by Mia Rachel

Created on: June 09, 2010

There are a lot more career choices for pharmacy technicians than just sitting behind the counter at your local Walgreens and counting pills.  I started as an intern high school at a privately owned pharmacy in my hometown.  I had no experience, but was looking at pharmacy as a career choice in the future.  The pharmacist there allowed me to do some insurance filing for her everyday as well as some compounding.  As the school year began to close, she wanted to keep me around so offered me a paid position for the summer.  I enjoyed the job so I took it and worked for her all summer long.  Fall came and I left for college, and I applied for a job at the local Rite Aid.  I started on the cash register in the front of the store.  When the store manager heard I had a little pharmacy experience, he eventually moved me to the pharmacy when they had an opening.  All my pharmacy knowledge has came from on the job experience.  I have taken no classes.  While I was still in college, I took a position in a hospital pharmacy.  Hospital pharmacies pay more than retail and are in my experience much less stressful.  You don't have to deal with the headaches of patient insurance.  The biggest difference is that I didn't have to deal with patients all together!  You are just filling medications and sending them to the floors for the nurses to dispense to patients.  After I graduated college I took a shot and applied for a management job at Walgreens.  Walgreens likes to hire managers with some pharmacy experience so that they can understand what's going on in the pharmacy, as well as the front end of the store.  80% of Walgreens money is made in the pharmacy.  I got the job, and worked my way up in management for 5 years.  Retail management is definitely not something I would want to do again!  There are definitely a lot of headaches.  You deal everyday with upset customers, employee problems, as well as running the store.  When I finally was fed up, I decided that I wanted to go back into a hospital pharmacy.  I currently work in a hospital as a medication reconciliation technician in an emergency room.  I basically have my own computer, and as patients come in I interview them and family members to compile a list of medications taken and medications that they are allergic to.  This is the best job I've ever had!  I get to see all the action of the emergency room, but I'm hands off!  I am not involved in any direct patient care.  Most emergency rooms are putting in technicians like me now because nurses aren't always familar enough with all drugs to do it.  I think I will always be working in a pharmacy in some sort of capacity.  Eventually, I would like to use my degree and go into some sort of research.  But, as for now, I'm happy just being a technician!

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