by S. T.

Created on: June 18, 2009

When I was in my final years of high school, I was faced with a question many young adults encounter upon entering "the real world". What was I going to do? How was I going to afford going to college and, most importantly, what was I going to study?

The smarter approach to choosing a career path was to take a look at different fields and examine which of them offered the most security and diversity. I found the answer in the health field. Everyone is always going to get sick. No matter where or when, medicine will never be fully caught up with the most recent diseases. Viruses and bacterias evolve, our bodies become immune to some medications and so physicians and scientists will always have work cut out in order to keep up with the sick patients.

Pharmacy offered an opportunity to work directly with the physicians and patients without handling the common phobic things like blood, needles and gruesome sights some patients carried with them.

The nature of the work varies from low key to hectic, depending on the hour of the day. For the most part, the biggest concern a pharmacy technician (from this point on referred to as PT) will face is the customer. Often times, the customer comes in already sick - that's what the medication is for. They are tired, weak and want their medication right away. It doesn't register to them that the medications aren't prepacked and precounted for their individual use. PT has to look up their medical record to make sure the prescribed drug won't interact with already existing medication the patient may be taking and assert their allergy history to comply with the prescription. The patient also doesn't realize that after PTs check this information, they then have to look at the patient's health insurance information. Is it current? Is the medication covered under the insurance? Are the deductables paid for?

All of this waiting irritates some customers. However, a good PT will have the patience of a psychiatrist dealing with patients constantly lashing out at him. If you choose the career path of a PT, understand that you will most definitely encounter customers who will raise their voice at you, may call you names and demand the prescription "NOW!". So be able to stay calm, patient and understanding of the fact that these people are sick, in pain and under better circumstances would probably never say these things to you. Just explain in a calm voice that their order is being processed as speedily as possible.

Aside from dealing

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