I did a lot of research before deciding to become a pharmacy technician. I looked at job postings that might interest me. I watched “day in the life of a pharmacy tech” YouTube videos. I bought old pharmacy tech textbooks off of Ebay to see if I’d want to read the material, and I took a few classes in medical terminology and pharmacology to see if I’d like it. There were a few points along the way that it didn’t feel right for me, and I thought about turning back, but I had already invested a lot in my learning and didn’t want to quit. 

I knew before I started that being a pharmacy tech could be stressful, but I also knew it could be rewarding. I knew the pay could be horrible, but I also knew there were good opportunities. I knew the work could be physically demanding, but I was happy to not have a desk job. 

There were some aspects of being a pharmacy tech though that I truly didn’t realize, and if I had, I might have reconsidered my choice to pursue it as a career. This is the gritty, unpretty list of what I wish I knew. If you can put up with this, then pharmacy could be a good fit for you:

You have to be able to stand all day

There are no chairs in retail pharmacy. It used to be because pharmacies were in independent stores, and the platform area for the pharmacy helped pharmacists watch over the store. Now, it seems to be more than just for efficiency because you are moving all around; it’s pharmacy culture to work until your feet hurt. You will work long days with little to no breaks. In a 9-hour workday, I usually get 20 minutes during lunch to sit down. I’ve seen people sit down exactly where they are standing (on the dirty pharmacy floor) when lunch happens just to get a few minutes more off of their feet. I’ve known pharmacists that are reluctant to drink more water because they will have to pee. No matter how fit you are, it’s a long day on your feet.

You will be exposed to toxins

When I first started counting pills, I could taste a bitter taste in my mouth at the end of the day. My mouth felt slippery, and I lost a normal sense of taste. I think people who have worked in a pharmacy for a while forget that initial exposure to the drug dust from pouring pills into bottles all day. I don’t notice the bitter, slippery taste anymore, which is concerning because the exposure hasn’t diminished. I’ve also noticed a lot of dry, red eyes (me included) whether from drug dust or the strain from staring at the computer typing prescriptions. Your body will ingest a cocktail of all the viruses and drugs circulating around the air and countertops.

Work conditions rival gas station bathrooms

I’ve known truck stop bathrooms to be cleaner. Pharmacies are some of the dirtiest, most cluttered places I have ever worked before. One pharmacy I know got in trouble with inspections due to mouse droppings. If you work in a grocery store, your bathroom is only as clean as the manager of the store requires it to be. Hundreds of people use the bathrooms every day, and most grocery stores are short-staffed and only do the basics to clean, like restock toilet paper and paper towels. I would love to hose down some of the bathrooms I’ve had to use with bleach. 

Personalities can be huge

While some quirks can be endearing (like the pharmacist that wears a bow tie and councils patients with extra flair) some people in the pharmacy world can be very gruff and bossy. It is not for the thin-skinned. For the most part, the people I’ve met in pharmacy have been the hardest working, funniest people I have ever met. You have to have a sense of humor to get through what we have to get through in a day. I’ve known pharmacists and pharmacy techs that feel stuck in their career choice because they have already invested so much in it, so the best way to move forward is to find reasons to laugh during the day. It makes us all a little crazy, for real. 

Just because you work in healthcare doesn’t mean that you are healthy

A lot of people get into healthcare because they care about health. But I’ve learned, our healthcare system is more about managing disease than managing health. So you are helping people all day manage their diseases and get medicine they hope will bring health, while at the same time not being able to take care of yourself. You’re exposed to whatever illnesses are going around, and you’re not getting enough time in the day to prepare and eat good meals. If you personally want to be healthy, there are probably a thousand other jobs you could do out there that are healthier

The pay and benefits can be terrible

Yes, there are good opportunities out there that pay a mildly living wage (by today’s standards) and have benefits. However, there is a price to pay for nearly every pay increase I’ve seen. In retail pharmacy, there are some grocery stores and chains that pay better than others, but the work conditions are terrible. In hospital pharmacy, there are great paying jobs but it likely will be a requirement that you work until midnight or overnight, and that might be a sacrifice of time with your family. I worked in home infusion for a bit, and it paid well but I have a long-term rotator cuff injury from receiving heavy shipments daily. You could work at an insurance company, but you will sit at a desk with a headset on all day and feel chained to a leash. For the most part, the wages are embarrassingly (criminally) low for the skilled work you do. 

The customer is not always right

Despite what you have heard, pharmacy is not the fast food of medicine. We take orders, we fill and count quickly, and the customer gets their bag of treats, but there’s a lot more to it. If the customer insists that they are out of their medicine and they need it today and the doctor faxed over the prescription a week ago, that does not mean it is true. They may not have been taking their medicine as prescribed. They could have a stash at home they forgot about or lost. The doctor’s office might not have sent it over yet. Patients make mistakes or sometimes manipulate details. We cannot always smile and give the customer what they want. If we don’t have a prescription, we can’t fill it. If it’s against the law, we can’t do it. You have to be firm sometimes. People will push you to the very limits of your patience, because you are seen as the person standing between them and their medicine. Having good customer service and the customer always being right are not the same thing.

You will make mistakes

You are human. I read in a pharmacy textbook that no mistakes are acceptable, and you have to be right 100% of the time. Well, you can strive to be correct 100% of the time, that is a great goal, but it won’t happen. You WILL make mistakes, but you need to have a system of checks in place so that the mistake doesn’t reach the patient. You must trust your co-workers and work with a great team so that you have each other’s backs and protect each other from mistakes that could lead to harm and lawsuits. You are taking on a lot of personal risk and pressure in this profession. At some point, you have to process prescriptions fast enough to not triple check everything you are doing, and you could choose the wrong NDC. That’s when you need to slow down, realize you’re not a robot, fix the mistake and try not to make it again. 

You must pay attention to everything

When you first start, you can only take in so much info at a time. If you’re learning how to cashier, you’re focused on the register. If you’re learning to type up scripts you’re choosing the correct patient, drug, doctor. If you’re counting and filling, you’re choosing the correct NDC. Then you learn about billing and the questions you answer for patients over the phone. As you get comfortable with those things, you see even more details you need to pay attention to. Does the cost of the prescription look correct for that patient? Did you miss a coupon in their profile? Is that the same drug they had last time, or does it look different? Do we have that in stock? Why is the inventory off? What is that person saying in line to your co-worker? Do they need help? What is that beeping? Is the fridge temp ok? How long has that patient been waiting? Is that the best package size to choose? Is your math correct? Did you put the right label on the right Rx? Did you file that correctly? Pharmacy is an industry that isn’t flexible like other areas I’ve worked, like education. There’s not a lot of creative wiggle room. Little details are a matter of the law, and mistakes could be considered fraud, waste or abuse.

You must get along with older people

 I think the best reason to work in pharmacy is if you enjoy working with older people and have a respect for them. If you don’t, then consider a different job. The majority of patients are in their older years. In retail pharmacy, they are getting their maintenance meds: metoprolol, lisinopril, atorvastatin, inhalers, insulin. People tend to have surgeries as they get older and get pain meds. I don’t see a lot of children in the day, which is a big change from when I worked in education. If there are children, they are usually getting amoxicillin, or something for an infection. People who come into a pharmacy are often not feeling good, and I actually think that can be easy forget. Sometimes is seems like a simple errand in their day, like getting groceries, but remember that these patients are not buying an apple from you. They are buying a drug that they need, or at least have been prescribed by a doctor. If it is an older person, they have lived a full life and you do not know what has brought them to this point. A little kindness and help out of you could make a big difference in their day. 

There’s a lot to think about before becoming a pharmacy tech

I hope this helps you understand some of the things I wasn’t fully aware of before becoming a tech. I still might have chosen the same path, because I had it in my head that’s what I wanted to do, and that was the opportunity available to me at the time. The way I see it, the more quality employees that want to work in pharmacy the better, and these are all issues that could have an easy fix. How hard is it to have a clean bathroom, breaks and better pay at a workplace of people that give their all to help other people? It should be standard working conditions for our time. Until then, I am happy that my co-workers are as nice as can be, and the company I work for seems to care and appreciate us as people who work hard and play an important role in our community. Most days I leave work exhausted but with a smile on my face.