A pharmacy technician is a pharmacy staff member who performs pharmacy-related work under direct supervision from a registered pharmacist and is tasked with duties like administering medication and furnishing patients with their needed health care products and services. In order to be an accomplished technician, a person must have important traits and receive competent pharmacy technician training from a duly authorized pharmacy tech school. The main duty of a pharmacy technician is to aid registered pharmacists in providing patients with medicine and health care products. They are also generally involved with assisting in arrangement of prescribed medication, counting medicine stocks and applying labels. They can also deal with customer inquiries and other operations of the pharmacy. In a typical retail or mail-order pharmacy, technicians can have distinct duties and responsibilities. This will usually depend on the state they are working in and the laws that apply in them. Doctors can send prescriptions to a pharmacy technician, and he is responsible for analyzing them and making certain that they are complete and concise before the actual preparation of the medication. Once the prescription is verified, the technician will now acquire the medicine and extract the right proportions and dosages before giving them to the patient. Pharmacy technicians may be required to perform supplementary tasks when working in a hospital or nursing home; tasks can include assessment of patient records as well as medicine preparation. The prescription will now undergo verification by the pharmacist, and afterwards will require delivery and administration by the technician. They will also make sure that all important details about it are recorded. They can even be required to ensure a constant supply of medicine for patients 24-7. A great thing about being a pharmacy technician is that you are working in a safe, well-organized and clean environment with efficient ventilation and lighting. A pharmacy technician’s work involves physical and mental tasks, and one must be in excellent health for this matter. They will generally work in identical hours with a pharmacist; include working on nightly shifts, even on weekends and holidays, particularly on hospitals and other facilities which are open on a 24-hour period. Majority of pharmacy technicians receive on-the-job training, but can also undergo formal pharmacy technician training at a licensed pharmacy tech school although technicians that undergo formal training are more preferred by employers. In the US, there are presently little or no Federal laws regarding pharmacy technicians being required to undergo formal training or receive certification before working.