To be or not to be - should I go to pharmacy technician school?

  So let me tell you a little about pharmacy techs.  Techs do everything the pharmacist does minus a few tasks such as taking new prescriptions over the phone, final verification of a prescription, counseling, and a few other things.  They, however, do this at a much much much lower wage.  Technicians are at a disadvantage in that they get to share in the daily stress of a pharmacist without sharing in the pay that makes the pharmacists job almost worth it.  To top it all off people are being tempted daily by schools out there claiming to give them the edge that they need to become a tech, if they are willing to attend class and pay tuition (of course).

  First of all, technicians can start out as cashiers in a pharmacy.  They can work as a cashier and do everything that a tech does except fill prescriptions. While they do this, they are getting the training that is needed as well as GETTING PAID to do receive this training.  States differ in their requirements, but in my state, you can work and become a tech without going to school (GED or high school diploma is needed though).  "Tech school" is not required.  So why do it?  Well if you are sitting at home and you are unhappy with your job/life, and see a commercial that promises all the great things in life if you would just finish a program that their trade school has to offer, you would get pretty motivated to do look into it.  So people do.  If they are like one of my friends, they will enroll, realize its actually tough, and not finish.  Thus owing a school money for a trade never learned.  Furthermore, the information that is taught in those schools is more than is needed to work as a tech.  Trust me, you do not want to be an "expert" pharmacy tech.  The pharmacist will always know more, and there is a ceiling to how far you can go (in regards to pay and status).

  These schools remind me of what Bone Thugs-n-Harmony like to call "Dummy Men."  The guys that sell dope that ain't dope.  You know crooked crooks.  (Did I mention I'm from the streets?) They sell an education that can easily be learned on the job while being paid.  Also, a technician would need to learn the system and work flow of a company before he or she would be proficient at their job.  In other words, they may start a job after getting out of school and be lower on the totem pole than a person who didn't go to school (or even a cashier for that matter). 

  So take my advice.  Stay away from pharmacy unless you find a slow job where people don't try to rip your head off everyday.  Secondly, DO NOT go to a pharmacy technician trade school UNLESS your state requires it.  Pharmacy isn't for the faint of heart, you can't be any geek off the street, you got to earn your keep. You got to be a Regulator.

PS to see more of what I am talking about  go to http://www.theangrypharmacist.com/, but be sure to come back here!