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There are many young people in the world who wish to go into the medical field, and possibly make a good career. Many of them want to go into pharmacy, and become either certified (which will probably allow you to make more in income) pharmacist or pharmacy technician. I speak from 6 years of experience that it is a great field to learn from whether you work in a hospital, or in retail.

I first became a pharmacy technician when I was about 20. I was originally going to college to go for a career in radiology (although my real interest was in English, I had to find a career which made the most money). My mother who was working as an Registered Nurse in the ER at St. Alexius Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri had tried to find me a job while I worked part-time at a McDonald's. Then one day, she came upon a position which was open for pharmacy technician at the hospital. So I accepted. The question I always got was if I ever went to school for it. The answer has always been no (although I do recommend it). When I started at the hospital, I basically had on-the-job training. Still I had to have a license if I was going to practice there. I learned how to fill patient med drawers, I knew pretty much about the various generic/brand names of drugs (for example: xanax is also known as alprazolam) that are still stuck in my head, and I also learned about crediting and charging patient medications.

It was pretty much a whole new world to me, but I embraced it. The only thing I wish I could have learned was becoming IV certified. Although, that alone involves the use of math (namely algebra which was never my cup of tea since I flunked it many times), but I did get to help with pre-made IV's which are easy when you can just label them. Still for those who are good at it, I recommend it. When I then moved up in the world to Saint Louis University Hospital, I was introduced to the world of Meditech. For me, it was one of the easiest programs that helps you organize all you medications at various departments of the hospital. You just go in, refill the medication when it's low in the particular drug shelf, and move on. Though you have to deal with the dilemma of drug quantity discrepancies (in case the count is wrong), and you always had to be careful with it. Especially, if it was narcotic medication.

I would have loved to have stayed on, but I was let go because I had disputes with one of the nurses. I did have trouble finding another job at first, but then I secured a job at a retail pharmacy called Medicap in my hometown of Granite City, Illinois. I must tell you, a pharmacist once told me that retail is crazy because it is so differant from hospital work (which is more laid-back). He was not kidding, and I found it out the hard way. With retail, you are on your feet constantly, ringing people out at the cash register, filling patient medications, answering telephone calls (you have your choices of either doctor offices, customer calls, or insurance inquires), or just assisting customers on the sales floor. It's just endless work.

It just got to be so much for me that I couldn't handle it anymore, and so I voluntarily quit. That and added to the fact I had other interests I wanted to pursue. If I had been more ambitious with it, I probably would have stayed on, but at the same time I'm grateful for the experience. Still the money is there, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to make a career out of it, but I will be honest with you. It is a lot of hard work along the way.

Learn more about this author, Ryan Burton.
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