A pharmacy aide assists pharmacists in filling prescriptions and dispensing medication correctly to patients and medical professionals. Aides may interact directly with both customers and health professionals to collect medical information and prescription details, and can also measure, package and label prescriptions.
When creating a pharmacy aide job description, be sure to include the appropriate on-the-job training or certification from a vocational school. Your state may also require pharmacy workers to pass a criminal background check. Pharmacy aides must show strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
Excellent communication and customer service abilities are also important for pharmacy aides, along with a good grasp of math. It is also helpful for candidates to have basic computer skills. Find out what other information you should include in your own pharmacy aide job description by reading through the example below.
Pharmacy Aide Job Summary
Are you looking for an interesting job that provides excellent training and experience for career advancement in the healthcare field? Join our team as a pharmacy aide and enjoy hands-on work with new challenges and opportunities to further your professional training credentials. You will be working with experienced pharmacists, medical professionals and insurance providers to help improve people’s lives and participate in their medical care. We are passionate about helping our pharmacy aides reach their career aspirations, so we provide formal on-the-job training as well as opportunities to complete professional certification programs. Join our team today and take advantage of flexible hours, competitive pay and support for your ongoing career in healthcare.
Job Responsibilities
- Interact in person and over the phone with customers and healthcare providers to collect information about prescriptions and medical conditions, and arrange private consultations with pharmacists when customers have questions about prescriptions or other health issues
- Locate and measure medication according to prescription information, and make modifications as needed to account for additional instructions from pharmacists and healthcare providers
- Communicate with insurance representatives to process claims, collect information about generic alternatives to brand-name medications and calculate correct co-pay information for customers
- Prepare packaging and labels for prescriptions, ensuring there is complete information relating to dosage, side effects, interactions with other medications and refill instructions
- Monitor inventory levels of all medications to inform pharmacists of shortages and resupply requirements in enough time to meet customers’ needs
- Maintain internal database of patient records by updating entries with current information, including name, prescriptions, medical conditions and insurance information
- Follow all company and legal protocols relating to medication control and dispensing, health record confidentiality and insurance claim procedures
- Assist pharmacists and technicians as needed, including making follow-up calls to customers, doctors and insurance providers, maintaining a clean and orderly stockroom and updating signage
Job Skills & Qualifications
Reqiured:
- High school diploma plus at least one year of pharmacy work experience
- Ability to pass a criminal background check
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Self-motivated to learn and improve
- Good attention to detail and organization
Preferred:
- Additional healthcare experience or pharmacy technician certification
Pharmacy Aide Job Responsibilities
The job responsibilities section is one of the most important parts of your pharmacy aide job description. Because it has the information jobseekers use to make their decision about applying, you should focus on making it as clear and polished as possible. This should be the longest section in the job description and include the most substance about the position.
Formatting the pharmacy aide job responsibilities section effectively is a significant step in creating a strong job description. It should take the form of a bulleted list and include between six and eight points. If there are more than that, it may seem intimidating, while fewer might not provide enough information to readers. The first word of each bullet point should be a strong action verb that allows jobseekers to envision themselves in the position.
The following example entries can help you create your own pharmacy aide job description:
- Interact with guests, answer inquiries and provide information about pharmaceutical services
- Read prescriptions and gather additional information to correctly and safely provide medicine to customers
- Measure, weigh and organize pharmaceutical drugs to accurately fill prescriptions
- Manage inventory and track all filled prescriptions to maintain an accurate record of medicine in stock at all times
Pharmacy Aide Job Specifications
At the end of your pharmacy aide job description, you should include a brief job qualifications and skills section that details the requirements to apply. Despite being the shortest section in your posting, the pharmacy aide job specifications perhaps have the strongest influence over how successful the hiring process is. If the qualifications are too strict, not enough talented candidates will apply, while if they are too lenient, you may receive an overwhelming number of unqualified applicants.
One of the best strategies for preventing this is to divide this section into two parts. List the mandatory requirements and the preferences separately to provide qualified candidates with more leniency while still filtering out those who do not meet the minimum expectations. The hiring manager should be able to make it clear which requirements are deal-breakers and which are less important. It may also be helpful to speak with professionals already in this position.
To begin writing your own pharmacy aide job description, review the example qualifications below:
- Must have completed standard pharmacy training program
- 2 years’ experience working in a pharmacy environment preferred
- Excellent interpersonal, professional and written communication skills
- Experience in the service industry a plus
- Highly organized and confident completing administrative responsibilities