Each day, our technicians and assistants connect with patients, prepare prescriptions, compound medications, and keep our dispensaries running smoothly, all while providing warm, professional support. Whether in hospital, retail, or compounding settings, their goal is the same: delivering precise technical services to ensure patients get the medications they need.
This year’s theme highlights the role our technicians and assistants play in delivering exceptional patient care. To mark this day, we asked our pharmacy and production technicians and assistants about their roles and share what you may not know about them.
Read their insights below…
As a Pharmacy Technician, people can think we only pick, pack medications and provide basic medication counselling – but our role goes far beyond that. We can:
Receive advanced training: we train in sterile preparations, inventory management, and clinical duties (to name a few).
Compound medication: including cytotoxic medicines for cancer treatment and Total Parenteral Nutrition. We can also do ointments, lotions, gels, tablets and injections.
Manage stock and information: we monitor stock, order medications, and manage expiration to ensure we supply the right medications. We are tech-savvy to handle the software that ensures accurate record-keeping, medication dispensing and billing.
Supporting the entire healthcare team: we support not only Pharmacists but also doctors, nurses, and other healthcare teams in caring for and treating our patients.
As a production technician, our focus is on precision – following strict protocols – to deliver the safest product possible. It’s not an easy role. Some things you may not know about the job is:
The role we play in product delivery: A production technicians can be involved in creating anywhere between 50-250 items a day.
Every step matters: Inside the cleanroom you need to be aware of yourself at all times, including positioning, movement and hand placement to not create particles.
The importance of PPE: Gowning requirements vary for each graded environment. Operators require various ongoing assessments each year to be deemed complaint to even get into specifics areas before other tasks can commence.
People may not know the role of a pharmacy technician, especially in oncology is quite varied and diverse, and we are:
Key part of treatment: we work closely with other healthcare professionals. This collaboration is essential in treatment and management of treatment plans, ensuring everyone is informed on changes to medications or treatment.
From dispensing to compounding: As well as dispensing and ordering, we compound sterile medications like chemotherapy, immunotherapy and clinical trial infusions. This is done work closely with the pharmacist, preparing the workspace and gathering all materials and then performing the compounding under their supervision – always ensuring safety.
Here’s some things people may not know about a production technician in compounding:
We help create safe products: As a production technician, we play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and quality of our products, which directly impacts the well-being of patients. There’s a lot of things we must be aware of, from PPE to manual handling.
It is a demanding role: You are always doing something as a production technician and must stay vigilant to ensure safety. For myself, I am also the WHS representative, raising issues and influence change in safety.
We are making an impact: In my role, I help create chemotherapy for patients. Knowing that I’m helping people to receive the best care possible fills me with immense pride.
Pharmacy Technicians and Assistants play various roles in the healthcare team, including:
Managing medication: We play a crucial role in managing medication therapy, helping ensure patients understand their medications – how to take them and potential side effects.
Managing inventories: We manage inventory, including ordering supplies, checking stock levels, and ensuring medications are stored properly – vital for patient safety.
Patient Experience: While pharmacists typically provide direct consultations, we interact with patients and assist with insurance, answer questions about medications, and help ensure a smooth process at the pharmacy counter.
Dispensary technicians do more than just dispense medication to patients. Things you may not know is that:
Our responsibilities can be broad: Our work ranges from standard consultations; to overseas medication procurement and patient consultations.
We are key communicators: We are often the people making the calls between the departments and fielding queries for the hospital team members.
Patient interaction makes up a big part of our day: We are front-facing and are often the people doing the medication consultations on discharge.
We’re committed to providing the support and opportunities our pharmacy and compounding technicians need to continue making a meaningful impact and progress in their careers. They play a vital role in integrated healthcare and deliver exceptional care every day.
Learn more about a pharmacy technician career at Icon.
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