Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Pharmacy Ass. by Day Blogger by Night

I'm linking up with Sarah and Helene for the #9To5TotalSocial today. I've been busy working and being a mom and all the other stuff in between and it's really hindered my link up participation. As soon as I read about this one, I jumped on it right away!

 This #TotalSocial is about what I do during the day. Well, I'm a Pharmacy Assistant. I used to be referred to as a Pharmacy Technician, which sounds much more professional. But since the Pharmacy Technician Bridging Course became available I was demoted to Pharmacy Assistant. The bridging program certifies regular pharmacy assistants into Certified Pharmacy Technicians. Since the change in my title I'm always tempted to sign off my fax notes to the doctor's offices as Haley- Pharmacy Ass.  It's just the abbreviation for 'assistant', right?!

 Being a pharmacy assistant can mean a lot of things, depending on where you work. I work in a small store, in the heart of a retirement community. We're pretty busy. The store consists of one pharmacist, another pharmacy assistant and myself. That's it. We have one other girl come in on Wednesdays to do our deliveries and as of recently a second pharmacist from our neighbouring town's store comes in on Thursdays. So- I am never bored. There's plenty for me to do.

 The obvious is that I count pills.  I label vials, inhalers, suspensions, eye and ear drops. I scoop cream, input prescriptions into the computer. I fill out veteran's forms, do the weekly deposits and lots of fun back office monthly reports. I book foot care appointments and answer phones, I work the till and read blood pressure. I fax doctors, I shred papers, I open and close the store, I schedule injections and I even take out the garbages. I am in charge of the front store, special order and drug inventory. I organize the original prescriptions into files, I receive large amounts of money from third party plans and I keep track of what the store's primary drugs are versus what our provincial government will cover. Oh, it's loads of fun. I'm actually getting my head into work mode and I'm in fact, at home. So I'm going to quit right there.

Thanks to my friend and co-worker Jody, she managed to snap a few pictures of me 'at work'..!
 I am also registered to begin school this September. I'm taking the Pharmacy Technician Bridging Program that is only being offered for another year and I couldn't be more excited/nervous/apprehensive about it. I'll be taking the courses after work online. I am hopeful that Rob will be supportive, I will be as dedicated as ever and that I surprise myself with my own ability to learn, study and absorb all of the information being taught to me!

 So that's it- that's my schtick. I'm a pharmacy assistant by day and a blogger by night...

What do you do when you're not blogging!?


Helene in Between

9 comments:

Alex @ she's his co-pilot said...

My step-mom is a pharmacy assistant too. This was a nice post for me to get a better understanding of what she does. I know you said it's different from person to person, but I'm sure there are quite a bit of similarities (like dealing with stupid people. I mean..). I love that you included pictures!

Brittney, Breaking Free said...

One of my friends is a pharmacy assistant for Walgreens, her fb posts crack me up!

Helene in Between said...

i actually didn't know what pharmacy assistants did! it's interesting to see what you're up to all day, thanks for linking up!!

Venus Trapped In Mars said...

Once you complete the technician bridging program, can you still please request that you be called a pharmacy ass?

Jenn @ Optimization Actually said...

Lol! Pharmacy ass is the best job title ever. (and it's awesome that you made a joke out of something that could have been infuriating. I mean, if they come up with some new program, shouldn't they be promoting people for passing instead of demoting everyone?!) I actually took a look at my own title to see if I could make it into something funny, too, but no go. "Graphic designer/analyst." Eh, not so much.

Amanda said...

You are such a bad ass. Awesome mom. Pharmacy ass :). All things good! x

Noor Unnahar said...

I had always wanted to know about your job. It sounds fun but a busy one. Multitasking isn't really easy. Good luck for that course, I am sure you'll do well.

Unknown said...

LOVE this- you just took me back to my time behind the counter ;)

Rachel said...

So, what you said about the abbreviation of assistant reminded me of this tv show, "Chuck" where a recurring plot point is about whoever is getting promoted or demoted from the assistant manager position at this store. And all the other employees are always mean to whoever is the assistant manager at the time, and them always call him "Ass.Man." as the abbreviation for assistant manager....your comments brought this sitcom scenario to real life! :P