Making the decision to further your career is an impressive one. For many Georgia residents this might mean making the decision whether or not to become a pharmacy technician. For those interested in this type of career as well as for those who aren’t overly familiar with the field, becoming a pharmacy tech is a wise career move. You’ll work directly under the direction of a pharmacist performing important health care tasks.
What is the Role of a Pharmacy Technician?
As a pharmacy tech your job will include a number of roles. You are not legally permitted to created prescriptions and mix drugs, but you are going to handle prescriptions once they’re filled. Your job might consist of providing instruction to customers as to the correct usage of their newly filled prescriptions. You will take on the role of discussing prescriptions with doctor’s offices and even insurance companies. You’ll answer questions customers have regarding their prescriptions, use, and dosage information and you will be able to access their health history to ensure that they are correctly using their medications.
Pharmacy Technician Training
In the State of Georgia, Pharmacy Technicians are not required to obtain any specific training or education. However, technicians that attend a postsecondary educational facility in a program that emphasizes this particular area of study is preferred by most pharmacies. However, there is no state test or specific degree required to become a pharmacy tech. Additionally, there is no requirement for continuing education to continue along this career path.
However, the State of Georgia does require that all pharmacy technicians register with the Georgia Board of Pharmacy. This requires obtaining an application from the board and including the mandatory information required when it is returned. To apply you will need to be able to prove you are at least 17 years of age, you are currently enrolled in or graduated from high school, and you must obtain a criminal history background report. There is a nonrefundable $100 fee to register. Finally, if you decide you want to become a certified pharmacy technician, you’ll have to provide that paperwork as well.
There is not a requirement that you become certified with the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board, but it does not hurt to add this to your resume. To become certified you need only complete the program with the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board, which can be done online.
Expected Job Duties and Salary Information
If you are interested in becoming a pharmacy technician, you will have many job duties. In addition to handing prescriptions to customers, speaking to insurance companies, handling insurance information, and speaking with doctor’s offices, you will also assist in measuring and filling prescriptions. This is done carefully and under the strict supervision of a licensed pharmacist. Your job is to help measure and fill prescriptions. You might be asked by your pharmacist to count pills to place in a prescription, to label prescriptions with patient names and important information such as dosing instructions and dates for usage.
It’s a job that isn’t rated as highly stressful. However, it is a flexible career choice. This is why so many people decide to make it a career decision. You have the opportunity to work in a number of settings, from drugstores to department stores to hospitals. Depending on where you work your schedule can be set to accommodate whatever it is you have going on in life, such as children, school, or other obligations.
The salary range for a pharmacy technician ranges anywhere from $20,500 per year to $42,400 per year. What you will earn depends largely on where you work, how much experience you have, and the city in which you life. For example, northern California cities such as Oakland and San Francisco tend to offer the highest salaries to pharmacy technicians while smaller cities in the Midwest offer the lowest. However, this also depends on the cost of living in those particular areas.
The median income for a pharmacy technician is approximately $29,000. You can expect a starting salary in the State of Georgia somewhere close to that, depending on which type of pharmacy you choose to apply for your first technician’s job.