Archive for September, 2012
A Career As a Pharmacy Technician
The medical industry continues to grow and the need for pharmacy services grows along with it. With the increase of pharmacy chains and their branches, as well as openings in medical facilities, you have the opportunity to begin a career in pharmacy. You can begin your profession as a pharmacy technician and reap the rewards of being a part of a growing and lucrative industry. Pharmacy techs are responsible for assisting pharmacists in dispensing medications to customers or patients.
This usually requires the actual preparation of the medication needed to fill a prescription, matching the medication with prescription and ensuring the validity of the customer or patient’s prescription, as well as perform administrative tasks. Salaries for pharmacy techs are higher than other entry level jobs in the industry.
Certain states require certification for pharmaceutical technicians, with only a minimal of 2 years of educational requirement and a certain number of hours for classroom instruction in order to be eligible for certification.
Pharmacy Technician Salary Range Can Vary
When speaking of a pharmacy technician salary it is usual to speak in terms of a salary range. This is because many factors affect the pharmacy technicians pay. Perhaps the most important one is the state where they are practicing. Technicians who live in states where the cost of living is significantly higher than others in general are able to earn significantly higher salaries.
It is possible however that these higher salaries don’t lead to a higher standard of living because they are only available for the cost of living is high.
When stated an hourly basis pharmacy technician salaries usually run anywhere from nine or $10 per hour to as high as $26 per hour. This is a large range and is affected by such things as whether or not the technician certified, and the degree of formal training that they’ve had.
The fact that a pharmacy technician salary range is so large leaves much room for a pharmacy technician through study and hard work to vastly improve their financial situation.
Get a Pharmacy Technician Certification from a Reputable School
There are many organizations out there that offer pharmacy technician certification to everyone. However, you must choose among all these organizations the best one so you won’t waste time studying at the wrong school. You must get a second opinion from pharmacy technicians who are already certified.
It is important to learn everything while you are studying so you will be able to pass for certification and be able to apply what you learn to your future job. There are also some online colleges that offer this certification. This can be a convent way to become certified if you are currently employed full time.
Physician Assistant – A Rewarding Career in Health Care
Any career in the medical field can be very rewarding and this is not only in the professional and financial sense but also because medicine is about helping people and saving lives. One of the medical careers that has statistically shown an increasing demand of practitioners over the years is the physician assistant position. Also called PAs, they are health care providers who are certified or licensed to practice medicine under the supervision of doctors or physicians.
The exact job scope of PAs is not definite as they vary depending on training, certification and specialization. However, they take care of general duties such as taking patient histories, conducting physical exams, treating minor injuries, diagnosing illnesses, rendering treatments, carrying out the doctor’s orders during recovery, assisting in surgeries and procedures and many more. PAs can also be trained to work in specialized fields of medicine. In short, PAs are to perform any tasks delegated by the supervising physician.
Responsibilities and Educational Requirements of a PA
The field of medicine will always be in demand for practitioners and health care workers. One of the medical careers that has statistically shown an increase in demand for practitioners in the next few years is the physician assistant position or PA. According to physicianassistantinfo.org, PAs are health care professionals licensed to practice medicine under the direct supervision of a doctor or a physician. The responsibilities of a PA include providing primary care medicine, routine diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventative care.
They also take medical histories, perform patient examinations, treat minor injuries, prescribe medications as well as order and interpret laboratory tests. To become a PA, one must possess a high school diploma with a strong background in biology and chemistry to be accepted into accredited programs. Two years of college level study in biology, healthcare, chemistry, math and social sciences are the usual minimum requirements of these programs. These programs also include broad supervised clinical training and extensive education in medicine.
Physician Assistant Salary
If you are considering becoming a physician assistant but do not know how much you might be earning in the future, then I guess it’s a consolation if I tell you that the salary bracket for these professionals is really good.
However, the pay scale still varies with experience and education. Physician assistants are encouraged to continue learning even if they are already employed. So, as PA, what duties should you be doing? A Physician Assistant is someone who has the functions of a doctor. He can assess any patient, get medical history and form a medical diagnosis for the patients. Some PA also treats patients and do minor surgeries. Higher level PAs can prescribe medicines.
So, literally, your function is like that of a doctor. The subject you will be learning from school is the same subjects that MDs take. The only difference is that they spend 9 years in residency while you will graduate and work after 5-6 years of study. Still, the physician assistant salary is almost the same as a doctor. The average income for PAs is set on $80,000 per annum. Some earn around $68,000 per year and some earn around $97,000. However, fresh graduates earn only around $50,000 per year.
