Pharmacy Assistant Requirements: Education, Job, and Certification

Pharmacy Assistant Requirements: Education, Job, and Certification

This post provides complete information on the requirements pharmacy assistants will be expected to fulfill to get into the career and be successful in it.

It shows the educational, job, and certification requirements you will be expected to meet to become a pharmacy assistant and advance in your career.

Please, read on:

Pharmacy Assistant Requirements for Career Success

If you are interested in the pharmacy assistant career, here are major requirements you need to prepare for to meet:

1. Pharmacy Assistant Educational Requirements

To start up a career as a pharmacy assistant, you must attain the educational requirements needed to help you have good knowledge of the pharmaceutical field and acquire the ability and skills needed to effectively work in this position.

A pharmacy technician does not require a strong educational background; you can get on the job training from the pharmacist or other professional co-worker.

The following are the various educational requirements of a pharmacy assistant:

High School Diploma or GED: This is basically the only educational requirement to become an assistant pharmacist. It takes about 1 year to complete the program.

Admission requirements for High School diploma:

To enroll into this program, the individual must have received a High School diploma after completing a High School educational program and must have passed required courses like Biology, Chemistry, and Mathematics.

Associate’s Degree: An Associate’s degree is optional if you want to become a pharmacy assistant and may take up to two years to complete.

Students are tutored on courses such as Pharmacology, Dosage calculations, and Chemistry, and Health care practitioner ethics.

The knowledge of pharmacy procedures are usually obtained from Associate’s degree from studying Pharmacology, Chemistry, etc.

This program prepares students to work closely with licensed pharmacists.

Admission requirements for Associate’s degree in Pharmacy Technician program:

To enroll for this program, the applicant must attain a High School diploma GPA of at least 2.0 and must at least have a “C” grade or higher in Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics.

2. Pharmacy Assistant Job Requirements

The job requirements of a pharmacy assistant are qualifications necessary for the position. Job requirements are usually outlined to make candidates aware of the least requirements that they need to qualify for the pharmacy assistant position.

These should be defined clearly to avoid confusion.

Listed below are basic requirements for the position of a pharmacy assistant:

• High School diploma or GED.
• Associate’s degree preferred
• Excellent operation of all Microsoft Office and other computer software for documenting
• Team spirit and ability to work as part of a team
• Ability to use office equipment such as typewriter, copier, and calculator and POS for payment purposes
• Skill in both oral and written communication
• Past experience working in a pharmacy or other prefer service-related job
• Knowledge of common drug prescriptions
• Excellent customer service and relation.

3. Pharmacy Assistant Certification Requirements

Unlike pharmacy technicians, assistants do not require much certification and education.

The available certification you can acquire as a pharmacy assistant is:

Pharmacy Assistant Technical Certificate of Credit (TCC): This program is designed to provide students with short duration training to equip them for entry level employment in a medical setting, not limited to retail pharmacies, nursing homes, and medical clinics.

Requirements: Official High School or GED is required to apply. The individual cannot be convicted of a felony that occurred within the last five years and the individual must be up to 18 years.

Pharmacy Assistant Responsibilities

Assistant pharmacists are also known as pharmacy aides; they work with pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in a variety of settings, from retail stores to hospitals.

Assistant pharmacists perform administrative duties and work directly with customers to meet their needs.

The pharmacy assistant operates the cash register, handles money transactions, and answers the phone calls, and do most clerical work in the pharmacy.

They assist licensed pharmacists with selling and preparing of medication to patients in retail or wholesale pharmacy drugstores.

A pharmacy assistant works as a member of the pharmacy staff team under the management of a certified pharmacist.

The working environment of a pharmacy assistant is inside a pharmacy.

There are many different tasks and responsibilities that are expected of a pharmacy assistant to do as part of their role. These include:

• Aid in the process of prescription for pharmacist and pharmacy technician
• Great customers relation and ability to answer basic questions
• Advise customers on drug information and prescribe basic drugs for them
• Refer some complex issues to pharmacists
• Inputs the customers’ prescription information into the computer system
• Type in and print out prescription labels and bills
• Collect prescriptions and deliver it to the customers
• Maintains patients’ information
• Present billing information for medications
• Perform administrative and some clerical duties by answering phones, receiving and inputting prescription orders, operating cash registers, and restocking inventories
• Gathering, organizing, and assessing patients’ information
• Give patients information and education on their prescriptions
• Manage cash register and complete transactions
• Regularly clean and organize the pharmacy workspace
• See to email and fax messages.

See detailed pharmacy assistant job description here.

Conclusion

If you are seeking to become a pharmacy assistant and build a successful career, this post shows you the major requirements you will be expected to fulfill in the course of your career, including educational, job, and certification requirements.