The pharmacy technician career field offers a unique opportunity to enter the healthcare industry with only a few years of schooling for a rewarding career. As a pharmacy technician, you’ll be responsible for assisting in the daily operation of the pharmacy, including filling prescriptions, filling out paperwork and confirming insurance coverage, and more.
The pharmacy technician is a crucial component of an effective pharmacy, and you can get your certificate in 1-2 years, depending on the program. If you’re looking for a quick entry to the healthcare industry in a position you’ll love, it’s time to choose a pharmacy tech program and get started right away! In case you’re not convinced yet, here are some reasons to enroll in a pharmacy tech program in 2020.
Becoming a pharmacy technician grants you an opportunity to enter a rewarding career field, helping other people. With millions of Americans dependent on their prescriptions to helping manage symptoms of crippling illnesses and other ailments, you’re providing an essential service. You’ll be on the front lines of customer service as well if you decide to work in a retail pharmacy.
Pursuing a degree in pharmacy technician training will ensure that your skills are used beyond the workplace. In the training program, you will learn about the dynamics of various medicines that how do various medicines impact a human body. Your skills and understanding will go beyond the knowledge of a layman. Moreover, you will also learn about which drugs must not be taken simultaneously as they will react and cause mayhem. All of these skills will come in pretty handy in your life, where you may become the go-to medical expert for your friends and family.
The best part about choosing a career in pharmacy tech (aside from helping others) is that the industry is growing. From 2018-2028, the job market is expected to grow by about 7%, which is higher than the national average. The healthcare industry itself is predicted to grow by about 14% by 2028, but those were pre-COVID-19 numbers. With the surge of the pandemic, there’s a good chance the industry will experience a bit of a boost this year and possibly next year as well.
Choosing a career in healthcare boosts your chances of finding a job right out of school. In fact, pharmacy tech programs like pharmacy technician training at Ultimate Medical Academy usually have job placement options and in-person training opportunities so you can gain experience.
Your salary as a pharmacy technician will depend on both your experience level and the state you’re working in. The type of pharmacy you work in will also affect your salary. That being said, according to the BLS, the average salary for a pharmacy technician in the US is around $33,000 per year or about $16 per hour.
Seldom do people understand the full scope of pharmacy technicians as they are often thought to be limited to community pharmacies. But, it cannot be further from the truth because there is a whole world out there for pharmacy technicians as they can work in hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacy automation, and more. Therefore, do not fret that you will be stuck in one practice area if you choose to become a pharmacy technician.
We have already discussed that being a pharmacy technician will open you up to plenty of work environment options. Therefore, multiple environment options bring multiple roles, which you can choose as per your liking. For example, if you are a people person and wish to interact with patients, then community pharmacy is your best bet because it is loaded with customer service. On the other hand, if you want a role that does not require a lot of interaction with patients, you can take up a job in a compounding pharmacy or pharmacy automation.
At the beginning of your career, you may have to do simple tasks that may bore you and trap you into thinking that you will be stuck in the same position for life. It cannot be further from the truth, because there are many advancement opportunities for those pharmacy technicians who prove their worth. For example, you can become the pharmacy technician supervisor or community store manager. If you are working in a hospital, you can be promoted to the position of intravenous pharmacy technician, where you will be required to make chemo-therapy intravenous solutions.
While some careers require exceptional schooling that can only be attained at prestigious or specialized universities, pharmacy technician training is abundant in every state. Where a university can cost anywhere from $36,000 to well over $100,000 for a four-year degree, you can obtain a pharmacy tech certification in as little as $3-5,000. You may not even have to take on any student loans to get your certification!
Most of the institutions complete their pharmacy technician training programs within nine months, including the externship. It means that you can kick start this career in less than a year, and all you have to do is pass the pharmacy technician certification exam. Once you clear that, you are ready to practice as a certified pharmacy technician.
You do not have to worry about the fact that whether you will be able to sit for the certification exam in the same year you graduate. This is because certification exams happen multiple times every year, and you can easily pick a date that fits your schedule.