Pharmacy Technicians the new Healthcare professionals

[kemzero]

In my view techs are professionals, as they work in a professional enviroment;agreed not all techs portray a professional image but the same could be said for some pharmacists

I have worked with some knowledgeable and very professional techs, and I have worked with dimwits too...but doesn't the same apply to all professions ?...perhaps its probably more apparent in some techs.
Personally I have a lot of respect for Btech qualified pharmacy techs,but as for those qualified to NVQ level, the jurys' still out.

Anyway going to UNi and getting a degree is not the be all and end all .
Btech qualified techs flourish in NHS hospitals and are well paid.

[kemzero]

So did pharmacists only become professional when it became a degree only profession? Remember that until the 70's pharmacists could qualify with a PhC, a pharmacy diploma as well as the BSc. Also, nursing only became a degree only profession relatively recently, and with it came the grudging admission that nursing is a true profession rather than a doctor's assistant. With nursing, recognition as a profession also came with the divergence between their roles and doctors, in that a nurse will almost exclusively carry out certain nursing procedures. As the pharmacists and techs roles grow further apart and the complexity of medicines formulation and dispensing increases, e.g. pharmacogenomics, gene therapy, the tech will become recognised as a profession allied to pharmacy, in the same way that nursing is a profession allied to medicine. And Tangofiver, well done on your degree, but I could also ask, I have a PhD, does that mean I'm a doctor? Well yes, but I'm not allowed to use this title when I'm practicing as a pharmacist!

The old PhC was very robust and not for the faint hearted. The standard was way above the current NVQ format. I would put the old PhC a level or so above BTech level 2 , but on the same level as Btech level 3 .

[johnep]

I did the old Ph.C. folowed by a B.Phm about 18 months later. Enabled me to fund my last year at college.
johnep

[dizzyb23]

I'll be honest, the NVQ 3 I completed wasn't what I expected. The first year was the knowledge part and year two was gathering a million or so pieces of evidence. Basically proving that I could competently and regularly complete various tasks etc. The knowledge was so basic and it just became about photocopying anything and everything......But the one thing I was happy with was my tutor. She's the most amazing Pharmacist i've ever met and she was so helpful.

[Jen the 3rd]

The old PhC was very robust and not for the faint hearted. The standard was way above the current NVQ format. I would put the old PhC a level or so above BTech level 2 , but on the same level as Btech level 3 .

I know, Dad and Grandad both did it, and they squashed me flat when I was a newly qualified pharmacist showing off my pharmaceutical knowledge

[paul2008]

Thanks Kemzero and Jen The 3rd for expressing what I was trying to say so clearly. Today we have made the degree part of the process but the knowledge requirements can be addressed in another way if the system was set up differently.

Dizzyb23, I really admire your determination. I agree that not everybody who wants to has the opportunity to become a pharmacist and I guess that there wouldn't be much demand if it was that easy. When I applied to do the conversion course I was a little worried that my application may be rejected (pharmacists complaining too many foreigners talking their jobs) and I would be told to start again, I realised that this would be too expensive for me and I would have done something else altogether.

[dizzyb23]

Thanks Paul2008 for your kind words. It is a shame it's so expensive to do these great courses. I must keep playing the lottery....

[SolomonQ]

professionals in my opinion are HIGHLY educated, go through rigorous training and possess skills and knowledge that is specific to that one profession...

....so in my opinion Pharmacy Techs fail to qualify. An assistant to another profession can't really be classified themselves as a professional e.g. would all those assistants to dentists be called (healthcare) professionals, such as dental hygenists etc...

..and finally a degree seems to be a pre-requisite to all "accepted" professions, for some the degree is specific, e.g. doctors, dentist, pharmacists but for other's it might not be e.g. accountants, but a degree is a must.

alot of the techs dont even possess decent GCSE (secondary school) grades never mind university education, more or less anyone off the road can walk into a pharmacy assistant job (not an overstatement), and in a few years qualify as a pharmacy technician.

[kemzero]

professionals in my opinion are HIGHLY educated, go through rigorous training and possess skills and knowledge that is specific to that one profession...

....so in my opinion Pharmacy Techs fail to qualify. An assistant to another profession can't really be classified themselves as a professional e.g. would all those assistants to dentists be called (healthcare) professionals, such as dental hygenists etc...

..and finally a degree seems to be a pre-requisite to all "accepted" professions, for some the degree is specific, e.g. doctors, dentist, pharmacists but for other's it might not be e.g. accountants, but a degree is a must.

alot of the techs dont even possess decent GCSE (secondary school) grades never mind university education, more or less anyone off the road can walk into a pharmacy assistant job (not an overstatement), and in a few years qualify as a pharmacy technician.

Dental hygienists -do go to UNI and they are professionals (IMHO)
Pharmacy techs are too ! agreed arguaby not all of them are educated to a high standard, and as you rightly said some don't even have basic GSCEs, but some do and you'll find that those that do,thrive as technicians and some of them actually go on to study pharmacy or some other degree. Some techs have degrees in branches of pharmacy. I know a forensic scientist working as a tech!
I guess APTUK or whoever is responsible for tech education,should ensure that all techs have at least 4 GCSEs at A-D and a Btech in Pharmaceutical sciences as a minimum requirement, otherwise all techs would be tarred with the same brush---NVQ (NOT VERY QUALIFIED) . NVQ Level 3 should be the minimum requirement for dispensers and counter assistants NOT registered techs.; but hey that's just my opinion .

Techs have to raise their profile, because at the moment those with poor educational backgrounds and those with good ones are just being LUMPED together. I have worked with a variety of techs, some would actually put a few "can not be bothered to apply myself" p'cists to shame, whilst others should be banished from the shop. (never mind letting them loose in a dispensary)

[Jen the 3rd]

It reminds me of dental nurses, who may also do an on the job NVQ for which there are no minimum entrance requirements or an approved college course. So you get ones that are academically accomplished and others like ex-dental nurse Jade Goody. I wouldnt put down the NVQ though, its no picnic in terms of time and effort, and its not dissimilar in some of the content to what pre-reg's have to do now.