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Pharmacy Assistants What is a pharmacy assistant? Pharmacy assistants work with pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in community pharmacies. Pharmacy assistants are very important members of the pharmacy team as they are generally the first point of contact for pharmacy customers. Although not involved in the dispensing of prescription medicines, pharmacy assistants can sell and advise on a wide range of over the counter medicines. A pharmacy assistant must be able to assist customers with common health problems and help with the selection of health and grooming products. The advice assistants give is based on their knowledge of the products and of when to refer the customer to a pharmacist or other appropriately qualified person. What do pharmacy assistants do? For pharmacy assistants an important responsibility and one that probably takes up most of their time is advising customers on health and grooming requirements. There are variations between individual pharmacies but as a guide a pharmacy assistant’s tasks may include the following: • advising customers on the selection and use of health related and grooming products• managing the presentation and storage of merchandise• managing stock i.e. ordering, pricing, inventory control• keeping the pharmacy clean and tidy• creating in-store and window displays• providing beauty treatments eg. manicures• managing loyalty clubs• running in store promotions• providing basic first aid• attending to telephone enquiries• banking and basic bookkeeping• selling photographic products and services.Where do pharmacy assistants work? Most pharmacy assistants would work in the retail section of a community pharmacy, however some larger hospitals would also employ pharmacy assistants. What are the personal qualities a pharmacy assistant should have? As a pharmacy assistant you must be interested in people. Much of the work involves dealing directly with customers who are sick or in need of personal health advice so you need to be: • caring• a good listener• able to communicate easily with a wide range of people• tactful and able to keep confidences• patient• reliable• trustworthy• willing to learn• able to plan and organise your time• able to follow set protocols/guidelines• interested in health and grooming• clearly focussed and results orientated.All these qualities will be further developed as part of your training. What qualification is required to become a pharmacy assistant? You can work as a pharmacy assistant without any special qualifications because most pharmacies provide training on the job. Also, cosmetic houses and most pharmaceutical companies provide short training courses for pharmacy staff. Increasingly however, employers are looking to employ people who are already trained and have a qualification. Further, the more knowledge and skills you have the greater the job satisfaction because you are able to use that knowledge to assist more of your customers. The current qualification is the National Certificate in Pharmacy (Assistant). This qualification is registered by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. What training is required to become a pharmacy assistant? There are three ways you can gain this qualification: • Study full time for 1 year at a full time tertiary provider• Earn as you learn with a combination of on the job learning and experience and a distance learning self paced programme of the relevant theory and knowledge through The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand. All assistants training in this way should expect to complete the qualification within three years of their original enrolment.• Learn on the job by working in a pharmacy, then when you have the experience and knowledge register with the Pharmacy Industry Training Organisation to be assessed against the unit standards.The qualification includes a broad range of unit standards dealing with all aspects of the job. They cover pharmacy specific skills and knowledge as well as personal development skills. The pharmacy specific units cover: treating minor ailments, diet and nutrition, wound management, eye care, managing infections and parasitic diseases, handling potentially hazardous goods and legislation concerning pharmacy. Other units studied deal with: customer service, communication with customers and other pharmacy staff, stock management, workplace health and safety, first aid, advising on and selling beauty care and cosmetic products. What are the career prospects for pharmacy assistants? Community Pharmacy Assistant • Department Supervisor/Manager Having responsibility for:: : certain areas of the pharmacy such as the photographic department: : particular cosmetic franchises: : a section of the pharmacy, for example the vitamin and nutrition section.• Store Buyer:Pharmacies carry a wide range of products, all of which have to be purchased from suppliers. A buyer has the important task of deciding which products the pharmacy will stock and in what quantities. • Store Manager and Staff Supervisor:These are positions more often available in large pharmacies with many staff members. A staff supervisor is responsible for the training and supervision of other staff. • Promotions Manager:With the overall responsibility for coordinating in-store promotions. • Hospital Pharmacy Assistant:: : Ward stock control: : Delivery of medicines to wards.Other opportunities available for pharmacy assistants Pharmacy Technician Many people who begin their career as pharmacy assistants later go on to train as pharmacy technicians. Sales Representative Companies who sell to pharmacies may employ experienced pharmacy assistants as sales representatives. For more details Anyone interested in training as a pharmacy technician should contact the Pharmacy Industry Training organisation or one of the providers of pharmacy technician training. For further information check out the providers’ websites or contact them directly. The Open Polytechnic of NZ www.openpolytechnic.ac.nz Bay of Plenty Polytechnic www.boppoly.ac.nz Academy Group of NZ www.academy.ac.nz The Pharmacy ITO info@pito.org.nz
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