Thinking about doing the hospital based Trainee Pharmacy Tech job/course

[Terry]

Hi everyone

I am very interested in the above course/job

My concern is my age it is more than 20years since i attended school at the secondary level

Can anyone give me some practical indication of the level of Maths and Science needed in order to complete the above and also so as not to embarrass myself. I am no dummy but maybe the levels required are above my level, i am prepared to learn in advance and have already bought books on Chemistry and Maths but am finding some of the chemistry difficult to fully understand and Algebra difficult also

Should i forget about the Trainee Pharmacy Technicians course????? - HELP

kind regards
Terry

[dizzyb23]

Welcome Terry. I hope you are well. My first question is have you ANY pharmacy experience at all??

If not, then the student techs course is an NVQ level 3 and is about two years in length. You normally do it through working in a pharmacy and you will be tutored and assessed regularly. You should also get tons of support. I must be honest here but i'm the worlds worst at maths. I'm positive i'm number dyslexic if there is such a thing but with help from the best tutor ever, I learned the basics and got through. There will be someone else on here that can give you info on the maths levels that are in the NVQ 3. Sciences wise, I found the biology too easy but i've already an A Level in this and the chemistry was basic GCSE levels. There is a huge amount of work involved and it takes over your life but it truly is worth every single second. You will see if you read any of my other posts that I moan about almost everything but that's just me being me......but doing the NVQ 3 has changed my life and opened up so many doors in a positive way. If you haven't got any pharmacy experience, you will find the course difficult at times but I believe it has been done by folk new to this industry. If you are keen, have tons of energy and are prepared to work in your own time at times, then why not go for it????

If you have pharmacy experience, ignore all of the above and apply.......

This is all just my very humble opinion. Keep us updated....

[Terry]

thank you dizzy for taking the time to give me my first help and so comprehensive!!!

I work in the care sector and administer a whole variety of drugs and controlled drugs on a daily basis, however, i did not do chemistry at school, only human biology in the science sector and only at CSE but did get a grade 1 for what it is worth -;

Having said all this i have already been offered a conditional place on the BTEC/SNVQ3 Pharmacy1 course at Bradford and am in the process of securing a position in a hospital

Maybe i am being overly cautious regarding the Chemistry and the Maths, what i really need is some typical relevant unit questions in the science units and maths , i will then immediately know wether i will be in or out of my depth before i give up my job and accept any hospital job i can secure

How and where can i see sight of such info., i would not suggest looking at anyone else' work i am too much of a responsible person for that kind of thing but any other responsible suggestions will be gratefully received

many thanks to all who may offer advise
Terry

[dizzyb23]

Well done for getting a place. I think that the folk wanting to hire you know what they are doing and who they are looking for. This therefore means that they believe you have what it takes.....

So, basically, all you need is a few examples of the sort of thing we do on the NVQ 3 maths wise?? Maybe the girls and boys currently doing their courses could jump in here and give Terry a few examples?? My memory isn't what it used to be but we did conversion of units such as milligrams and micrograms etc. And working out doses for patients. If you are serious about doing this, then i'd be happy to send you a basic pharmacy calculations book. It's quite old and tatty but would help you I think. It did help me!!!

If you want the book, then PM me your address and i'll mail it over to you up in Bradford.....that should give me loads of Karma points!!!

Also, are there any maths wizzes on here that can jump in with some help???

[Terry]

thank you once again for your thoughtfulness and encouragement, i have PM my address to you, if i can't reimburse you for the postage, and i am more than willing to, then enjoy the Karma
and many many thanks, i hope to get some more valuable input from learned council and will be very grateful to do so, i am reading about differing kinds of chemical bonding , electron configurations , isotopes and ions in my Chemistry for Dummies book, recently purchased, is this the kind of Chemistry knowledge that will be needed for the course?, or am i barking up the wrong tree, can anyeone let me know!!!!

Many thanks
Terry

[dizzyb23]

That's ok. No money needed. I've pm'd ya. Just give me a couple of days and i'll send it on.

[johnep]

If you have a chemistry question, ask away!
johnep

[Terry]

Great thanks a lot, kindness will always be repaid

[Terry]

Cheers

basically i am learning about Chemistry for the first time in my life in order to do this course

What i really need are some examples of the type of chemistry i should be reading up on and the practical use i will have to make of it for the course i will undertake in September, some typical assignments/questions would be very helpful for me to understand better what will be expected of me to do the course successfully

I have a good understanding with regards to anatomy, drug actions and contra indications but am apprehensive regarding the use of chemistry for this course
Any help will be appreciated
thank you for your time in advance, Terry

[johnep]

OK. Best to start with simple inorganic chemistry of those substances used in pharmacy. A good starting point is Calcium carbonate. This has a molecular weight of 100. Your first problem to solve is to tell us what makes up calcium carbonate and the atomic weight of each element.
What is the common name for Calc Carb and where can it be found in England.?
get googling.
johnep