Pharmacy assistant (Apothekersassistent)
Information on this skill...
A pharmacy assistant is responsible for various activities, such as managing medicines, dispensing medicines and providing information to people. A pharmacy assistant generally works with various colleagues, such as other pharmacy assistants and pharmacists, depending on the type of pharmacy. As a pharmacy assistant, you work in a pharmacy where people pick up their prescribed medicines on doctor's prescription, or you sell medicines and other medicines that are freely available in the pharmacy. In addition to the sale and delivery of medicines, advising is an important task of a pharmacy assistant. The profession of pharmacy assistant is a profession at MBO level four and should be seen as a profession with great responsibilities, because no mistakes may be made. As a pharmacy assistant, you can work in different types of pharmacies, depending on your preference, such as in a public pharmacy, a hospital pharmacy or with a pharmacy-based general practitioner. In addition to working with medicines and customers, as a pharmacy assistant you will be responsible for other activities, such as administrative work and simple preparation work. The introduction and processing of simple prescriptions is also part of the work of the pharmacy assistant. If there are ambiguities regarding prescriptions, this is usually picked up by the pharmacist. One of the most important tasks of a pharmacy assistant is to inform people about their medicines. Think, for example, of information about the use, the side effects, the storage method and the way in which medicines should be used. In most cases, as a pharmacy assistant, you will be behind the counter to help people.
A pharmacy assistant is therefore responsible for supporting activities to relieve the pharmacist. As a pharmacy assistant, you can in many cases be considered a desk clerk, because you are responsible for helping people at the counter. For many people, the medications they pick up are new, and sometimes unclear. The pharmacy assistant can give people information about prescribed medications, such as the storage time of medications, the storage method, the side effect of medications, and the amount that can be taken. In addition to dispensing medicines and giving advice to clients, as a pharmacy assistant you have more tasks, such as preparing the medicines. This does not have to happen with all medicines, but sometimes certain capsules or suppositories have to be prepared. It is also common for the different pharmacy assistants to check each other's work to avoid mistakes. Giving the wrong medication to people can be very dangerous. Other activities of a pharmacy assistant are administrative work, cash register work, stock management and accepting and writing prescriptions. A prescription is a written instruction from a competent person, such as a doctor, general practitioner, dentist or midwife to deliver medicines to the client in question.
PHARMACY ASSISTANT ACTIVITIES
Other tasks of a pharmacy assistant are managing all customer data in the computer and regularly consulting with other parties in the healthcare sector, such as with the general practitioner, dentist, health insurance and suppliers of the medicines. In short, working as a pharmacy assistant is very varied, and the profession involves much more than just dispensing medications to clients. A pharmacy assistant is therefore responsible in a broad way for supporting activities within the pharmacy. Think, for example, of administrative tasks and of giving written explanations about medicines. Incidentally, a pharmacy assistant cannot simply be regarded as a pharmaceutical consultant.
The profession of pharmacy assistant cannot be regarded as pharmacy assistant or pharmacy employee, because this is a different profession. A pharmacy employee is responsible for facility work, such as cleaning the pharmacy and taking care of coffee and tea. The profession of pharmacy employee generally only occurs within the larger pharmacies.
VARIOUS TASKS PHARMACY ASSISTANT ARE:
- Informing people
- Adopting recipes
- Writing recipes
- Maintaining contacts (suppliers, specialists)
- The payment of medicines
- Performing administrative work
- Preparing medicines
- Supporting the pharmacist
WHAT DOES A PHARMACY ASSISTANT DO:
TRAINING TO BECOME A PHARMACY ASSISTANT
If you want to work as a pharmacy assistant, it is best to follow a vocational training at MBO level four. The programme generally takes three years, depending on your previous education. During the MBO training pharmacy assistant you will spend about sixty percent of the time at school and for the rest work at a recognized training company as an internship. During the training you will learn everything about providing pharmaceutical patient care, preparing medicines and performing organization and profession-related tasks. Before you can participate in the pharmacy assistant training, so-called intake interviews are held at some schools to see if the course suits you. There are many schools that offer pharmacy assistant training. An MBO diploma is sufficient to be able to work as a pharmacy assistant. In addition, there are also plenty of external training institutes where you can follow a course. Accounting is also important as an entrepreneur.
COMPANIES WHERE A PHARMACY ASSISTANT CAN BE EMPLOYED
A pharmacy assistant works in a pharmacy, which can relate to different pharmacies. Think, for example, of public pharmacies, hospital pharmacies, general practitioner pharmacies and other healthcare institutions that have a pharmacy. In addition, a pharmacy assistant can work within a specialized compounding pharmacy. Most pharmacy assistants are employed in public pharmacies. The profession of pharmacy assistant also occurs within other pharmacies. Consider, for example, an outpatient pharmacy.
COMPETENCES PHARMACY ASSISTANT
As a pharmacy assistant, it is important that you work accurately without making mistakes. In order to be able to carry out this profession in a good way, it is therefore important that you are professionally engaged with your work and that you are proactive. In addition, you have a lot to do with clients, who can sometimes be emotional at the desk. Empathy and stress resistance are therefore important competencies. You will also need to have good communication skills, because you will have to deal with many different people. Generally important words are planning, organizing, motivation, control, vigilance, laws and regulations, consultations, people knowledge and accuracy.
LABOUR MARKET PERSPECTIVE AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AS A PHARMACY ASSISTANT
As a well-trained pharmacy assistant, there is plenty of work to be found. Usually you flow from your internship address to an employer. There is also sufficient demand for well-trained staff outside public pharmacies. Growing as a pharmacy assistant is not possible without further training. Healthcare is all about the right education, and without it you will not be able to grow further. A pharmacy assistant who has additional training can possibly grow into a team leader or pharmaceutical consultant.
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT AND SALARY PHARMACY ASSISTANT
The employment conditions of a pharmacy assistant are difficult to indicate because there are different types of companies where you can work. As a pharmacy assistant, you usually have an established collective labour agreement in which all regulations are included. As a pharmacy assistant, you usually earn between 1700 and 2700 euros gross per month, depending on your age and years of service as a pharmacy assistant.
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