Tips on Passing Your Pharmacy Technician Training

Posted by admin | Posted on 01-06-2011

Category : Pharmacy Students

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Tips on Passing Your Pharmacy Technician Training

To be acknowledged as a successful person, there are always tests that needs to be taken to measure the success or efficiency levels. If you want to succeed, then you will have to undergo these test so that your level of understanding on the subject can be measured an graded. Same goes if you want to be a Pharmacy Technician. There are exams, tests and trainings that you must undergo in order to be qualified for your job. To help pass your exams, here are some tips that you could utilize to perform better:

1. Find out the grades you need to achieve.

Its always helpful if you know the passing mark, and the marks that are considered average, or extra ordinary. By knowing this you can target your achievements and decide which group you would like to belong. It sounds simple, but sometimes students overlook this thinking the same percentage and score applies. Maybe it does, but in a competitive market, why settle for average when you can be better?

2. Understand your role

You should at least make an effort to find out what your role as pharmacy technician would be. Most of your tests will be based on your knowledge of your role in assisting your superiors.

3. Get into the habit of taking practice tests.

Trying finding all the test questions of the pass years, either online or offline. By taking these tests, you can have an idea of the types of questions you will be facing and you will get to better understand your weaknesses and will have time to correct them.

4. Know the law

There are many rules and regulations that govern the distribution of medicine. As a Pharmacy Technician, you should be aware of these laws and abide by them. Some test questions will also question you of these laws, so taking a practice exam will definitely help you.

5. Review old books

Use your old books as review material. You could also use the information in these books to prepare for your practice exams.

6. Form a study group

Get together with some other like minded students and create a study group. Discussions and creating diagrams in groups will help the memorization and understanding the subject further.

7. Talk to your seniors

Try and talk to those who have taken these tests to further understand the types of the questions that would be asked and the techniques employed to prepare for the exams.

The best way to prepare for any exams is to take things seriously, and be diligent. You also need to have a genuine interest in this field as that will serve you better than if you were forced into this profession.

Alternatives to Pharmacy primary?

Posted by admin | Posted on 02-04-2011

Category : Region I

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Alternatives to Pharmacy primary?

More Pharmacy questions please visit : DrugsAnswer.com

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Why Choose Online Pharmacy Technician Schools For Your New Future?

Posted by admin | Posted on 19-03-2011

Category : Pharmacy Students

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Why Choose Online Pharmacy Technician Schools For Your New Future?

With the health care industry on the rise and employment of pharmacy technicians expected to increase in the next decade, you’ve decided to pursue a new career. After some research, you’ve narrowed it down to a handful of accredited schools. Now, the last decision is, do you enroll in a traditional live school or choose among the available online pharmacy technician schools? Here are some favorable factors to pursuing your career training in an online environment:

 

100% Online Course – This means that everything you need is available online, even textbooks (although some online pharmacy technician schools will also send you a hardcopy). You don’t have to shuffle around course materials or keep track of a multitude of papers – the entire class is presented online. You log on when you’re prepared to “attend” class and enjoy your studies from the comfort of home. No commute, gas expenses or time away from family. 

Competitive Course Materials – If you do thorough research and choose high-quality, accredited online pharmacy technician school, you are going to find that the course materials are comparable to any that you would find in a live school. You’ll learn terminology, drug regulation and administration, formulating and calculating prescriptions, patient interaction, and much more. So, you don’t have to sacrifice quality to prepare for a new career from home.

Flexibility with Your Studies – Don’t have time to study for a few days? No problem – with online pharmacy technician schools, you choose the study schedule. This huge benefit really puts you in charge of your education. You can choose when you focus your attention to your studies and create a schedule that works for you. No more absences and worrying about lost work. However, just make sure that you create a somewhat regular study routine – keeping up with your studies will help you truly learn the material and make significant progress.

Self-Paced Study Schedule – With online learning, you don’t have to worry about falling behind. You set the pace of your studies, which means that you can go as fast or slow as you want. There will be an ultimate deadline for finishing your course, such as 18 months, but within that timeframe, you are free to move at your own rate. Spend a little more time on the concepts that are more difficult and move quickly through the material that you find easier. When you choose online pharmacy technician schools, you’ll never be left behind.

Live Student Support – You’ll also have access to a team of professionals, who are ready to assist you. Course questions, technical support or encouragement – they are at the ready to help you with what you need. In a live class, you may have to wait to see the teacher after class or arrive early to ask your questions. Online schools offer live, personalized support during business hours, which means that you have a large window to get one-on-one assistance.

 

Are you convinced? As you prepare for your new career, consider the benefits of enrolling in an online school. As a busy adult, the flexibility to learn on your own time in the comfort of home and move at your own pace may be just what you need. And if the quality of online pharmacy technicians schools are the same as live schools, shouldn’t you choose the more convenient option?  

  

   

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Pharmacy Schools – A Closer Look

Posted by admin | Posted on 07-11-2010

Category : Pharmacy Students

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Pharmacy Schools – A Closer Look

Becoming a pharmacist is a challenging yet rewarding career move. There are many pharmacy schools throughout the United States that offer legitimate and reputable courses to aid in your goal to become a pharmacist or pharmacist technician.

The decision to become a pharmacist or pharmacist technician is a sound one. It is an excellent career decision and an easily achievable educational goal also. In most cases and in many states a bachelor’s degree is not necessary in order to become a pharmacist.

In order to begin a pharmacy degree your pre-pharmacy education must be completed. You must also take the Pharmacy College Admissions Test and depending what school you are planning to attend an interview may also be required.

With so many colleges, universities, and vocational technical schools offering pharmacy courses to their students you really have a wide array of options for every aspect of fulfilling your desire to be involved in the pharmacy industry. The pharmacy degrees typically offered through most higher learning institutions is Doctor of Pharmacy or PharmD degrees and Non Traditional PharmD degrees.

The latter is designed to accommodate currently practicing pharmacists. A pharmacist who has a BS in pharmacy from any of the accredited pharmacy schools and wants to practice at a more advanced level benefits from the availability of the Non-Traditional PharmD degree. This particular degree is typically offered with flexible scheduling. Most courses are also available through Internet access to accommodate the working pharmacists who typically benefit from this type of education opportunity.

Why would anyone choose pharmacy schools in order to gain a career skill? If you think about the importance of pharmaceuticals in today’s society you will be hard pressed to argue their non-existence in the future. Pharmacy schools and the pharmacists that are produced in them are an important part of education, modern medicine, and society also.

Pharmacy schools provide both challenges and rewards. Learning the effects of medicines and understanding the human body is just the beginning of this exciting career choice. Ultimately, serving as a pharmacist is both a rewarding and challenging job.

Pharmacy schools also offer courses that strictly pertain to business at hand. Whether you are directing your studies toward being a pharmacist or pharmacist technician you will not have to do prerequisite courses that have nothing to do with your goal. Courses such as pharmaceutical calculations, pharmacy law ethics, and clinical pharmocokinetics are typical of PharmD degree courses. A license to practice pharmacy has always been required in the United States.

The rewards from attending pharmacy schools will benefit you directly and will also benefit you quickly. Being skilled at catching medicines prescribed by doctors that truly don’t mix well in a human is the life saving knowledge you as a pharmacist will bring to the work place each day. As a pharmacist you will be enriching the health and well being of your patients. You will be giving advice and recording information on a daily basis.

Along with the educational skills that you will acquire in pharmacy schools you will also gain the intuition to become a people person. All of the skills you will learn will be the beneficial and will also yield positive rewards throughout the duration of your career as a pharmacist or pharmacist technician.

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Pharmacy Schools – The Short List

Posted by admin | Posted on 22-09-2010

Category : Pharmacy Students

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Pharmacy Schools – The Short List

From pharmacy technician programs to popular nursing school and legal assistant programs, universities nationwide are gearing up to accommodate the current demand for various health care and legal related programs. As for aspiring pharmacists, there’s plenty of quality pharmacy schools they can choose from when it comes to pursuing their education.

I’ve briefly outlined a few of the more popular Pharmacy Schools below. Some provide only traditional campus training, others provide only online training while others provide both.

University of Phoenix Online

For those who actually prefer a pharmacy program that is convenient and designed around their schedule you may want to check out the University of Phoenix. The University of Phoenix online caters to students like you who don’t have the time to attend a traditional pharmacy school.

The University of Phoenix online pharmacy school has the largest number of accredited online pharmacy degree programs when compared to other online pharmacy schools. The University of Phoenix was founded in 1976 and was one of the very first accredited universities to offer online college education with corresponding complete degree programs through the convenience of the internet. Many of their students are finishing their course work in as little as 2 to 3 years. The University of Phoenix online, is not just a pharmacy school, it actually offers a number of other health care related programs like healthcare management (masters and bachelor’s), health information and nursing.

Bryman College

Located throughout California is Bryman College, a pharmacy school which also offers various certificate programs in the following health care fields: Massage Therapy, Medical Assistant, Pharmacy Technician, Dental Assisting as well as Medical Billing

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PHARMACY ESSAY WRITING TIPS:

Posted by admin | Posted on 10-09-2010

Category : Pharmacy Students

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PHARMACY ESSAY WRITING TIPS:

Due to the advancement in technology, the field of medicine has become widened and more disciplines of studies are adding to it day by day, Pharmacy is one of them.

Pharmacy essay writing is not that difficult, but, it requires an understanding of it before one gets on writing on it. This article will conclude the major steps involved in writing Pharmacy essay.

The first and foremost thing is the selection of appropriate topic. The topic must be selected wisely, based on the interest of the writer. The introductory paragraph of a Pharmacy essay should be subjected to present the main idea, or theme of the essay Writing a Thesis Statement in the opening paragraph is essential as it is meant to grab reader’s attention. Then comes the body paragraphs, that are called supporting paragraphs. They  formulates the essay and they should be properly linked to keep the flow of the reader An outline should preferably be made, stating the main points of pharmacy essay. Outlines help in order not to miss any important point. Conclusion or summary writing is the last essential section of an essay. It is meant to conclude the main points in a few lines, which will tell the readers what they have read about. If topic selection is left on a student’s choice, then student should consider a topic on which he/ she can write confidently. Brainstorming can help in searching a right pharmacy topic. A Pharmacy essay does not ends here; each statement being made in the essay needs solid evidence, proofs, or finding. Proofreading is must. A fresh pair of eyes is required for it, so, asks someone to proofread your essay, or proofread yourself after taking a break.

 

A pharmacy essay should be written under professional assistance, or guidance. The topic, essay sentence, and outline should be approved by the instructor before actually writing. This will help in avoiding  end time hazards .

Types of Careers in the Pharmacy Profession

Posted by admin | Posted on 18-06-2010

Category : Pharmacy Students

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Types of Careers in the Pharmacy Profession

A pharmacist is an individual who is trained in the dispensing of medications to patients. They are trained the knowledge of medicines, compounds and ingredients, their effects in the body and interactions with other medicines. Pharmacies keep confidential computerized records of patients’ drug therapies to prevent harmful drug interactions when dispensing new or additional medications. Pharmacists are responsible for the accuracy of every prescription that is filled, sometimes verifying with the prescribing doctor, they will also manage Pharmacy technicians and pharmacy aides to assist them in the dispensing process. The pharmacist will often delegate prescription-filling and administrative tasks and supervise their completion. Pharmacists also frequently oversee pharmacy students serving as interns.

Career options

Retail
The first pharmacies were retail shops where medicines and tonics were sold for treatment of ailments and illnesses. These pharmacists mixed compounds and ingredients according to the patients needs. Pharmacists then and today have the knowledge about medicines, what they can cure or ease, and their effects when taken with other medicines or foods. Pharmacists in retail pharmacies dispense medications, counsel patients on the use of prescription and over-the-counter medications, and advise physicians about patients’ medication therapy. They can counsel patients about common health topics such as diet, exercise, and stress reduction. As drugstores also carry other medical related supplies, the pharmacist is there as a healthcare professional able to advice on the purchase and use of medical equipment such as crutches and braces.

Healthcare
Pharmacists are an important part of the Healthcare system. Each hospital, clinic, nursing and convalescent home has pharmacists who will take the doctors prescription and devise a medicine regimen for treatment. Hospitals have a number of pharmacists who prescribe the medications and arrange daily dosages for each patient.

Insurance and benefits companies also require pharmacists to monitor prescriptions and treatments for reimbursement purposes. Pharmacists are also responsible for creating medicinal regimens and assist in establishing process and procedures for review and approvals for treatments.

Pharmaceutical
Pharmacists and other related scientists are the founders of most of the modern pharmaceutical companies in the world. In earlier times, pharmacies sold medicines that were mixed or compounded in the store for each person. As the types of mixtures increased and other medicines were found to be effective against certain illnesses and ailments, pharmacists started companies to manufacture medicines that can be sold to a wider number of persons with the same ailment. Over time these companies became the first pharmaceuticals. Pharmacists are employed today in the pharmaceutical industry not only for research and development but for education of the consumers’ of the medicines such as retail pharmacy chains and insurance companies, and doctors.

Other fields
Pharmacists are increasingly pursing careers in other fields. Pharmacists work for the government, veterinary medicine, managed care organizations, public health care services, the armed services, or pharmacy associations. Pharmacists are also employed full time or part time as school faculty, teaching classes or performing research in a wide range of areas.

Staffing agency offering full time and part time pharmacy jobs. Visit us to learn more about the wide range of pharmacist jobs opportunities.

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Career Scope in Pharmacy

Posted by admin | Posted on 21-01-2010

Category : Pharmacy Students

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Career Scope in Pharmacy

The pharmaceutical industry in India is growing rapidly creating numerous career opportunities for aspiring candidates. Its growth is evident by the number of new hospitals, nursing homes, and pharmaceuticals companies opening across the country. This has generated a huge number of pharmacy jobs in the recent times. There is a demand for trained and qualified pharmacists in all these fields and more such fields. A pharmacist can find a job with the pharmaceutical industry, government departments, universities, academic institutes, forensic field etc. There are pharmacy job opportunities in armed forces and drug control department too.

The work in the pharmaceutical industry entails activities such as the development, production or marketing of new drugs. These drugs are primarily for clinical use. One could also find a good job as a medical representative for sale promotion work. The duty of a medical representative is to keep the medical practitioner or doctor informed about the new drugs developed by various pharmaceutical companies. This is the indirect way to promote sales of those drugs as the doctor prescribes those drugs to the patients.

To become a qualified pharmacist, one has to undergo specialized training and courses. Those aspiring to be successful pharmacists must have a scientific bent of mind. Students in pharmacy courses are required to study the chemistry of drugs, their origin, different procedures for drug development and preparation, methods to dispense them, effects of various drugs and their proper use for prevention and treatment of disease. Drug therapy is a complex science and there are numerous dangers associated with drug use. This underlines the need for pharmacists’ special skills.

To become a successful pharmacist, one should have acute mental acumen and excellent academic potential. Pharmacists should also have in-depth interest in medicine. Pharmacists should possess and ability to work methodically, accurately and carefully. These skills are required to work in hospitals, medical stores, laboratories and shop floors. One should also have a sympathetic attitude and a friendly behavior to deal with patients. Also, people with good communication skills are required for marketing and sales positions in the pharma industry. If one is in the retail field, skills in merchandising, selling and financial management are also required.

Though there are many various jobs in this industry, pharmacists primarily work in four areas. As hospital pharmacists, the tasks include procuring, stocking, preparing and dispensing medicines, drugs and other medical accessories. They are responsible for stock control, storage of drugs and medicines, placing of orders, financial budgeting and keeping accounts for the dispensary. They are also expected to meet patients, doctors and nurses to discuss the supply and administration of medicines.

Then, there are retail pharmacists whose tasks include preparing and dispensing drugs in pharmaceutical stores. This is done on the prescription of he general consumer. The retail pharmacist also gives over the counter advice to patients on the dosage of the drugs. Retail pharmacists include general chemists who run private stores or work for big stores. It is not just any retail job. One has to have knowledge about drugs, their dosage and effects to be a good retail pharmacist. Working as medical representatives, they perform sales jobs for the company. They regularly meet the medical practitioners or doctors o keep them informed about the new drugs and health products being produced by their company. They visit medical practitioners, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, health centres etc. It is a field job that may also require a lot of touring..

In pharmacy jobs, one could also work as industrial pharmacists. The job of the industrial pharmacist is to carry out clinical trials to test the drugs for their safety and effectiveness. This is done to formulate new drugs. Thus, these pharmacists are involved in autonomous research work. Their job also includes management and supervision of the production process, marketing, sales and quality control of new drugs. Research pharmacists, as the name suggests are engaged in research activities in pharmaceutical firms, research organisations and laboratories.

Students of B.Pharm, M.Pharm and Phd can look to make a good career in this field. There are ample pharmacy jobs to be taken up within the central and state government departments too. A diploma holder in this field can also get good jobs as medical representative.

Pharmacy Technician – A Closer Look

Posted by admin | Posted on 04-01-2010

Category : Pharmacy Students

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Pharmacy Technician – A Closer Look

In the not so distant past when you walked into a pharmacy needing to get a prescription filled you would have, in most instances, found that your prescription was actually filled by the on duty pharmacists. However, over the past few years a change has occurred in the pharmacist arena and that change is, “a pharmacist probably no longer filling your prescriptions”. Although pharmacists are on duty wherever medications are dispensed; today in most instances, a pharmacy technician or pharmacy assistant are the ones filling prescriptions.

Pharmacy Technicians and assistants have existed for some time but their roles have evolved for a variety of reasons.

A big reason is that they help to reduce health care costs because they get paid much less than a certified pharmacist. Another important reason is that it simply makes sense. Pharmacy technicians and assistants are trained to handle routine work (fill prescriptions and customer service), which frees up the pharmacists to focus more of their time on supervisory duties, as well as patient care.

Melissa Murer, Executive Director of the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board, put it this way, “Pharmacists are becoming more focused on patient care, so pharmacy technicians are needed to perform more of the distributive functions.”

In this brief (but hopefully informative article) I attempt to demonstrate what pharmacy technician and assistants do and where they do it.

In general, they assist licensed pharmacists in providing medication and health care to patients by preparing and filling prescriptions and performing clerical tasks. Duties are similar but pharmacy technicians generally have more responsibilities. In addition, technicians and assistants are required to be closely supervised by a licensened pharmacist, although the laws defining what “being supervised” entails, varies by state.

In addition to having all of their prescriptions checked by a pharmacist, technicians and assistants must also direct all patient questions regarding drug information, health matters or prescriptions to the pharmacist.

Pharmacy Technicians

Technicians follow specific procedures when filling prescriptions. After receiving an initial prescription or refill request, they must verify that the prescription information is accurate and then count, pour, retrieve, weigh, measure and if necessary, mix the required medication for the prescription. The next step is to prepare and affix the labels to the proper container. After filling the prescription the technician will then price and file it. Another important aspect of a technician’s job is to prepare patient insurance forms and establish and maintain patient profiles.

In retail pharmacies, technicians will also stock and take inventory of medications (both prescription and over-the-counter) maintain equipment and help manage the till.

In many hospitals, technicians have the responsibility to read the doctors orders from a patients’ chart, prepare and then deliver the medication after it’s been checked by a pharmacist. They may also enter information about patients’ medical records (regarding their medications) or put together a supply (normally 24 hours) of medicine for patients, including the labeling and packaging of each dose. But just like technicians working in a retail pharmacy, each package is checked by the supervising pharmacist before being given to a patient and they also maintain inventories of medicine and other supplies.

Pharmacy Assistants

Duties are similar to pharmacy technicians and while hospitals and pharmacies employ pharmacy assistants, the number of available positions is generally less than technicians. In retail pharmacies they work as clerks or cashiers, answer phones, handle money and perform clerical duties. In hospitals they also deliver medications and assist in stocking shelves.

Pharmacy technicians and assistants work in clean well-organized areas but are required to spend most of their workday on their feet. And because more and more pharmacies are open 24-hours a day work hours can vary with technicians and assistants are often required to work odds hours (nights, evenings and weekends). Therefore, there are many opportunities to work part-time in 24-hour pharmacies. In addition, a percentage of both technicians and assistants work part time because they are studying to become pharmacists.

States have traditionally required a one-to-one ratio of pharmacist to technician but that is also expected to change. Mark Boesen, Director of Government and Student Affairs for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, has stated that: “Many of the major employers of technicians are expanding the number of their facilities and boards of pharmacy in some States are allowing the legal ratio of technicians to pharmacists to expand. This is a very promising field to work in.”

An increasing demand for technicians with greater responsibility has prompted some States to revise their one-to-one ratio of pharmacist to technician to two or three technicians per pharmacist.

As pharmacy technicians take on more and more tasks previously performed by pharmacists, they must also learn and master new technology. A good example is the increased use (by many pharmacies) of robotic machines to dispense medicines. Technicians will be required to oversee the machine, stock bins and label containers.

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Pharmacy Careers

Posted by admin | Posted on 19-10-2009

Category : Pharmacy Students

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Pharmacy Careers

Becoming a pharmacist is a rewarding career move with many challenges. If your goal is to become a pharmacist or pharmacy technician, there are several pharamcy schools in the United States that provide courses to accomplish that goal.

Your decision to become a pharmacist or pharmacy technician is a great career decision and can be achieved through educational courses. A bachelor’s degree is not required in many states to become a pharmacist.

You must first complete your pre-pharmacy education, take a pharmacy college admissions test and possibly attend an interview before beginning your pharmacy degree.

Since many colleges, universities and vocational technical schools offer pharmacy courses, students desiring to be involved in the pharmacy industry have many options for career paths. Most higher learning institutions offer a doctor of pharmacy or pharmd degree as well as a non traditional pharmd degree.

The non traditional pharmd degree is for currently practicing pharmacists with a bs in pharmacy from an accredited pharmacy school that wish to practice at a more advanced level without starting over. The degree offers flexible scheduling as well as courses with internet access for working pharmacists that cannot take courses during the time they must work.

Pharmacy is chosen as a career skill because of the importance of pharmaceuticals in today’s society. It is doubtful that their importance will be any less in the future. Pharmacists and the pharmacy schools that produce them benefit education, society and modern medicine.

Serving as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician is both challenging in learning the effects of medicines and understanding their effect on the human body as well as rewarding in helping people manage their lives. This is an exciting career choice.

Whether you are working towards becoming a pharmacist or pharmacist technician, you do not have to take prerequisite courses that have nothing to do with your goal. Pharmacy schools offer courses that strictly pertain to pharmacy work. Advanced courses such as pharmaceutical calculations, pharmacy law ethics, and clinical pharmocokinetics are required for pharmd degrees. The United States has always required a license to practice pharmacy.

Attending pharmacy school will give you rewards that benefit you directly and quickly. The skill of catching medicines that are prescribed by doctors that have bad effects when mixed in a human may save the life of someone. In your daily routines, you will be enriching the health and well being of your patients while giving advice and recording information.

Pharmacy schools teach skills to help you in your pharmacy job and also intuition deal with people in general. Your skills will be beneficial and give you positive rewards during your career as a pharmacist or pharmacist technician.

Gail Metcalf writes about careers in pharmacy technician on her Personal Finance website Household Wealth

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