Pharmaceutical Technicians and Assistants

Pharmaceutical technicians and assistants perform a variety of tasks associated with dispensing medicinal products under the guidance of a pharmacist or other health professional. Tasks include - (a) preparing medications and other pharmaceutical compounds under the guidance of a pharmacist or other health professional; (b) dispensing medicines and drugs to clients and giving written and oral instructions on their use, as prescribed by medical doctors, veterinarians or other health professionals; (c) receiving prescriptions or refill requests from health professionals and verifying that information is complete and accurate according to medical record-keeping standards; (d) maintaining proper storage and security conditions for drugs; (e) filling and labelling containers with prescribed medications; (f) assisting clients by answering questions, locating items or referring them to a pharmacist for medication information; (g) pricing and filing prescriptions that have been filled and establishing and maintaining patient records, including lists of medications taken by individual patients; (h) ordering, labelling, and counting stocks of medications, chemicals and supplies, and entering inventory data into record-keeping systems; (i) cleaning and preparing equipment and containers used to prepare and dispense medicines and pharmaceutical compounds. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Dispensing technician - Pharmaceutical assistant - Pharmaceutical technician Some related occupations classified elsewhere: - Pharmacist - 2262 - Pharmacology technician - 3141 - Pharmacy aide - 5329.