With an ever increasing number of middle aged people and the elderly in the United States, the Department of labor had initially predicted that the demand for pharmacy technicians would continue growing at an average rate of 25 percent per year from 2008 up to year 2018, but as it stands now, these projections have since been revised and now the Department of labor projects a growth rate of 31 percent.
This is an extremely high rate of increase compared to that of other professions. This increment is coupled by the fact that older people tend to more sickly and thus need more prescriptions than the youth. Furthermore, advances in research and technology has made certain illness that were hitherto lacking prescriptions to be prescribed thus increasing the availability and usage of drugs which in effect increase the demand for pharmacy technicians.
New areas that were traditionally not considered as of prescription importance such as food supplements, certain cosmetic and therapeutic practices have increased the number of drugs that need prescription and the areas of interest.
In the United States, there is no formal standard of qualification for pharmacy technicians. However, the job market puts more emphasis on those that do possess formal training, experience and certification. Quite a good number of pharmacy technicians receive informal on-the-job training. However, a lot of vocational training centers, hospitals and community colleges do offer an average of two-year course in pharmaceutical technology.
In as much as most States do not make certification compulsory, they do have provisions for voluntary certification. Pharmacy technician certification is mainly offered by Pharmacy Technicians Certification Board (PTCB). Another professional body that is known to offer certification for Pharmacy technicians is Institute for the Certification of Pharmacy Technicians (ICPT).
Those wishing to be certified as pharmacy technicians need to have at least a high school diploma. In addition, the applicants are required not to have had any drug related felony that resulted into conviction. Other than certification, good customer relations and excellent interpersonal relationship skills are a necessary prerequisite for any pharmaceutical technician as they are expect to interact with patients and customers in their day to day operations.
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