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Pharmacy Technicians

$37.79K Median Salary 31.7K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 4% Job Growth

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About This Career

Prepare medications under the direction of a pharmacist. May measure, mix, count out, label, and record amounts and dosages of medications according to prescription orders.

Reported Job Titles

Accredited Pharmacy Technician, Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT), Chemotherapy Pharmacy Technician (Chemo Pharmacy Technician), Compounding Technician, OR Pharmacy Tech (Operating Room Pharmacy Tech), RPhT (Registered Pharmacy Technician)

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Skills You'll Need

Click on skills to find related courses.

Abilities

Near Vision

Oral Comprehension

Oral Expression

Written Comprehension

Speech Recognition

Information Ordering

Problem Sensitivity

Category Flexibility

Speech Clarity

Deductive Reasoning

Finger Dexterity

Number Facility

Perceptual Speed

Written Expression

Arm-Hand Steadiness

Inductive Reasoning

Manual Dexterity

Selective Attention

Time Sharing

Knowledge

Customer and Personal Service

Mathematics

Medicine and Dentistry

English Language

Computers and Electronics

Law and Government

Administrative

Production and Processing

Skills

Active Listening

Reading Comprehension

Speaking

Critical Thinking

Active Learning

Complex Problem Solving

Judgment and Decision Making

Monitoring

Service Orientation

Social Perceptiveness

Coordination

Mathematics

Time Management

Writing

Technology Skills

Spreadsheet software

Presentation software

Medical software

Data base user interface and query software

Label making software

Electronic mail software

Accounting software

Enterprise resource planning ERP software

Office suite software

Word processing software

Inventory management software

Point of sale POS software

Tools

Laboratory balances

Sterile or aseptic processing or filling machines

Laboratory mills

Filling or sealing auger dose machines

Digital pen

Laboratory blenders or emulsifiers

Intravenous infusion pumps for general use

Petri plates or dishes

Gas burners

Microscope slides

Bar code reader equipment

Pharmaceutical filters or ultra filters

Multipurpose or general test tubes

Laboratory washing machines

Forced air or mechanical convection general purpose incubators

Dry heat or hot air sterilizers

Fume hoods or cupboards

Medication or pill dispensers

Bi distillation units

Tablet counters

Benchtop centrifuges

Compact disc CD or labeling printers

Laminar flow cabinets or stations

Intravenous tubing with catheter administration kits

Hydrometers

Laser printers

Point of sale POS terminal

Laboratory graduated cylinders

Vacuum blood collection tubes or containers

Steam autoclaves or sterilizers

Medical syringes without needle

Laboratory vacuum pumps

Notebook computers

Cash registers

Desktop computers

Personal computers

Abilities

Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).

Knowledge

Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Mathematics: Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Medicine and Dentistry: Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Law and Government: Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Administrative: Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Production and Processing: Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

Skills

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Mathematics: Using mathematics to solve problems.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Technology Skills

Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Medical software: Henry Schein Dentrix; Medical condition coding software; Medical procedure coding software; MEDITECH software
Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software
Label making software: Inspection marking systems
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Accounting software: Billing software; Bookkeeping software; Intuit QuickBooks; Sage 50 Accounting
Enterprise resource planning ERP software: Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne; Oracle PeopleSoft; Oracle PeopleSoft Financials; SAP software
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Inventory management software: Assisi Software Assisi Inventory
Point of sale POS software: Smart card management software

Tools

Laboratory balances: Electrobalances
Sterile or aseptic processing or filling machines: Automatic bottle filling machines; Computer-based dispensing equipment; Semiautomatic sterile solution transferring devices
Laboratory mills: Grinder mills
Filling or sealing auger dose machines: Automatic unit dose strip packaging machines; Tube filling and crimping machines
Digital pen: Digital pens
Laboratory blenders or emulsifiers: Blenders
Intravenous infusion pumps for general use: Intravenous IV infusion pumps
Petri plates or dishes: Petri dishes
Gas burners: Bunsen burners
Microscope slides:
Bar code reader equipment: Bar code readers
Pharmaceutical filters or ultra filters: Filtering devices
Multipurpose or general test tubes: Test tubes
Laboratory washing machines: Laboratory glassware washers
Forced air or mechanical convection general purpose incubators: Laboratory mechanical convection incubators
Dry heat or hot air sterilizers: Sterilizing ovens
Fume hoods or cupboards: Flow hoods
Medication or pill dispensers: Automated medicine dispensing equipment
Bi distillation units: Water distillation units
Tablet counters: Pill counters
Benchtop centrifuges:
Compact disc CD or labeling printers: Label printers
Laminar flow cabinets or stations: Laminar flow hoods
Intravenous tubing with catheter administration kits: Intravenous IV equipment
Hydrometers: Urometers
Laser printers: Computer laser printers
Point of sale POS terminal: Point of sale POS systems
Laboratory graduated cylinders: Graduated glass laboratory cylinders
Vacuum blood collection tubes or containers: Evacuated blood collection tubes
Steam autoclaves or sterilizers: Steam sterilizers
Medical syringes without needle: Syringes
Laboratory vacuum pumps:
Notebook computers: Laptop computers
Cash registers: Computerized cash registers
Desktop computers:
Personal computers:

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