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I don't think you need to go to college to become a pharmacy tech. I have at least 10 friends who passed whatever certification exam is required right out of high school just using a review book.
True, you only have to pass the course where I live too. No special schooling needed. Heck, at least one drug store I know of will pay the testing fee for the certification if you work there for a certain length of time.
No special schooling is required, but, there is no way you will pass the course without some studying. There are quite a few calculations, drug names and laws that you need to learn. The drug store may pay for it though
I don't think you need to go to college to become a pharmacy tech. I have at least 10 friends who passed whatever certification exam is required right out of high school just using a review book.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DubbleT
True, you only have to pass the course where I live too. No special schooling needed. Heck, at least one drug store I know of will pay the testing fee for the certification if you work there for a certain length of time.
I spent a couple hrs. researching this yesterday. In California, to work as one you have to be licensened by the state. To get a license, you need to do X, Y, or Z.They range from a 2yr. degree or certificate to simply passing the national certification.
One particular CA community college which offers an associates in Pharmacy Technology basically states on their website, "you can get licensed without schooling, but who would hire you". I'm curious. How valid is that? Especially with a hospital vs. drugstore employment outlook. From job postings I read, hospitals seem to want a more qualified candiate. The Veteran's Affairs Administation require their pharmacy techs to have a bachelors degree with at least 24 units of relevant coursework. Didn't say desirable, it said required.
Drugstores will hire you, hospitals maybe not.
In the drugstores I have worked for it's not uncommon to find that about half the techs started out as regular cashiers. They got on the job experience, took some classes put together by the company, and took the certification test at the companies expense. Retail pharmacy is not a great place to be IMO, many of the really good techs move on to other things after a while (hospital, or mail order filling, etc.)
I would agree--sounds like retail pharmacies would hire you with just the certification, but probably not hospitals. I've heard hospitals generally pay more, though.
Most of my friends weren't looking to be career pharm techs, they just wanted a higher-than-minimum-wage job to put themselves through school. Many are actual pharmacists and doctors now. So I guess it would depend on your career goals.
Living and working in NH it is hard to say Right now I also work as a cashier because our wonderful company is cutting hours any way they can, however, because of my "status" as a pharmacy tech I get paid $18.25 per hour which is ok. Thankfully I don't need to do this as a career and I know my stuff.
I would agree--sounds like retail pharmacies would hire you with just the certification, but probably not hospitals. I've heard hospitals generally pay more, though.
Most of my friends weren't looking to be career pharm techs, they just wanted a higher-than-minimum-wage job to put themselves through school. Many are actual pharmacists and doctors now. So I guess it would depend on your career goals.
My career goal is starting over. I assumed a lot of those techs were probably young or students. I'm 40. And becoming a pharmacist and doctor probably isn't happening. I'm bit afraid of age discrimination, even at 40, starting out as a pharmacy tech.
Do you have any cashier experience or any kind of health care related experience at all? Are you a fast learner and good at multi-tasking? Can you keep your cool under pressure? Are you thick skinned enough to let the rants from sick, grouchy people roll off you?
The drugstores I've worked at LOVE to get a hold of mature responsible employees who want to work in the pharmacy. No shortage of young people and students , but someone with a lot of stability and who doesn't have to work around a school schedule can be a good thing!
Skip the schooling and save yourself some money. Go talk to a pharmacy manager and tell them you want to learn to be a tech. If you find a place that's hiring, they'd probably start you out as an RX cashier for several months and then up to tech later. You don't have to be certified to do a lot of the tech duties, heaven knows I'm a walking example of that. A lot of it you learn as you go, it makes getting your certification later easier to do too.
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Right now I also work as a cashier because our wonderful company is cutting hours any way they can, however, because of my "status" as a pharmacy tech I get paid $18.25 per hour which is ok. Thankfully I don't need to do this as a career and I know my stuff.
