Pharmacy Technician Career Information

• Job opportunities are expected to be far above the national average, especially for those who have completed an ASHP/ACPE accredited training program, are certified, and/or have previous work experience.
• Technicians work in a variety of pharmacy settings including: retail chains, grocery stores, mail-facilities, quality assurance or insurance processing, drug research, sales and marketing, pharmacy automation, informatics, or robotics.
• Technicians may work days, evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays.

—U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

About the Profession

Pharmacy technicians help licensed pharmacists provide medication and other healthcare products to patients. Technicians perform a variety of routine tasks to help prepare medication for patients, such as: receive and process prescriptions and refills, count tables, fill and label bottles, customer service, operate a cash register or computer, answer phones, stock shelves, and weight, measure and assemble ingredients used to compound sterile and non-sterile preparations from a recipe. Technicians may also establish and maintain patient profiles, prepare insurance claim forms, deliver medications to various locations within a healthcare facility, stock and troubleshoot automated dispensing machines, and pharmacy robotics, as well as interacting with patients, patient family members and the public, in addition to nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals.

Technicians who work in hospitals, compounding pharmacies, oncology or nuclear pharmacies may perform more advanced tasks including: compounding sterile preparations made from a complex prescription or recipe assemble total parenteral nutrition (TPN) solutions for intravenous administration, prepare chemotherapy, hazardous drugs, or radioactive materials used in the treatment of cancer, or in nuclear medicine activities. These advanced functions generally require the completion of special training or advanced pharmacy specialty certification.

Pharmacy Technicians in Texas

A pharmacy technician is an individual who is registered with the Texas State Board of Pharmacy (TSBP) as a pharmacy technician and whose responsibility in a pharmacy is to provide technical services that do not require professional judgment regarding preparing and distributing drugs, and who works under the direct supervision of and is responsible to a pharmacist. The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) is responsible for administering the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam. Certification by PTCB alone does not authorize an individual to work in a pharmacy as a pharmacy technician in the State of Texas. Individuals who have taken and passed the PTCB exam may apply to the TSBP for registration as a pharmacy technician.Data Source: Texas State Board of Pharmacy website

Local Information

Excellent job opportunities exist in Austin and throughout central Texas for qualified pharmacy technicians, across a wide variety of pharmacy practice settings. The average starting pay for technicians locally ranges from $17.00-20.00 per hour depending on experience and qualifications. The median starting pay in Austin is $16.40 for newly registered technicians. However, technicians who graduate from our ASHP/ACPRE accredited certificate program generally start at the higher end of the pay range. There are many opportunities for advancement and professional growth.