Pharmacy Technician - Compounding

Pharmacy Technician-Compounding Only a select few pharmacy technicians are ever, in their entire career, able to join this elite, little known group of specialists in a compounding pharmacy. This is completely different than working in retail pharmacy, where you process and fill commercial medications for patients. At Koshland Pharm, you actually make custom-formulated medications to exact standards in a laboratory-like environment. You do this in order to make therapies available to patients that are not mass-manufactured by drug companies. While the finished products you create each day help improve patients’ quality of life, in your day-to-day work, you’re not interfacing with patients directly—we have another team that handles that. You will become an expert compounding pharmacy technician as you continuously learn new skills, including making rectal rockets, capsules, creams, suppositories, rapid dissolve tablets, troches, suspensions, and more. You will also have the opportunity to step into more leadership if you choose the path of becoming a senior compounding technician, responsible for an important aspect of pharmacy operations such as potency testing, QA tracking, technology updates, and more. If you compared pharmacies to restaurants, most pharmacy technicians would be similar to waiters, taking orders from customers, picking them up from the kitchen, and delivering them. At Koshland, you’ll be similar to a chef, following exacting formulas to carefully make each patient’s order, working “behind-the-scenes” in our state-of-the-art lab. It’s no coincidence that many on our team love cooking and baking! Here are the key differences between working here or in retail: Patient interface: Here, our team of 12 pharmacy technicians has no direct patient contact, as nearly all our prescriptions are shipped, and we have a customer service team that takes and makes all the phone calls. In retail, every day is full of face-to-face patient contact. Hours: Here we are only open M-F. No weekend hours required, unlike in many retail environments. The work: Here you are actually making custom medications every hour of every day. In retail, you are often answering phones, running insurance, processing prescriptions, filling prescriptions, and helping patients at pick-up. The environment: Here you are working in a lab-like environment. In retail, you’re in a store. The team: Here, you’re on a closely bonded team of 12, learning from each other and tackling the prescriptions together. It’s rare in retail to work on such a large team of technicians focused on the specialized skill of compounding. The leadership: Here the head pharmacist is the owner, an industry expert who is passionate about patient care and compounding. And your team leaders are approachable supervisors dedicated to training and supporting their team, with over 22 years of experience in the compounding pharmacy field. The career: Here there is a career path, including job advancement opportunities based on yearly performance reviews. You will be given clear competencies for each position you move into, from compounding-technician-in-training to compounding technician to senior compounding technician to assistant supervisor, if you are interested in developing people management skills. You will know exactly what is expected of you in each role and what you can do to grow further in your position at Koshland Pharm. Pay range for the compounding technician role goes from $24-32/hour, with a starting range of $24-26/hour. Position Qualifications: The required qualifications for the open compounding pharmacy technician position are: A current California pharmacy technician’s license The physical ability to stand on one’s feet throughout the day An on-going commitment to learning and performing the skill of making medications at the highest level of quality in the compounding field A demonstrated ability to pay close attention to detail A consistent approach that is oriented towards helping co-workers achieve success with their jobs A demonstrated ability to set goals and see tasks through to completion A positive, problem-solving attitude A genuine commitment to patients' good health Demonstrated reliability Job description: The compounding pharmacy technician’s duties include: Supporting Koshland Pharm’s mission of improving the health and well-being of patients by making high-quality, customized medications Compounding various dosage forms including capsules, creams, troches, suppositories, suspensions, nasal sprays, and rapid dissolve tablet