Pharmacy Assistant vs Pharmacy Technician -The Differences & Your Best Career Move

Looking to embrace your passion for serving in healthcare and exploring a career in a pharmacy? With an aging population and an increased demand for pharmaceuticals, comes an undeniable opportunity. Statistics Canada reports a near-doubling of the number of pharmacists in Ontario over the last 10 years – and these pharmacists require a team of qualified and dedicated professionals. Two key roles within this team, are the pharmacy assistant and pharmacy technician. But how do these careers differ from one another, and which one is the right fit for you?

Whether you’re new to this industry or looking to take your career to the next level, it’s essential to know your options. Let’s explore.

Fundamental Differences Between Pharmacy Assistant (PA) and Pharmacy Technician (PT)

1. The Focus

Pharmacy assistant focuses on customer service and clerical tasks.

Pharmacy technician focuses on the technical aspects of the pharmacy and works directly with the pharmacist.

2.The Role

Pharmacy assistant is an administrative role – greeting customers, answering phones, stocking retail shelves, and taking prescriptions from customers to give to the pharmacist or pharmacy technician.

Pharmacy technicians support the pharmacist by helping to fill prescriptions, measuring and mixing medications, retrieving a patient’s medical history and even working directly with doctor’s offices. In addition, a PT may even oversee inventory management and be responsible for product ordering. And in the time of COVID, pharmacy technicians have played a vital role, as they can now administer the vaccines.

3.Education and Regulation

Pharmacy assistant requires less education and is not regulated. You could find an entry-level position with a high school diploma and could learn on the job, or you could take a pharmacy assistant certificate program.

Pharmacy technician is a more advanced career, requires you to take pharmacy technician courses and obtain a pharmacy technician certificate. In Ontario, to be a pharmacy technician, you must also be a licensed. This comes with the benefit of regulation and credibility allowing you, and your customers, to know your work and service is in alignment with the highest standards.

The Benefits of Taking the Leap … and with the Right School for You!

Take the “Anderson College Pharmacy Technician Career Discovery Quiz”

Accredited

The benefits of exploring pharmacy tech colleges and pharmacy technician programs are far reaching. Not the least of which are the financial rewards of shifting from an entry-level pharmacy assistant to a pharmacy technician – your salary can double! But it absolutely matters where you choose to go to school. Anderson’s Pharmacy Technician Certification online program was one of the first of its kind and, to know if it’s second-to-none you need only look to the fact that it is accredited.

Anderson’s Pharmacy Technician program is accredited by the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs (CCAPP). As a graduate of this program, you will be eligible to complete the necessary steps to become a regulated pharmacy technician in Ontario. These steps include completing Structured Practical Training (SPTs), the Ontario College of Pharmacists (OCP) Jurisprudence exam, the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (PEBC) qualifying exams and obtaining personal professional liability insurance. Regulation is mandatory to work as a pharmacy technician in any pharmacy in Ontario.

Exceptional and Accelerated

In addition to being accredited and lead by industry-experts, Anderson just unveiled its state-of-the-art lab at the beginning of 2021. It includes both a community and hospital lab, allowing for practice in customer service and pharmaceutical-substance compounding skills and even how to administer drugs through an IV, and more. Anderson’s Pharmacy Technician program also includes experiential learning in a 9-week practicum with potential employers. And all this … not in the typical 2-year timeframe, but in just 43 weeks!

Canada needs bright, driven, compassionate healthcare professionals, and pharmacy technicians play a key role in our society. The time is right for you to take your career to the next level and make a fundamental difference in our community. Start your Pharmacy Technician career today! Learn more about the course here or book a virtual appointment with our Admissions team.

Quick Links to Fuel Your Success!

We want to make sure you have what you need to succeed! Check out these reference links:
• Pharmacy Technician Course & Program at Anderson (andersoncollege.com)
• Pharmacist Assistant vs Pharmacist Technician: Major Differences To Know – Pharmacist Report
• OCPInfo.com – Ontario College of Pharmacists
• Frequently Asked Questions | NAPRA