What is a Pharmacy Aide?
A pharmacy aide is an assistant to a pharmacist and performs various tasks alongside technicians. A high school diploma is usually enough to enter this career, although you may get certified if you want to become a pharmacy technician. Read on to learn more about pharmacy aide job duties, educational requirements and career prospects.
Job Description
Pharmacy aides work alongside pharmacy technicians under the direction of a pharmacist. In this position, you would be responsible for completing sales, updating and organizing files, managing supplies and stock, preparing labels for prescriptions, assisting customers and answering phones. Unlike pharmacy technicians, aides don't fill prescriptions.
<h3 id="section---ImportantFactsAboutPharmacyAides">Important Facts About Pharmacy Aides</h3><p></p><table border="1"><tr><td> On-the-Job Training </td><td> Typically lasting from a few weeks to a couple of months</td></tr>
<tr><td> Licensure </td><td> Not required, but helpful for advancement within the field</td></tr>
<tr><td> Key Skills </td><td> Customer service focused, clear spoken and written communication, reading comprehension, situational awareness, clear judgment and decision making</td></tr>
<tr><td> Similar Occupations </td><td> Bank tellers; postal service clerks; hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks; gaming cage workers</td></tr>
</table><h3 id="section---EducationRequirements">Education Requirements</h3><p>In most cases, a high school diploma will suffice when seeking employment as a pharmacy aide. However, some community colleges offer certificate programs and individual courses that may help you secure employment. It's important to note that these programs are often designed for aspiring pharmacy technicians, and you need to be 18 years old and have a high school diploma to enroll.
</p><h3 id="section---Coursework">Coursework</h3><p>The program you select may require completion of an internship at a retail pharmacy, as well as the following courses:
</p><ul><li>Drug regulation
</li><li>Pharmaceutical terms
</li><li>Inventory management
</li><li>Safety procedures
</li><li>Prescription calculations
</li></ul><h3 id="section---CertificationOptions">Certification Options</h3><p>If you're interested in becoming a pharmacy technician, earning certification through the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board may improve your job prospects. Requirements for the Certified Pharmacy Technician credential include a high school diploma and completion of an exam. The exam covers nine domains and has 90 questions as of June 2019. Some sample topics on the exam include:
</p><ul><li>Pharmacology
</li><li>Medication safety
</li><li>Billing and reimbursement
</li><li>Pharmacy law
</li><li>Pharmacy inventory management
</li><li>Pharmacy information systems
</li></ul><h3 id="section---JobOutlookAndSalary">Job Outlook and Salary</h3><p>The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicated that pharmacy aide employment was expected to decline by 3% between 2021 and 2031 (<i>www.bls.gov</i>). There were an estimated 44,600 of these professionals employed in 2021, and the average job turndown is expected to reduce 5,900 jobs. The BLS also predicted that pharmacy technicians would have average employment growth of 5% over the same time period, which is much better than the job growth expected for pharmacy aides.
</p><p>According to the BLS, the mean annual wage for pharmacy aides was $34,560 in May 2021. The lowest-paid 10% earned $22,840 or less annually, while the highest-paid 10% made $51,060 or more. Health and personal care stores had the highest pharmacy aide employment level and paid these workers $29,920 on average. Food and beverage stores offered an average wage of $29,260, while general hospitals paid these professionals $44,970 on average. Outpatient care centers had the highest average wage of any industry at $62,040.</p>