What Do Pharmacy Assistants Do?

The role of a Pharmacy Assistant is essential within the framework of a pharmacy setting, as you carry out both direct and indirect patient duties alongside pharmacists and other health care professionals.  

As a skilled Pharmacy Assistant, you perform a variety of duties such as filling prescription orders, helping customers, and updating drug and doctor information in pharmacy computer systems. To be successful in this role, you must also have administrative and communication skills. 

Becoming a Pharmacy Assistant is an excellent route into the health care industry, especially if you have a passion for helping others. To learn more about a Pharmacy Assistant’s duties keep reading. 

Patient Care 

As a Pharmacy Assistant, you are often the first point of contact for the patient – the friendly face that greets them when they come to collect their prescription. Often, you are dealing with people who are ill or are in pain, so it is important to always be professional, helpful, and kind. 

The Pharmacy Assistant is the liaison between the pharmacist and the patient, so having strong interpersonal skills is an asset. Because you deal with many people throughout the day, you, as the Pharmacy Assistant, need to pay close attention to the patients you are communicating with – it is vital that a patient’s name and personal details are verified before any medication is handed over. When dealing with prescription drugs there is no room for mistakes. 

Administrative Support 

A Pharmacy Assistant is in charge of the daily administrative duties. Creating patient records is perhaps the most important administrative function you perform, because it ensures the safe transfer of medication from pharmacist to patient. 

Additionally, the Pharmacy Assistant is responsible for the following: 

• Preparing patient invoices 
• Updating drug and doctor information in pharmacy computer systems 
• Writing internal memos 
• Ordering and organizing office inventory  
• Coordinating callbacks on behalf of the pharmacist  

Prescription Preparation   

As a Pharmacy Assistant, you always work under the general supervision of a pharmacist. This means helping the pharmacist dispense drugs and fill prescriptions by measuring, compounding, packaging, and distributing the medications. You also play a role in mixing ingredients for creams, powders, ointments, capsules, and more. 

It is the Pharmacy Assistant’s responsibility to assess prescriptions for accuracy and completeness. Once the final checks have been conducted, it is your job to type and print the labels, package the prescription, and place it to the side, ready for payment and pickup by the patient. 

Inventory Management  

As a Pharmacy Assistant, the responsibility of managing inventory falls to you. To maintain organization, you must ensure a strict system is followed so that all new stock is recorded and put away in its appropriate place. You also need to be on top of counting inventory and knowing when a new order needs to be placed. Having stocked shelves and ample products is a necessity, and this requires organization and planning skills on the part of the Pharmacy Assistant. 

How To Become A Pharmacy Assistant & What Program To Choose 

To become a skilled Pharmacy Assistant, completion of a recognized college program that offers both theoretical and applied teaching is recommended. This will prepare you for your future career and is sure to set you apart from other Pharmacy Assistant candidates in the competitive job market. 

Sundance College offers an accelerated, online Pharmacy Assistant Diploma program that provides both a comprehensive classroom education and a workplace practicum, all of which can be completed in less than a year. Our practicums are designed to prepare you to enter the workforce as a confident professional with real-life work experience that you can add to your resume. 

When choosing a program, look for one that is instructor-led and provides you with a foundation in pharmaceutical sciences. At Sundance, our students are learning industry-specific skills from pharmaceutical professionals who understand the nuances of the job and can prepare them for career success.  

Get Started!   

At Sundance College, we are dedicated to our students’ success. We work together towards one common goal – supporting our students on their journey to a new career and a brighter future. To find out more about Sundance College’s Pharmacy Assistant program click here.