Posted on September 27, 2022 in
Health
Working as a pharmacy assistant is fulfilling and demanding. It’s also lucrative as you grow in this profession eventually. If you picture yourself working in a position where you would give sick individuals medicine and directions on how to take it, then pharmacy assistant is the career for you!
As a pharmacy assistant, you verify appropriate dosing and the authenticity of prescriptions and communicate with the insurance company and doctors. There are several routes for progression in this position.
Through this blog, we’ll explore the top five benefits of becoming a pharmacy assistant.
It will take you through the following topics:
- Ever-growing field
- Lucrative pay structure
- Low entry barrier
- Career advancement opportunities
- Fulfilling career
What do Pharmacy Assistants do?
A pharmacy assistant performs a variety of tasks at work to advance public health by cooperating with a team led by a licensed pharmacist. The size of the pharmacy will frequently affect the scope of the duties. A pharmacy assistant should typically be able to handle the following duties:
- Addressing client inquiries and complaints on the phone or on the spot.
- Creating labels for medical products and stock purchasing lists.
- Constructing, putting together, and labeling pharmaceuticals.
- Patients’ inquiries to the supervising pharmacist.
- Restocking the drugstore floor and accepting deliveries.
- Using the pharmacist’s instructions to place a medicine order.
- Providing tips and recommendations on over-the-counter medicines.
- Helping to dispense drugs.
- Taking care of the cash register.
- Receiving prescription requests.
- Providing customers with prescription drugs.
In addition to the aforementioned responsibilities, a pharmacy assistant’s job description may also involve many more tasks, based on the pharmacy’s size and the level of consumer demand.
Top Five Reasons to Become a Pharmacy Assistant
In addition to the duties that are primarily involved with this job, this line of work presents difficulties that improve your ability to interact with others and communicate, as well as give you the background you’ll need to move to higher positions in this industry. These are the top 5 explanations for becoming a pharmacy assistant:
Ever-growing field
Jobs for pharmacy assistants are one of the numerous healthcare profession categories that are in demand. The need for medical care and guidance is expected to increase as the population ages and pharmaceutical research continues to progress.
Official data states that there aren’t enough pharmacy assistant graduates to meet the growing demand, which results in a low unemployment rate. This is due to rising prescription medication consumption, our population getting old, and other needs in the health care sector. The number of available positions is also anticipated to rise sharply in the upcoming years.
Prescription drugs and other medical supplies need to be prepared and administered with the utmost precision and effectiveness. That’s where the role of talented pharmacy assistants comes into importance.
Lucrative pay structure
The starting salary for those who work in large corporations’ pharmacies is typically greater than the starting salary for the majority, if not all, other positions. That’s a respectable wage for any entry-level profession, and most companies use pharmacy assistants at various levels.
The average pharmacy assistant salary in Canada is $37,050 per year or $19 per hour. Entry-level positions start at $30,773 per year, while most experienced workers make up to $46,979 per year (ca.talent.com).
Low Entry Barrier
A diploma to become a pharmacy assistant can be earned in as short as 53 weeks through the Pharmacy Assistant program at ABM College. You can start looking for a job as a pharmacy assistant after graduating successfully. The technical and administrative facets of the pharmacy profession, such as principles of pharmacy practice, pharmacology, software, drug terminology, pharmacy mathematics, inventory maintenance, record keeping, pharmacy equipment, and an introduction to compounding and prescription preparations, are taught to students in a relevant way.
A rigorous six-week practicum at the program’s conclusion gives students the chance to gain practical experience in both a retail and facility context. Graduates are qualified to work as pharmacy assistants in a range of care institutions or retail pharmacy contexts after successfully completing the program.
Career Advancement Opportunities
When you choose pharmacy assistant as a career, you open up doors to working in various sectors such as retail pharmacies, health stores, hospice care facilities, hospitals, nursing homes, corrections facilities, nuclear pharmacies, compounding pharmacies, and so on. Due to so many alternatives, you can select the pharmaceutical environment that most closely matches your preferences. Once you enter this field, the opportunities to advance to the next levels are enormous. As you gain experience, you start diversifying your capabilities and skills to climb up the ladder to higher positions.
Fulfilling Career
As a pharmacy assistant, you will directly affect others in your community, unlike some other careers that could appear mundane. Whether you are counting money from consumers, measuring out prescriptions, or dealing with clients, you will feel fulfilled when you are assisting others. Every day at work, a career as a pharmacy assistant will allow you to make a difference in others’ lives. The pharmacist and pharmacy assistant together provide a patient with final instructions regarding the drugs they are prescribed and the manner in which they should take them. Such things are emotionally and mentally gratifying when you help others become better.
Considering Pharmacy Assistant as a Career?
Can you picture yourself working in the fascinating profession of healthcare? Do you take pleasure in teamwork and problem-solving? The best career for you might then be as a pharmacy assistant.
ABM College provides a Pharmacy Assistant Diploma program at its Calgary campus, in which you can easily enroll and attain your education to launch your dream career right away.
Contact us to know more!
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About The Author
Content Writer
Preeti Parashar is a published author and a creative writer. She has a progressive experience in content development, copy editing, journalism, marketing, and communications spanning across varied industries. She holds a Master’s Degree in Mass Communication. She actively contributes articles and personal opinion pieces to various Indian national newspapers and online platforms. Her interests include blogging, writing poetry, traveling, and reading fiction. Preeti is currently working as a Content Writer at ABM College.