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I had a scholarship that gave me 8 free semesters of college (I still have a few free semesters left before I either have to take out a loan or go bankrupt, as Education here is not cheap), and my mother talked me into pursuing sociology since it was easy and since, although I wanted to be a teacher, I could do a free certification program afterward. Halfway through that, I switched to an education major since that free "any major into teaching program" was pulled, and now I'm going to have to pay later on the last 4 semesters out of pocket, which will probably put me behind schedule and wipe out my savings account which sucks because I hate it here with a passion...but that opens up another question:
I have an American pharmacy technician certification. Could I use that to get a pharmacy position in Europe? I don't know how it is there, but my pharmacy position pays slightly better than entry level positions here. If I can continue my studies over there and have a pharmacy position, I might be able to move right away, or at least get the process started. From what I hear, Germany, Denmark, and Scandinavia offer a much better life for their average people, including support complementary to working and raising a family, which I intend to do eventually.
I had a scholarship that gave me 8 free semesters of college (I still have a few free semesters left before I either have to take out a loan or go bankrupt, as Education here is not cheap), and my mother talked me into pursuing sociology since it was easy and since, although I wanted to be a teacher, I could do a free certification program afterward. Halfway through that, I switched to an education major since that free "any major into teaching program" was pulled, and now I'm going to have to pay later on the last 4 semesters out of pocket, which will probably put me behind schedule and wipe out my savings account which sucks because I hate it here with a passion...but that opens up another question:
I have an American pharmacy technician certification. Could I use that to get a pharmacy position in Europe? I don't know how it is there, but my pharmacy position pays slightly better than entry level positions here. If I can continue my studies over there and have a pharmacy position, I might be able to move right away, or at least get the process started. From what I hear, Germany, Denmark, and Scandinavia offer a much better life for their average people, including support complementary to working and raising a family, which I intend to do eventually.
The problem is that it is very hard to have your degree accepted here! In theory there are ways to do it, in practice, its hard !
And every country has their own rules about it and often its not accepted (or put at the same level of the ones you get in europe).
Is a pharmacy technician a college degree, or some kind of lower one? We don't have the profession here, but as I googled it's not a college degree. If that's the case, your profession is worthless in Europe. Sorry.
If it is a college degree, you would have a fair chance to get a job in Finland at least.
Is a pharmacy technician a college degree, or some kind of lower one? We don't have the profession here, but as I googled it's not a college degree. If that's the case, your profession is worthless in Europe. Sorry.
If it is a college degree, you would have a fair chance to get a job in Finland at least.
We assist the pharmacist in performing non-medical duties. We cannot counsel patients, but we fill prescriptions, take phone calls, mix compounds, and handle private insurance claims (which most of Europe has evolved past.)
Hi, I am pharmacist that has worked in Europe and am working in the USA now. Unfortunately I don't have good news for you. In Europe, you have to go to school for a couple of years, depending on the country, to be a pharmacy technician. Your american technician certificate will not allow you to work as such in Europe.
Pharmacists don't perform medical duties here (and in Germany), they don't fill prescriptions (that's what doctors are doing) and compounds are usually mixed by pharmacists that have a 5-years degree (four in Germany plus a year of learning on the job). Not sure about how insurance claims are handled.
The equivalent of your job in Germany would be called "pharmazeutisch-kaufmännischer Angestellter", which entails a three year apprenticeship. It's basically a sales job.
The job description from wikipedia:
- Bestandsaufnahme der Arzneimittelvorräte: You take care that everything's in stock.
- Ausführen der Bestellungen: You order pharmaceuticals that are out of stock.
- Kontrollieren des Wareneingangs: Quality/quantity-control of products that are arriving.
- Lagern und Auszeichnen sowie Einsortieren der Waren: You take care of proper storage.
- Abfüllen und Abpacken von Arzneimitteln: You pack compounds that got mixed by a pharmacist.
- Erledigen von kaufmännischen Arbeiten, z. B. Überprüfen von Lieferscheinen und Rechnungen sowie der Krankenkassenabrechnungen: You check packing lists and invoices.
- Unterstützung des pharmazeutischen Apothekenpersonals bei der Herstellung von Eigenerzeugnissen, u.a. Rühren von Salben, Kapselherstellung, Mischen von bereits eingewogenen Präparaten: You mix simple and pre-measured compounds.
- Beratung, Information, Verkauf apothekenüblicher Waren wie z. B. Kosmetika, Diätwaren, Verbandstoffe, Krankenpflegeartikel, Pflanzenschutzmittel: You sell cosmetics.
- Gestalten und Dekorieren von Schaufenstern: You decorate the shop.
Frankly, I'm not sure, if you would get a work permit. It's a popular apprenticeship that pretty much everyone could do. Also, you'll have to be absolutely fluent in the native language of wherever you are going. That does not only include small talk, but technical language.
You are correct about the language skills. However, the job description you have given for PKA would be called a "purchaser" in the US. The German equivalent to pharmacy technician would be PTA (Pharmazetisch-Technischer Angestellte).
The only chance I can remotely imagine might be a lower level job with a major pharma manufacturer. Often these companies have English as their in house language.
save some money & spend a month there. Reality is different to a rose tinted dream.
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