A pharmacy aide works as an assistant in a pharmacy, providing various services to aid the pharmacists in their jobs and make the process of servicing customers quicker and easier. Normally, pharmacy aides are hired to move items and materials around the pharmacy, locate medications in the storage, as well as perform basic preparational duties related to the mixing of medications and other chemicals by the pharmacists themselves. A pharmacy aide commonly works at the counter for the majority of the time, servicing clients with the more basic medications.
Becoming a pharmacy aide is significantly easier than becoming a regular pharmacist, and doesn’t require any high degrees of education typically. The job can be highly demanding in busy pharmacies, on the other hand, and can require a lot of attentiveness from those who practice it. The ability to work fast and be attentive to all aspects of the working environment is crucial, as is some basic knowledge of medications, chemistry and biology, in order to more efficiently aid pharmacists.
The pharmacy aide is slightly better paid than the technicians employed by the same pharmacy in most cases, though this is associated with the increased job responsibilities pharmacy aides usually have compared to technicians. The job pays between $17,000 – $31,000 in most cases, and the working hours are as flexible as those of the other employees in the pharmacy (which is to say, not very much). Additionally, the bonuses attached to the pharmacy aide’s job can be very good as well.