5 Tips on Ringing in the New Year with a New Career as a Pharmacy Technician

 

Take what you’ve learned and set goals.

With a new year on the horizon, there are opportunities to reflect on the previous twelve months and set goals for the coming year. If one of your goals is to focus on educational and career aspirations, you’re in the right place. Blackstone Career Institute is here to provide courses that are affordable, flexible, and just for you. 

 

So take a minute to grab a notebook or pull up a blank document on your computer screen and list out what your educational goals are for the new year. You can even create a timeline of when you’d like each goal to be accomplished, but remember to set them in attainable, incremental, and small steps. Once you’ve done that, consider what field of study you’d like to pursue to achieve those goals. 

 

If you’re interested in a job in the medical field, we’ve compiled information on our online pharmacy technician program to help you assess if this career path is the right course for you! 

 

What is a pharmacy technician? 

A pharmacy technician provides assistance to the pharmacist by filling prescriptions, processing medications, and using a working knowledge base of measurements, medicine names, and dosages to ensure patients gets the care they need. 

 

Pharmacy technicians will also understand and be able to apply the inner workings of medical ethics, drug classifications, and even know human anatomy as well as the needs of pediatric and geriatric patients.

 

It is important to realize an externship is a requirement for this career. Someone can only learn so much about proper dosages, administering vaccinations, and recalling drug interactions until they start utilizing that knowledge in real-world situations. 

 

What are the benefits of an externship?

Externships provide the beneficial hands-on experience that serves a future employee as well as employers. A student in an externship position can learn the inner workings of a field such as how daily procedures and operations are conducted, what the work atmosphere is like among co-workers, how to best handle situations that arise, and serve clients while also utilizing their skill set of knowledge in the field. 

 

Employers also take advantage of externships because it allows them a chance to observe how a potential employee would conduct themselves in the work environment while also having a fresh set of eyes to help enhance the best practices in the field. In addition, employers can see what knowledge and resources a student has learned and gathered and what areas may need to be discussed more in-depth for proper understanding. 

 

In addition, externships are a major asset for networking and meeting people in the industry as a pharmacy technician. It allows one to build relationships with others in the field, learn from experts, and continue to enhance professional development. 

 

Blackstone Career Institute is proud to offer externships as part of the Pharmacy Technician program. The externship partnerships available are with CVS and Walgreens. 

 

Locate a Walgreens near you with this link. 

Locate a CVS near you with this link. 

 

Why become a pharmacy technician?

If you have the soft skills of problem solving, teamwork, compassion, and communication, a career as a pharmacy technician could be a good fit for you. Each of these skills will be useful when interacting with colleagues, engaging with patients and their specific medical needs, and understanding measurements, dosages, and the changing innovations in the medical field.  

 

In addition to personality assets, a career as a pharmacy technician may provide you with an annual salary of $37,790 according to the average calculated by the Occupational Outlook Handbook. 

 

Most importantly, the medical field is ever-evolving, and new innovations are on the horizon to improve medical practices. In addition, the population continues to grow and age, which requires trained medical staff, including pharmacy technicians, to help provide the services individuals need so they can receive the proper treatment and prescriptions. 

 

Start your education journey with Blackstone Career Institute today and become a certified Pharmacy Technician. 

If you’ve decided a career as a Pharmacy Technician is the right fit for you, congratulations! Now is the time to start your education course to achieve your New Year’s goal. The combination of the pharmacy technician program and the 160-hour externship will prepare you for the next steps. 

 

Upon completing the externship, which can be done at a CVS or Walgreens close to you, you’ll be able to sit for the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam and become board certified and then start a career in the profession! 

 

Take a minute to look back at the timeline you created for your educational goals. Knowing what fits in your life schedule will help you decide how to pace yourself with the coursework in the program and the payment plan that is right for you.

 

Along the way, if you have any questions, know that the Blackstone Student Service department is available to provide assistance. To request more information, fill out this form. 

 

Here’s to a new year chasing your educational goals and achieving the career path that fits your passions and needs!