The work life of a pharmacy assistant is both challenging and rewarding, and while it requires minimal training, it is also profitable.
Some may wonder, What do pharmacist assistants do?
Well, imagine a job in which you provide medications to people who are unwell, along with instructions concerning how to properly use the medication.
You also interact with their insurance and their physicians to ensure accurate dosing and validity of prescriptions. Even better, it’s a job that offers a number of pathways to advancement!
Here are just seven reasons you should become a pharmacy assistant.
A Job Always Available
If you live in a sizable city or town, it is almost a certainty that a pharmacy near you is hiring.
You can nearly guarantee that within a reasonable drive of your residence, there is a pharmacist assistant job waiting for your application.
So, whenever you finish wondering, Is pharmacy assistant a good job for me? you’ll likely have an easy time finding open jobs near you.
Low Barrier to Entry
While a pharmacist assistant job offers decent entry-level pay and good opportunity to move forward in the field, it’s a field with a surprisingly low barrier to entry.
So long as you do not have a history of arrests or drug abuse, you will meet the qualifications for the job and the licenses that it will require you obtain.
You often don’t need any training whatsoever, though if you want to take a course like the one available at Stratford Career Institute to get a leg up on your fellow pharmacy assistant, your employer surely won’t mind.
Good Pay
Entry-level pay for people who work in pharmacies for large companies is generally higher than the entry-level pay for most, if not all, other positions.
In the United States, the average pharmacy assistant salary as of April 2021 is more than $16 an hour, which, assuming 40 hours of work a week, is an annual salary of $33,280.
That’s a decent income for any entry position, and most businesses have multiple levels of employment for pharmacist assistants (levels I, II, and III are common).
Career Advancement
If you’re wondering, Is pharmacy a good career? the answer is that it absolutely is.
Businesses generally pay, at least in part, for the various licenses that a pharmacy assistant tech will require to work with substances like painkillers and other controlled prescribed substances.
Each new license you obtain can lead to a promotion, a sizable bump in pay, and, eventually, even the chance to move into a management position!
If you stay in the pharmacy and perform well, a career that began with a humble pharmacy assistant job can blossom into something wonderful (not to mention profitable).
Steady Employment
Because pharmacy assistants are generally so sought after, and because businesses spend much more money training them than they do training their average employee, pharmacy assistants are not likely to lose their jobs.
Obvious exceptions apply, of course; for example, pharmacies do not look kindly on anyone caught mishandling private patient information or controlled medications (especially those that have are common targets of abuse).
However, a good employee will have a job as a pharmacy assistant as long as they wish to have it.
Fulfilling Work
A pharmacy assistant has a fulfilling job that is important and that people in the local community place value on. In many instances, the pharmacist assistant is the last individual that a person with a serious malady or affliction will interact with.
It is the pharmacy assistant, along with the pharmacist, who will give a medical patient final instructions on the medication that they’re taking and the way that they should take it. Helping make people well is important and mentally and emotionally fulfilling work.
An Essential Job in Any Circumstance
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many people, perhaps yourself included, lost work because they were not “essential” employees in the eyes of local governments.
However, just like grocery store workers, pharmacy assistants are always essential employees in any situation. Indeed, in situations like a pandemic, they are more important than ever!
If you’re looking for a new career that is rewarding and profitable and requires limited schooling, you should consider if being a pharmacist assistant will be right for you.
If you’re looking for a bit more information, and maybe even to get a head start on the skills the job will require, take a look at Stratford Career Institute’s Pharmacy Assistant Distance Learning Course.
It will help you better understand the career and what your role in health care could be.
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Are you looking for more information about what it takes to become a pharmacy assistant? Learn everything you need to know in our distance learning course.