Is a certified pharmacy technician the same thing as a pharmacist?
No. The job duties of a certified pharmacy technician include many of the same duties as a licensed pharmacist, but they require supervision of the pharmacist. The primary purpose of a technician is to take care of various administrative tasks of the pharmacy, thus freeing the pharmacist to take care of the primary responsibility of dispensing medication to patients, as well as educating them about the medications they are taking. A technician’s duties will vary depending on their job setting, whether they are working in a pharmacy, a hospital, or answering questions about pharmacy insurance coverage. Most often, technicians in a pharmacy will cover duties such as accepting patient orders, establishing or updating patient records and insurance information, cashiering, filling and labeling medication bottles, coordinating refills with doctors’ offices, and any other duty the pharmacist requires. In a hospital, the duties may be somewhat different, including delivering and picking up med
