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Will being a certified pharmacy technician help me know if i would do well in pharmacy school?

I am currently in school to be a pharmacy tech and I'm trying to decide if I want to go to pharmacy school #pharmacy #pharmacists

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Anthony’s Answer

Hello,
This is a great question. Although the skills of a pharmacy technician cannot be directly translated to being a pharmacy student, I do believe the skills would be beneficial for pharmacy school.
I was not a pharmacy technician before pharmacy school. I did not begin working in a pharmacy until the beginning of my third year. Until then, the entirety of my pharmacy experience was based on volunteering at my local VA and pharmacy school interning. I would have had a much easier time in pharmacy school if I was a practicing technician. This is because with repetition comes learning. I believe that seeing ordinary doses of drugs daily, seeing what drugs are often used, hearing brand and generic names for medications daily, etc. Although this correlates more with technician experience than the act of becoming a certified technician, these are all things that are reviewed for the certification exam.
Additionally, many pharmacy students found pharmacy math a difficult part of the school. Therefore, the technician exam will also prepare you for the mathematics you will see throughout schooling.
Ultimately, I do not believe that becoming a certified technician automatically makes one a successful pharmacy student. However, it is a good start for the basics of what will be learned in pharmacy school.
Anthony
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Sana’s Answer

Firstly, working at a pharmacy will give you a general idea whether you want to be in this field. However, if you ever have a bad experience, it doesn't mean that pharmacy isn't right for you. You may just have to try a different area of pharmacy. This is what make pharmacy unique because it's highly diverse.


I just finished my first year of pharmacy school, and being a pharm tech did help a lot. It won't determine if you do well in pharmacy school in terms of classes except maybe in one or two. There are many people who get into pharmacy school with zero experience in the pharmacy. However, it will help you develop into a better pharmacist and help you become a more well rounded individual. Being a certified tech helps you with the following things:

  1. Drug cards: I already knew a majority of the drugs (generic, brand, class, uses) . So studying for this material was extremely easy and not time consuming.
  2. in pharmacy school you learn how to counsel people. As a tech, you obviously can't counsel your patients, but you learn how to communicate with them.
  3. Laws and regulations also come in handy
  4. Internships and networking. ***THIS IS KEY***. If you work for a company, you have a higher chance of becoming an intern. Even if you don't see yourself in retail or hospital or whatever field, you get the experience. It's extremely competitive out there and you need to take advantage of all the opportunities that are out there. Having worked in a pharmacy gives you an advantage when it comes to interviewing and working for other companies because you already have the experience.
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Lynn’s Answer

If your ultimate goal is to be a Pharmacist then working as a pharmacy technician will help you in the long run. I don't think you need to enroll in a pharmacy technician program to gain admission into pharmacy school in the US unless your job is requiring you to do so. The skills gained as a technician will certainly make you a better Leader in the pharmacy realm. Just be sure with yourself that this is a career that you like and can see visualize yourself doing this when things get a stressed but of course doable :)
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Dinah’s Answer

Being nationally certified as a pharmacy technician can help you understand the basics of pharmacy, but it isn't enough to give you a bigger picture. The biggest advantage is that the top 200 drugs need to be studied and in pharmacy school, there are going to be plenty of quizzes on brand and generic. As the semester progresses, other pertinent information will be given for these drugs. Also, your strength in calculations will be another advantage because that is another course that needs to be taken during pharmacy school. I am a pharmacy intern and have been with CVS for almost five years and I learn new things everyday in pharmacy school. So, just being certified doesn't really give you enough of a grasp on what pharmacy really is.
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Morgan’s Answer

Potentially, yes. You are able to observe what the pharmacist does and see if that is a good career choice for you. In addition, being a pharmacy technician requires certain levels of math skills in order to calculate the proper days supply, etc. I think that the skills that you will gain as a pharmacy technician will definitely prepare you as a leader in the pharmacy field as a whole.
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London Doyoung’s Answer

Can you imagine yourself counseling on medication and being a drug expert? I think that's a big difference between pharmacy technicians vs. pharmacists. By law, only pharmacy students and pharmacists are allowed to counsel on medications in community setting, so if that's what you may be interested in, then you should go for it. In hospital setting, pharmacists often double checks the orders put in by doctors or performs medical rounds with other healthcare professional and give professional recommendation regarding drugs. The experience gained as a pharmacy technician could definitely be an asset to becoming a pharmacist and it will also give you a little glimpse of what pharmacists do. If interested, you should look further into undergraduate requirements and Pharm.D. programs if the course requirements look like what you may be interested in.
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