Pharmacist to pharmacy technician
A pharmacist already meets 63% of what the pharmacy technician role asks for. The move turns on 13 required skills not yet in the profile.
48.9/ 100
1 How much of what a pharmacy technician is expected to do is already part of a pharmacist’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the pharmacy technician role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A pharmacy technician role treats 25 of its required skills as things a pharmacist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- accept own accountability
- apply organisational techniques
- check information on prescriptions
- communicate in healthcare
- communicate with customers
- comply with legislation related to health care
What stands in the way is 13 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 31 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 pharmacist background worth leading with.
- already held prepare doses of medication according to patient needs assisting and caring
- already held check information on prescriptions information skills
- already held handle the logistics of medicinal products handling and moving
- already held prepare medication from prescription assisting and caring
- already held ensure the appropriate supply in pharmacy management skills
- already held maintain adequate medication storage conditions handling and moving
All 31 carried skills, including the 25 the pharmacy technician role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 21 missing skills fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn report medication interaction to pharmacist required
- still to learn maintain pharmaceutical records required
- still to learn take pharmaceutical inventory required
- still to learn ensure quality assurance for pharmaceutical products required
- still to learn follow procedures to control substances hazardous to health required
- still to learn prepare prescription labels required
- still to learn transfer medication required
- still to learn communicate by telephone required
- still to learn work in a multicultural environment in health care required
- optional, not held apply context specific clinical competences optional
- optional, not held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers optional
- optional, not held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship optional
- optional, not held educate on the prevention of illness optional
- optional, not held inform policy makers on health-related challenges optional
- optional, not held provide medication information optional
- still to learn adhere to organisational guidelines required
- still to learn promote inclusion required
- optional, not held prepare intravenous packs optional
- still to learn respond to changing situations in health care required
- optional, not held manage schedule of tasks optional
- still to learn medicines for self-medication required
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.
- 01 report medication interaction to pharmacist practise this
- 02 follow procedures to control substances hazardous to health practise this
- 03 maintain pharmaceutical records practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 31 skills that carry over
- already held accept own accountability skill
- already held apply organisational techniques skill
- already held check information on prescriptions skill
- already held communicate in healthcare skill
- already held communicate with customers skill
- already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
- already held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice 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 ensure the appropriate supply in pharmacy skill
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held handle the logistics of medicinal products skill
- already held interact with healthcare users skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held maintain adequate medication storage conditions skill
- already held manage healthcare users' data skill
- already held obtain healthcare user's medical status information skill
- already held operate cash register skill
- already held process medical insurance claims skill
- already held provide health education skill
- already held refer healthcare users skill
- already held use e-health and mobile health technologies skill
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
- already held advise on healthcare users' informed consent skill
- already held advise on poisoning incidents skill
- already held prepare doses of medication according to patient needs skill
- already held prepare medication from prescription skill
- already held provide pharmaceutical advice skill
- already held use foreign languages for health-related research skill
8 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held prepare intravenous packs optional
- optional, not held apply context specific clinical competences optional
- optional, not held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers optional
- optional, not held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship optional
- optional, not held educate on the prevention of illness optional
- optional, not held inform policy makers on health-related challenges optional
- optional, not held manage schedule of tasks optional
- optional, not held provide medication information optional
55 held skills the pharmacy technician role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role accounting techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role analytical chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role applied therapeutics related to medicines knowledge
- not needed by the target role apply blended learning skill
- not needed by the target role biological chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role botany knowledge
- not needed by the target role conduct health related research skill
- not needed by the target role contribute to public health campaigns skill
- not needed by the target role counsel healthcare users on medicines skill
- not needed by the target role dispense medicines skill
- not needed by the target role ensure client orientation skill
- not needed by the target role ensure pharmacovigilance skill
- not needed by the target role evaluate scientific data concerning medicines skill
- not needed by the target role homeopathy knowledge
- not needed by the target role human anatomy knowledge
- not needed by the target role hygiene in a health care setting knowledge
- not needed by the target role improve safety of medicines skill
- not needed by the target role inorganic chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role maintain medical devices skill
- not needed by the target role maintain pharmacy records skill
- not needed by the target role manage adverse reactions to drugs skill
- not needed by the target role manage medical supply chains skill
- not needed by the target role manage medication safety issues skill
- not needed by the target role manage personal professional development skill
- not needed by the target role manufacture medicines skill
- not needed by the target role medical devices knowledge
- not needed by the target role medical statistics knowledge
- not needed by the target role medicines knowledge
- not needed by the target role microbiology-bacteriology knowledge
- not needed by the target role monitor patients' medication skill
- not needed by the target role nutrition knowledge
- not needed by the target role organic chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role participate in medical inventory control skill
- not needed by the target role pedagogy knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform project management skill
- not needed by the target role perform therapeutic drug monitoring skill
- not needed by the target role pharmaceutical chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmaceutical technology knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmacognosy knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmacokinetics knowledge
15 further entries not listed here
1 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn medicines for self-medication required
Other moves recorded from pharmacist
- hospital pharmacist 82% covered · adjacent
- specialist pharmacist 69% covered · moderate
- industrial pharmacist 68% covered · moderate
- pharmacy assistant 63% covered · moderate
- homeopath 46% covered · substantial
- healthcare assistant 45% covered · substantial
- dental hygienist 43% covered · substantial
- physiotherapy assistant 42% covered · substantial
Common questions about this move
Can a pharmacist become a pharmacy technician?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A pharmacist already covers 63% of what a pharmacy technician is expected to do: 31 skills carry over, 25 of which the pharmacy technician role treats as required.
What skills does a pharmacist need to become a pharmacy technician?
13 required skills are missing, plus 8 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information skills. The single most important is report medication interaction to pharmacist.
How hard is the move from pharmacist to pharmacy technician?
Its learning distance is 48.9 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
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.