Pharmacy Technicians the new Healthcare professionals

[kemzero King Amongst Members Find all posts View Profile Close kemzero]

Pharmacy techs have now moved from having an occupation to being professionals........is it now time to change the entry requirements......i.e recent advert for training...NO GCSEs required/ 5 GCSEs A-C not needed.

My point of view is that this should be reviewed, if techs are to be taken seriously and on an equal par with other healthcare professionals......just a thought.....the message this is sending is..trust me I'm a professional even though I haven't got a basic education

[admin Forum Creator Find all posts View Profile Close admin]

Re: Pharmacy Technicians the new Healthcare professionals

Heck - tough talk, but you have a point.

Do other technicians eg radiographer's tecs have professional status - just wondering here.

What about the nurse debate - are all nurses professionals - many have little education compared to other professionals?

Who decides who is a professional? Footballers are called professionals and many have no education.

I'm not sure what the criteria really is - apart from the dictionary definition.

[ferretmanabu Brilliant Member Find all posts View Profile Close ferretmanabu]

Re: Pharmacy Technicians the new Healthcare professionals

Are they officially professionals now then? Where's it say that?

[dizzyb23 King Amongst Members Find all posts View Profile Close dizzyb23]

Re: Pharmacy Technicians the new Healthcare professionals

Here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Techs are professionals...................

[Fleegle An beagle le dearcadh Find all posts View Profile Close Fleegle]

Re: Pharmacy Technicians the new Healthcare professionals

If Wayne Rooney (the uneducated shrek-alike, freckly, shell-suit-wearing, fag-smoking chav-boy from Manchester) is considered to be "professional", then what chance do we have?? Remember Paul Gascoigne...born 27/5/67 Dunston, Gateshead, England...profession?...Complete tosser.

Everyone likes to call themselves "professional" these days...it's a bloody joke.

[Jen the 3rd Fantastic Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jen the 3rd]

Re: Pharmacy Technicians the new Healthcare professionals

Professional can mean "employed" like when you are looking for a flat to rent; or it can mean fulfilling certain criteria, one of which is that the training is extensive, i.e. degree, and that there is monopoly of practice, well a tech doesnt have this yet.

However, there are fitting some criteria more than they used to, e.g. the CPD is much more organised, they can register, and they can become accredited checkers, which in hospital allows them to become dispensary managers whilst the pharmacists do something entirely different on the wards, which to me suggests that they are gaining monopoly. However, it has to be acknowledged that some techs are more "professional" than others and that like the words wicked, special and gay, the meanings keep changing.

[Part Timer P/T pharmacist, F/T mum! Find all posts View Profile Close Part Timer]

Re: Pharmacy Technicians the new Healthcare professionals

If Wayne Rooney (the uneducated shrek-alike, freckly, shell-suit-wearing, fag-smoking chav-boy from Manchester)

OI!!! He's from Liverpool!

[dizzyb23 King Amongst Members Find all posts View Profile Close dizzyb23]

Re: Pharmacy Technicians the new Healthcare professionals

I like to think someone is a "professional" when that someone takes their role seriously, works hard, cares about what they do and is good at what they do. Maybe there is also a career qualification to go with it but a piece of paper with the words DEGREE on it does not make someone a professional. I used to believe that it did when I was a kid, but my extensive work and life experience has shown me this is far from the truth. I have seen hundreds of examples of this over the years.

[Rafael Thousand Plus Poster !!! Find all posts View Profile Close Rafael]

Re: Pharmacy Technicians the new Healthcare professionals

'a career qualification to go with it but a piece of paper with the words DEGREE on it does not make someone a professional'


when you go to uni for 4 years to get this 'piece of paper', you will understand that you are taught to be a professional by all means!

[paul2008 Registered Pharmacist Find all posts View Profile Close paul2008]

Re: Pharmacy Technicians the new Healthcare professionals

'a career qualification to go with it but a piece of paper with the words DEGREE on it does not make someone a professional'


when you go to uni for 4 years to get this 'piece of paper', you will understand that you are taught to be a professional by all means!

How long is the Btec. In some places they won't let you work as a tech without a Btec in addition to a NVQ. This I believe is the way it should be. In many countries to be a pharm tech you need to get a diploma before you start on the job training. Some of these pharmacy tech are professionals as much anyone else with a degree and on the job training. If as Raol says you can be taught to be a professional in 4 or 5 years. By the way are the older pharmacists here less professional because they only went to uni for three or less years?

What has how long uni got to do with it?
.

[Rafael Thousand Plus Poster !!! Find all posts View Profile Close Rafael]

Re: Pharmacy Technicians the new Healthcare professionals

What has how long uni got to do with it?
the degree was mentioned when comparing a pharmacist with a degree with a dispenser without a degree! not when comparing 2 pharmacists.

obtaining a degree means you are EXPECTED to be competent clinically/ethically about any aspect of the Mpharm course ( 4 years).
applying what you been taught in real life scenarios through WORK EXPERIENCE(i.e summer placements during your degree or once you become a qualified pharmacist) builds on your way to professionalism.

no matter how someone works hard, he/she is not seen as a professional unless he/she has obtain a DEGREE.

[kemzero King Amongst Members Find all posts View Profile Close kemzero]

Re: Pharmacy Technicians the new Healthcare professionals

How long is the Btec. In some places they won't let you work as a tech without a Btec in addition to a NVQ. This I believe is the way it should be. In many countriesto be a pharm tech you need to get a dilpoma before you start on the job training. Some of these pharmacy tech are professionals as much anyone else with a degree and on the job training. If as Raol says you can be taught to be a professional in 4 or 5 yeara. By the way are the older pharmacists here less professional because they only went to uni for three or less years?

What has how long uni got to do with it?
.

Personally I all qualified & registered techs should pass a Btech exam/foundation degree whilst counter assistants and dispensers should have a NVQ level 3...this might raise standards.
Scotland is proposing that all pharmacy techs should be qualified to degree level ( foundation /pharmaceutical sciences) if pharmacy is to move forward ei.e in new extended roles

[paul2008 Registered Pharmacist Find all posts View Profile Close paul2008]

Re: Pharmacy Technicians the new Healthcare professionals

no matter how someone works hard, he/she is not seen as a professional unless he/she has obtain a DEGREE.

Lets go back to what a profession is IIRC:

1. Members have specialised know body of knowledge
2. There is some sort of control of entry.
3. Self regulation.
4. Usually a monopoly in provision of a service.

I don't see DEGREE here, knowledge requirements amnd control of entry can and have been met by aprenticeships or even diplomas.

Pharmacy technicians are not necessarily dispensers and dispensing is only part of their role. There is no need for a dispenser to have a degree, as one of my lectures used to say you could train a monkey to do it.

I agree with you Kemzero, when I first came to this country I thought about becoming a technicial but the NVQ put me off because I thought it was like the diploma course for technicians that many other countries have, now that I know it is almost the same for a tire changing factory and a pharmacy and that the supervisors are interchangeable, I am not so sure. Perhaps I exagerate.

[dizzyb23 King Amongst Members Find all posts View Profile Close dizzyb23]

Re: Pharmacy Technicians the new Healthcare professionals

Having a degree means the person has worked hard for a number of years and earned their piece of paper. They then go into the work environment and learn the ropes backed up by their hard earned knowledge. Experience then provides the rest.
Am I right in saying that some think you can't be a "professional" until you have been to Uni for ex amount of years and hold a degree???

[Rafael Thousand Plus Poster !!! Find all posts View Profile Close Rafael]

Re: Pharmacy Technicians the new Healthcare professionals

if your circumstances allow you to make a move, then complete your NVQ3 and move to a hospital( a lot of technicians are doing it).
or if you are even more ambitious about your future, apply for pharmacy course, apply for a student loan and get a pharmacy degree in 4 years.
Best of luck