Pharmacy Assistant Training in New York

The Role of a Pharmacy Assistant...

Manhattan Institute — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 20:34:00 +0000

...is not only necessary but also seen as being vital in today's health care industry. With the primary role of the assistant in any pharmacy being: stocking and maintaining inventory, interaction with patients and maintaining patient files, pharmacists are also looking for assistants to talk with doctors and related staff regarding patient refills and to make sure prescriptions are properly labeled with complete and accurate information. In a pharmacy environment where a larger clientèle is served or if the pharmacy is expanding, the pharmacy assistant may also exchange communications with representatives from drug companies and help with financial duties as relating to cashiering, bookkeeping , or insurance claim reimbursement.

To find out more about class scheduling times for your training to become a pharmacy assistant, please visit Manhattan Institute or call 212-564-1234.

Working as a Pharmacy Technician...

Manhattan Institute — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 14:57:00 +0000

Working as a Pharmacy Technician/Assistant is an opportunity to assist a licensed pharmacist with the dispensing of prescribed medications or health related products to patients. Some of the routine or assigned duties of a pharmacy technician may include: counting tablets, weighing or pouring of medications and labeling bottles. Clerical responsibilities of the pharmacy assistant may also consist of: stocking shelves, answering telephones, handling money, establishing and maintaining patient profiles and keeping inventory records of both pharmaceutical supplies and over the counter medications.

While the responsibility of answering the patients concerns or addressing any health related issues is primarily that of the licensed pharmacist, a professional pharmacy assistant will always make sure that the information given to the patient, at the time of prescription pick up, is accurately listed on the label and that patient also receives any auxiliary information for that particular prescription.

Feel free to visit Manhattan Institute or call 212-564-1234 to find out more about registration for training to become a New York State pharmacy technician/assistant.

The Course of Study for a Pharmacy Assistant/Technician...

Manhattan Institute — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 20:54:00 +0000

...while training at Manhattan Institute is a 6 week course that is completed part time on Sat & Sun from 9am to 4:30pm.

The 6 week instructional/class room period includes a complete understanding of:
1) Preparation of filling a prescription - while the actual process of filling the prescription is handled by a professional pharmacist, the technician assists with pill counting, bottle labeling, and patient record keeping.

2) Preparation of insurance claims forms - which might include verification of patient coverage and determining what costs patients is responsible.

3) A crucial part to become a well trained pharmacy technician is having an understanding of customer service. A good assistant/technician will be a team player who tries to address patient concerns and understand that sometimes issues can be a life and death matter. ie., Assistant may be answering the phone or dealing directly with patients whose drugs have been recalled .

Contact the attentive staff at Manhattan Institute, available in person or by calling 212-564-1234 - 7 days a week - is available to answers your questions about pursuing your course of study or addressing your concerns about how best to proceed when starting your new career.

How About a Job in Pharmacy Sales and Account Management

Manhattan Institute — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:38:00 +0000

Utilize your training as a pharmacy assistant and increase your career possibilities by working in pharmaceutical sales and account management. Sales and account management in pharmaceutical sales is the opportunity to work closely with the medical profession and learn about the development of business related opportunities.

Related duties for sales and account management in pharmaceutical sales include:
1) Serving as a primary point of contact for medical professionals focusing of business development, revenue retention and growth, and customer satisfaction initiatives.
2) Ensuring that existing clients are satisfied with and recognize the value of the solutions they currently use and as a result renew their existing relationships and actively engage in discussions regarding the use of additional solutions.
3) Acting as an expert resource and escalation contact interacting with the client to ensure inquiries are responded to and resolved in a timely fashion, and coordination and facilitation of activities associated with using new solutions.

A career in pharmacy sales is not only financially rewarding, it is an opportunity to better understand how some aspects of business are done in the medical profession. To find out more about working in pharmaceutical sales, please visit United Health Group. For more info on additional career opportunities as a pharmacy assistant, please check out the Manhattan Institute website or call 212-564-1234

ALL Career Minded Pharmacy Technicians...

Manhattan Institute — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 13:09:00 +0000

1) Maintain a Respectful Attitude When Talking to Your Employer or Dealing With The Public
If your employer gives you an order, and your only excuse is that you don't want to work on it because it's more work for you, that's not an excuse. You do work for somebody, so follow directions. As best you can, try to take responsibility when there is a problem or upset of a patient or pharmacy customer.

2) Use High Emotional Tones When Interacting With Your Employer, Co-Workers or The Public
Always display and attitude of enthusiasm, cheerfulness, interest and contentment. Emotional tones to avoid in the workplace include: anger, hostility, resentment, fear and acting like a victim.

3) Always Handle Money and Accounts Very Carefully
Having a suspicious eye cast upon you for looking incapable of handling money is a sure way to not only lose your job, but also to ruin your chances of becoming re-employed. Never allow anyone to assume you have a problem either handling or being responsible for money.

Provide additional help while working with the pharmacist

Manhattan Institute — Thu, 24 May 2007 04:04:00 +0000

As a trained pharmacy technician one has a understanding of some of the ailments from which various patients suffer and what some prescribed medications might cure or sooth their health concerns. While only a licensed medical professional is the only person that is legally allowed to give a patient medical advice, a pharmacy tech who has cross trained as a nurse’s aide could create additional career opportunities, especially if they are already employed in a hospital or institutional setting.

For example the pharmacy tech, who has been trained as a nurse tech, would have the ability to be an effective communicator between the patient and the doctor or pharmacist, should either not be available, at that particular time, to speak directly to the patient. In a hospital or institutional setting, this pharmacy tech who has completed the additional course of study as a nurse’s aide, may consider checking the patient’s vital signs first, and then reporting the patient’s concerns – along with the documented vital signs – to supervisory personnel, thus creating a level of comfort for the patient and demonstrating responsible work habits. Once this additional service has been performed on the patient and the results relayed to the proper authority, professional care or advice can then administered to the patient in a timely manner.

Understanding that professionally trained, career minded folks best serve the health care profession, Manhattan Institute offers classes days, evenings, and weekends, and provides staff members to answer questions over the phone, in person or via email 7 days a week.

For additional training at Manhattan Institute, please click here to review current schedule.

Working in a pharmacy is the right place for me – Michelle S

Manhattan Institute — Wed, 02 May 2007 15:01:00 +0000

The thing that fascinated me most about medicine is that you feel fine, you get sick, you take a pill, and the you feel better. How great is that. A doctor gives you some pills and then you feel like you were never sick in the first place.

Coming from a big family with a small income, college was not my first choice after I graduated high school so I decided to learn more about my pill fascination. I looked for a school in New York where I could learn about becoming a Pharmacy Technician and while researching online I found www.manhattaninstitute.com Since they were a convenient subway ride for me, I visited the midtown school and liked the friendly staff, so I decided to sign up. After six weeks I had the credentials to look for a job in a pharmacy.

My job search didn’t last long because after a little less than a month, I was hired by a major chain drug store in New York. At first I started at the counter greeting the customers and telling them what time their prescriptions would be ready. Whenever they had questions I couldn’t answer, the pharmacist on duty was there to communicate with the customers. I also helped with cashiering duties whenever necessary. I soon began to help with stocking the shelves and learning more about the medicines being prescribed. I had to strictly pay attention to the expiration dates on all medication as this was a primary responsibility. Expired medication can make someone sick & my job is to make sure they get better. I also get to help in the administrative chores of the pharmacy department which means I maintain the customers medication records, communicate which the doctor is there is a problem with refills, or make sure the right prescriptions goes to the right customer.

I love this job and I am looking forward to being in this field for a long time. I even have hopes of becoming a pharmacist myself one day and feel like the education I first got at Manhattan Institute, along with this great job I now have, will help me to a better future.

The Varied Duties of the Pharmacy Technician

Manhattan Institute — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:22:00 +0000

Depending on the employment location of the pharmacy technician, which could be a retail pharmacy - those independently owned or ones that operate as part of a grocery store, or mass retail chain – assisted living type facilities, nursing homes, hospitals, internet pharmacies, clinics, pharmaceutical wholesalers, and for government agencies. With varying locations and differing responsibilities, the responsible pharmacy technician may be assigned tasks which include: reading patient charts in conjunction with a prescription (to be verified by both a physician and the pharmacist), preparing and delivering approved medication to nurses who then administer it to patients, managing robotic systems that organize and stock 24 hour supplies for patients in a health facility, data entry, answering telephones, handling money, and packaging and labeling doses of medication – either by hand or with the assistance of a packaging machine.

The professional pharmacy technician who displays a warm and welcoming attitude and a professional demeanor will also provide additional value to the patient and therefore be a responsible and complimentary asset to any health care team.

The Pharmacy Scale and Pill Counter

Manhattan Institute — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:05:00 +0000

The Pharmacy Scale

The pharmacy scale ensures prescription verification by weighing medications to the gram, weighing virtually any type of pill, and therefore making pharmaceutical compounding more simple and extremely accurate.

The Electronic Pill Counter

The pharmacy scale and the electronic pill counter are essential tools in most any pharmacy today. Both tools allow for the pharmacist to be confident when sharing the work load with a trained technician and ensure that prescriptions will be filled accurately.

Please click here to learn more about pharmaceutical automation and technology

Pharmacist's Assistants Offer a Dose of Relief to the Health Care Boom

Manhattan Institute — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 03:15:00 +0000

With our national increased prescription drug use and the pharmaceutical industry continually producing and advertising new, revolutionary medication, and America's aging Baby Boomer population, the lines at the pharmacy counter keep getting longer and the pharmacy staff would be of better service if they have more qualified personnel to best serve customers.

Pharmacists in this country no longer specifically handle only what goes on behind the pharmacy counter. As patients/customers are increasingly relying They are increasingly becoming more involved with patient care and counseling as patients are increasingly relying on the pharmacist to keep them informed of not only how certain prescriptions will react in the body, but also

The nation's pharmacists no longer handle everything behind the pharmacy counter. Besides just dispensing medications on site in hospitals, nursing care facilities, and drug stores, pharmacists are increasingly finding themselves more directly involved in patient care and counseling customers as to how certain prescriptions will react in the body. This is why pharmacist's assistants, increasingly called pharmacy technicians, are an essential part of a pharmacy's operations.

The Role of the Pharmacist Assistant

Because of the complexity of the position and the increasing need for essential communication between pharmacies and doctors, prescription preparation and labeling, maintenance and inventory of patient files, and interaction with customers, there are not enough hours in a day for a pharmacist to properly manage the needs of patients/customers without the help of a qualified pharmacist's assistant/technician.

To find out more about the need for pharmacy technicians, please click here.

Nature of the work of a Pharmacy Assistant

Manhattan Institute — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 04:41:00 +0000

Pharmacy technicians help licensed pharmacists provide medication and other health care products to patients. Technicians usually perform routine tasks to help prepare prescribed medication for patients, such as counting tablets and labeling bottles. Technicians refer any questions regarding prescriptions, drug information, or health matters to a pharmacist.

Pharmacy aides work closely with pharmacy technicians. They often are clerks or cashiers who primarily answer telephones, handle money, stock shelves, and perform other clerical duties. Pharmacy technicians usually perform more complex tasks than do pharmacy aides, although in some States their duties and job titles may overlap.

Pharmacy technicians who work in retail or mail-order pharmacies have varying responsibilities, depending on State rules and regulations. Technicians receive written prescriptions or requests for prescription refills from patients. They also may receive prescriptions sent electronically from the doctor’s office. They must verify that the information on the prescription is complete and accurate. To prepare the prescription, technicians must retrieve, count, pour, weigh, measure, and sometimes mix the medication. Then, they prepare the prescription labels, select the type of prescription container, and affix the prescription and auxiliary labels to the container. Once the prescription is filled, technicians price and file the prescription, which must be checked by a pharmacist before it is given to the patient. Technicians may establish and maintain patient profiles, prepare insurance claim forms, and stock and take inventory of prescription and over-the-counter medications.