Pharmacy Aides
Record drugs delivered to the pharmacy, store incoming merchandise, and inform the supervisor of stock needs. May operate cash register and accept prescriptions for filling.
Also Known As:
Certified Pharmacist Assistant
Drug Purchaser
Front Counter Clerk
Pharmacist Assistant
Pharmacy Aide
Pharmacy Ancillary
Pharmacy Assistant
Pharmacy Cashier
Pharmacy Clerk
Wages
Annual wages for Pharmacy Aides in United States
Job Outlook
Below Average
New job opportunities are less likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
41,100
0% Change From 2024
Explore Pharmacy Technicians video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Unpack, sort, count, and label incoming merchandise, including items requiring special handling or refrigeration.
- Prepare, maintain, and record records of inventories, receipts, purchases, or deliveries, using a variety of computer screen formats.
- Compound, package, and label pharmaceutical products, under direction of pharmacist.
- Greet customers and help them locate merchandise.
- Answer telephone inquiries, referring callers to pharmacist when necessary.
- Process medical insurance claims, posting bill amounts and calculating copayments.
- Perform clerical tasks, such as filing, compiling and maintaining prescription records, or composing letters.
- Perform clerical tasks, such as filing, compiling and maintaining prescription records, or composing letters.
- Restock storage areas, replenishing items on shelves.
- Greet customers and help them locate merchandise.
- Accept prescriptions for filling, gathering and processing necessary information.
- Receive, store, and inventory pharmaceutical supplies or medications, check for out-of-date medications, and notify pharmacist when inventory levels are low.
- Maintain and clean equipment, work areas, or shelves.
- Compound, package, and label pharmaceutical products, under direction of pharmacist.
- Prepare prescription labels by typing or operating a computer and printer.
- Deliver medication to treatment areas, living units, residences, or clinics, using various means of transportation.
- Operate cash register to process cash or credit sales.
- Answer telephone inquiries, referring callers to pharmacist when necessary.
- Maintain and clean equipment, work areas, or shelves.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")