Career change how do i get into Pharmarcy, can you help/advise?

[Buttercups]

what is a MCA qualification and how do i start that?

MCA stands for Medicine Counter Assistant.

The role of the Medicine Counter Assistant in the pharmacy is a very important one; they are the first point of contact for all customers, many of whom may be discussing a health complaint for the first time and many of whom will require treatment in one form or another. It is the job of the MCA to deal with these customers appropriately, ensuring that they receive the best possible help and advice and that they get to speak to the pharmacist if necessary.

Buttercups offer the MCA course. Please follow the link to the Buttercups website to learn more about course fees, content and duration. Application packs are available on the website but you will will require a voluntary or paid position in a pharmacy in order to get your workbooks and final tests signed off.

[jtors65]

sparkybw, I am from Leeds but living in Bradford at the moment, so Bradford would probably be the best option for me and it would also work out cheaper as i would be paying for the course myself

The only course I have found at Bradford college which look similar are

Courses — Bradford College - looks different from the course you said in Leeds

and also these course, but you have to be working at a pharmarcy

Courses — Bradford College


sparkybw, do you suggest going to leeds instead of bradford college?

Medicine Counter Assistant. The most usual way of doing it is to get a job and then work for the qualification.

In your situation I would be looking at this combination in order to gain the qualifications for either a Pharmacy degree or the Pharmacy Technician course. You said that you are in Leeds so that's where I started looking.

Access to Higher Education | Leeds City College gives a general introduction to Access courses.

Access – Science and Health - Diploma (Level 3) | Leeds City College Courses the specific course that I would do.

You can see that in the links it states that you can study for GCSEs alongside the main course. By doing that you would be able to pick up the Science GCSE that you are lacking and improve grades in Maths and English to a minimum of grade B if you don't already have them which would give you the entry qualifications to become a pharm tech.

So within a year you would be in a much better position to move on than you are currently. And in the meantime while you wait for next September you could try getting retail experience in a pharmacy even as a retail assistant if not working in the dispensary. As a dispenser in either the community or in a hospital outpatients at least 50% of what you do is identical to what you do in any retail environment. You just deal with different goods.

[sparkybw]

Personally, I would go for the Leeds one as it seems much more grounded in Science rather than airy-fairy sociology and therefore far more appropriate for pharmacy. It obviously depends on which you would feel happier doing.

My best advice would be to chose which university you would want to study in and then email the course leader and get their advice. Tell them about your present qualifications and give them details of the courses that you can attend and see which they would find the most acceptable for you. You might find that with you being older they could be prepared to give you some leeway regarding offical qualifications but they will almost certainly require evidence of recent study.

[sunside]

hi, i got into pharmacy just by sending in my application form, i had previous retail experience and had done voluntary work before, you could always try the directgov site thats where i found my job,it may be a bit hard at the moment because of the lack of jobs. I've done my mca course (medicine counter assistant course) i think you have to be working in a pharmacy to do it,and now i'm doing my dispensers course.

[dizzyb23]

Try doing a CV drop to your local community Pharmacies. Its always worth a try. Boots only do online recruiting now so have a look at their website. The bigger multiples do take on unqualified staff to start as retail assistants. Then you can start doing the in house training courses. But to get to Pharmacy Tech stage can take years. As others have suggested already, applying for the Pharmacy Tech course in September at your local hospital maybe the quickest way to qualify as a Tech. Also I have worked with a couple of Pharmacists who started working as Saturday girls and worked their way up to Pharmacist. It can be done.....