Career Overlap Transition record Edition 1 · ESCO v1.2.1
Table 1Transition record

dental hygienisttopharmacy technician

A dental hygienist already meets 42% of what the pharmacy technician role asks for. The move turns on 21 required skills not yet in the profile.

From dental hygienist
42%
Overlap1
To pharmacy technician
20 Skills carried over
21 Required, not held
68.2 Difficulty2
Career overlap Partial match

42%

Learning distance Substantial retraining

68.2/ 100

1 Share of the pharmacy technician role’s weighted skill requirement already met by the dental hygienist profile. Required skills count in full, supplementary skills at 0.35. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. 2 Combines what is missing with how specialised it is, so a gap of general skills scores easier than the same number of narrow ones.

Why

Why this move works

A pharmacy technician role treats 17 of its required skills as things a dental hygienist already does. These are the ones it depends on most.

  • accept own accountability
  • apply organisational techniques
  • communicate in healthcare
  • comply with legislation related to health care
  • contribute to continuity of health care
  • deal with emergency care situations

What stands in the way is 21 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 20 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A pharmacy technician role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a dental hygienist background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held inform policy makers on health-related challenges communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held use e-health and mobile health technologies working with computers
  • already held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held respond to changing situations in health care management skills
  • already held deal with emergency care situations assisting and caring
  • already held contribute to continuity of health care assisting and caring

All 20 carried skills, including the 17 the pharmacy technician role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you would need to learn

The 32 missing skills fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered below in the order worth working in: the areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the supplementary ones.

Skill to acquire Tier
01 information skills 8 required
  • required, not held report medication interaction to pharmacist required
  • required, not held check information on prescriptions required
  • required, not held maintain pharmaceutical records required
  • required, not held obtain healthcare user's medical status information required
  • required, not held take pharmaceutical inventory required
  • required, not held ensure quality assurance for pharmaceutical products required
  • required, not held manage healthcare users' data required
  • required, not held process medical insurance claims required
02 handling and moving 5 required
  • required, not held follow procedures to control substances hazardous to health required
  • required, not held handle the logistics of medicinal products required
  • required, not held maintain adequate medication storage conditions required
  • required, not held prepare prescription labels required
  • required, not held transfer medication required
03 assisting and caring 3 required, 3 supplementary
  • required, not held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice required
  • required, not held refer healthcare users required
  • required, not held adhere to organisational guidelines required
  • optional, not held prepare intravenous packs optional
  • optional, not held prepare doses of medication according to patient needs optional
  • optional, not held prepare medication from prescription optional
04 communication, collaboration and creativity 2 required, 7 supplementary
  • required, not held communicate by telephone required
  • required, not held communicate with customers required
  • optional, not held advise on healthcare users' informed consent optional
  • optional, not held advise on poisoning incidents optional
  • optional, not held provide pharmaceutical advice optional
  • optional, not held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers optional
  • optional, not held educate on the prevention of illness optional
  • optional, not held provide medication information optional
  • optional, not held use foreign languages for health-related research optional
05 management skills 2 required, 1 supplementary
  • required, not held operate cash register required
  • required, not held ensure the appropriate supply in pharmacy required
  • optional, not held manage schedule of tasks optional
06 health and welfare 1 required
  • required, not held medicines for self-medication required
Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a pharmacy technician role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 20 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held accept own accountability skill
  • already held apply organisational techniques skill
  • already held communicate in healthcare skill
  • already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
  • already held contribute to continuity of health care skill
  • already held deal with emergency care situations skill
  • already held empathise with the healthcare user skill
  • already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
  • already held follow clinical guidelines skill
  • already held interact with healthcare users skill
  • already held listen actively skill
  • already held promote inclusion skill
  • already held provide health education skill
  • already held respond to changing situations in health care skill
  • already held use e-health and mobile health technologies skill
  • already held work in a multicultural environment in health care skill
  • already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
  • already held apply context specific clinical competences skill
  • already held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship skill
  • already held inform policy makers on health-related challenges skill
11 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to acquire Tier
  • optional, not held prepare intravenous packs optional
  • optional, not held advise on healthcare users' informed consent optional
  • optional, not held advise on poisoning incidents optional
  • optional, not held prepare doses of medication according to patient needs optional
  • optional, not held provide pharmaceutical advice optional
  • optional, not held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers optional
  • optional, not held educate on the prevention of illness optional
  • optional, not held manage schedule of tasks optional
  • optional, not held prepare medication from prescription optional
  • optional, not held provide medication information optional
  • optional, not held use foreign languages for health-related research optional
16 held skills the pharmacy technician role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role apply antibacterial substance to teeth skill
  • not needed by the target role counsel on nutrition and its impact on oral health skill
  • not needed by the target role deal with patients' anxiety skill
  • not needed by the target role educate on oral healthcare and disease prevention skill
  • not needed by the target role evaluate clinical outcomes of dental hygiene interventions skill
  • not needed by the target role follow dentists' instructions skill
  • not needed by the target role keep records for dental prostheses skill
  • not needed by the target role manage infection control in the facility skill
  • not needed by the target role perform dental charting skill
  • not needed by the target role perform dental hygiene interventions skill
  • not needed by the target role perform dental radiographs skill
  • not needed by the target role polish dental restorations skill
  • not needed by the target role promote health and safety policies in health services skill
  • not needed by the target role remove calculus, plaque and stains skill
  • not needed by the target role use foreign languages in patient care skill
  • not needed by the target role use technical equipment for sterilisation skill
1 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to acquire Tier
  • required, not held medicines for self-medication required
Index

Other moves recorded from dental hygienist

Full index of moves from dental hygienist

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.