it must be checked by a pharmacist before it is given to a patient. Technicians may establish and maintain patient profiles, prepare insurance claim forms, and stock and take inventory of prescription and over-the-counter medications.
In hospitals, Pharmacy Technicians may read patient charts and prepare and deliver medicine to patients, and then copy the information about the prescribed medication onto the patient's profile. Pharmacy Technicians may also gather a 24-hour supply of medicine for every patient.
A Pharmacy Technician's responsibilities may be greater or lesser that those listed above depending upon the state they are practicing in.
The Pharmacy Technician program offers
* Study of the anatomy and physiology of the body and of drugs/antibiotics used to treat common diseases
* Familiarity with prescription and non-prescription drugs, herbal remedies and dietary supplements
* Training with regard to the functions of hospital pharmacies; how to interpret physician's orders, maintain records, complete orders, fill unit dose carts, stock floor inventory, and more
* Training with regard to the functions of retail pharmacies; how to process drug orders, maintain inventory, calculate dosing, price and stock medication, and more
* An introduction to federal and state pharmacy laws
* An externship at a clinical site
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High - Tech Institute - Minnesota.
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