Learning Blog
Working in the Healthcare Field as a Pharmacy Assistant
Written by Lizzie Learn
On 23rd Mar 2022
P
harmacy practice and services have always been evolving and this is a particularly exciting time to join the field of healthcare in the UK. Embarking on a new career can be a rewarding experience because it’s a fresh start for learning and growth.
Are you interested in working in the healthcare field? Are you interested in making a difference to the lives of people by helping them overcome sickness and attain wellness? Do you like meeting people, understanding their problems and finding solutions?
If the answer to the questions above is ‘yes’, then pharmacy may be the right setting for you to work.
Opting to work as a pharmacy assistant is the first step towards enjoying a rewarding and fulfilling career in the field of healthcare. It’s good to have an idea of what to expect while working in a pharmacy.
A Career as a Pharmacy Assistant
Before you start preparing for your stint as a pharmacy assistant, you should be aware of the important features and benefits of this career:
- Earning potential: You can earn between £18,000 and £21,000 per year. What’s more, many pharmacies will be willing to offer overtime to workers who wish to work longer hours or over the weekend. This way, you can supplement your basic income. Hospitals and 24-hour pharmacies may require assistants who are willing to work shifts or at night. However, as you grow and move up the ranks, you can expect to enjoy higher levels of autonomy over your work schedules.
- Career outlook: you will enjoy several avenues of growth and advancement as you gain experience and receive training in various skills. For example, you could consider becoming a pharmacy technician (if you are interested in preparing medication), a pharmacist (if you are interested in further studies and working closely with the medical profession) or a pharmacy marketing executive (if you prefer selling pharmaceutical services).
- Opportunity to work alongside the pharmacist and learn skills on the job: most assistants are trained on the job and will receive training as they learn how to dispense drugs, interpret prescriptions and provide refills to patients. For those who are interested in advancing their career and working towards higher qualifications in pharmacy, this is an excellent opportunity to learn basic techniques of dispensation and the finer points of providing medication to patients.
If you’d like to continue as a pharmacy assistant, working under the expert supervision of seniors will help you reinforce your own skills and train in different aspects of pharmacy operation. You will learn to be accurate and pay close attention to detail and improve your concentration levels.
- Keeping yourself updated: working as a pharmacy assistant helps you keep abreast of the latest medical terminology, modern equipment and new products that are introduced. For example, most assistants working in UK-based pharmacies are now familiar with electronic prescription systems and are able to use automated medicine dispensers with precision and accuracy.
- Hospital pharmacy job roles may require more intensive training in medicine dispensation: assistants who work in hospital pharmacies may be required to fill in a higher number of prescriptions and prepare more dispensations compared to assistants working in retail pharmacies. The type of medications that you deal with may be different from a retail pharmacy and the inventory management may be more complex.
Experience and Further Development
Working as a pharmacy assistant helps you gain experience and legitimises your knowledge of the skills that you require for further career advancement.
The experience also helps you prepare for the rigorous preparation for a pharmacist qualification at a later stage (if you desire). As the population in the UK ages, there is a growing demand for healthcare and pharmaceutical requirements and the growth in the field is not slated to slow down anytime soon.
If you’re starting out in your career, you are likely to find several opportunities and jobs that correspond with your expectations.
The best part is that you do not have to obtain college or university qualifications in order to become a pharmacy assistant.
You can start seeking job placements when you have a basic knowledge of arithmetic, computers and communication skills. Pharmacy assistants are expected to perform duties and responsibilities which are more specialised in nature as medicinal items cannot be treated on par with other commercial commodities.
Conclusion
Working as a pharmacy assistant helps you enjoy a career associated with a dynamic work environment, steady salary levels and, most importantly, the chance to make a difference to the lives of others.
only
$120.00
To see what other courses we have available in the healthcare field, just visit our online courses page
Learn with confidence...
RRP
$100
Get a FREE Course
Tick this box to Sign up for our newsletter, and get access to the Interview Skills and CV Writing Certificate course for free! By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Notice & Cookie Policy and to receive marketing and related emails from academy+ brands. You can unsubscribe at any time.What our students say about us...
I am a doctor. This course is well organized, covering all areas of CBT. The videos and practical tips are very helpful. All the modules are arranged with good explanations and examples. Also each module consists of quick test and assignment which enables you to gain knowledge. Finally I would like to thank the New Skills Academy team.
Dr. M. Arshad
The course was clearly set out with helpful end of week tests which built my knowledge. Being dyslexic I found the course was set out in an easy to understand way. I was able to pass the test on my first attempt. The downloaded pdf are a useful resource that you can keep forever. Looking forward to the next course
Ross Dunsten
Wow what an incredible insight for the start of anyone's journey in property. This course gives you so much information and there are tests and questions on each of the modules. The course is very easy to follow and well laid out. You can actually make notes on the pages of each module using the notes tab! I am very excited to say that I passed and I only spent one week on this course. I will print all the PDF information and keep it in a file with my certificate. I feel very confident for my future plans now I have completed this course.
Nichola Anderson
Yet another well laid out course. This is my 3rd course so far with New Skills Academy.
More than likely will be back for another one soon. This course was enjoyable to do, and I learnt a lot and passed first try. My certificate will be up on the wall soon.
Rob Coops
Omg im so excited, over joyed and all the good stuff that comes to mind! Wonderful experience doing lessons with New Skills Academy. I look foward to doing more courses with them. I hope this will encourage others to come on board and refresh your minds or to learn something new, it's a win win situation. I want to thank New Skills Academy so much for making this as simple as possible for me.
Shari Anderson
This is a great course for any level of knowledge. Very easy to navigate, great practical tasks and explanations are very clear. You can revise any module with no problem. The test wasn’t too hard if you completed every module. It may be handy to make some notes before you start. Overall I'm very happy with my choice. Thank you New skills for my New skills :)
Julia Bobkova
Lovely course for people who want to know the basics and of sign language. It's has helped me to get more of an understanding and will greatly benefit me in my workplace. So easy to pick up and the videos were easy to understand. Would definitely recommend to anyone.
Chloe Hambly
It was an eye opening course that was flexible and easy to access. I was able to complete it from the comfort of my own home whilst also having the tasks to complete which enabled me to check my knowledge. I know feel much more confident in my field of work and really enjoyed doing it.
Ellie Clarke
