For those looking for an interesting profession in the medical services field, becoming a pharmacy technician or ‘PT’ can be a great option for the right person.It is a detail-oriented job in a growing industry, so there are many opportunities available all the time and estimations are that job availabilities will continue to increase over the next few years.Before deciding that becoming a PT is the job for you though, it is important to have a good understanding of the pharmacy technician job description in order to decide if this is the type of work desired.With a good knowledge of what this profession requires in regard to jobs performed, interested students should be able to enroll in school or training in confidence that this is what they want to do afterward.Pharmacy Technician Job DescriptionAlthough there are numerous setting where PTs can work such as hospitals, retail pharmacies, outpatient and inpatient centers and more – all of which will have some specific duties – their main job is to provide assistance to the registered pharmacy on duty. Most of the time this includes tasks such as:- Receiving prescriptions to be filled, either from retail customers or from hospital staff, for their departments;
- Counting, packaging and labeling prescriptions;
- Dispensing medications to customers in retail environments;
- Dispensing medications to patients and/or nursing staff in hospital environment;
- Accept payment for prescriptions;
- Overseeing medication inventory;
- Keeping medication inventory records;
- Ordering and stocking medications;These duties usually make up the bulk of what a pharmacy technician does, although in retail PTs usually handle other retail duties as well, such as general stocking and straightening, customer assistance throughout the store, and even discussing with customers the use of their medications.In specialty settings like compounding pharmacies, duties would likely include assisting in mixing medication formulas like ointments, syrups and other medicines that are sometimes specially prepared, then shipped to retail locations, or to patients themselves.Working at a compounding pharmacy especially requires the hand of a skilled technician who is very detailed, since this involves understanding medication dosages and mixing prescription strengths.Then, there are also positions at companies that manufacture medicines where job duties include things like quality control and packing and shipping medicines to hospitals, retail stores and other pharmacies that sell medications.Differences in Pharmacy Technician RolesAlthough many times a “pharmacy technician” job will get lumped under that one title, there are actually different classes of PT. There are positions where the technician works very closely with the licensed pharmacist and can do more detailed and technical jobs like compounding and delivery of medications to hospital patients or staffs, and then there are positions where the technician mostly sells already-prepared prescriptions to customers, and other more routine tasks.In some places such as the US, these positions are not always recognized as being different, but based on schooling and certification, they can be very different. A schooled PT holds the title of Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) and usually qualifies to apply for more technical jobs in the field.Those without their CPhT many times will only be considered for the less-qualified, retail positions. In the UK and some other countries, there are specific job titles that mark the differentiation:PTs are those who have fulfilled the higher schooling and job experience requirements while Pharmacy Dispensers are those who are qualified for mostly selling medications to patients in a more retail setting. Technicians are able to give medication advice to customers as well while Dispensers are not.Salary Differences Depending on Pharmacy Technician Job DescriptionBased on the differences in pharmacy technician roles, there are generally differences in salary as well.The less skilled positions – while they can still command a respectable salary that is considered at least average by most healthcare professions on this level – earn between 25 and 50 percent less than the skilled, certified pharmacy technicians, with salaries that can reach as high as the upper $50,000 per year or more.This is something that potential pharmacy technicians should definitely consider when trying to decide on which schooling to take.With this look at what a current pharmacy technician job description entails, it is hopefully easy to see that while the bulk of job duties any pharmacy technician should expect to perform are similar, there are some definite differences.Based on job experience, schooling and position held, some pharmacy technicians will perform more exact tasks, so their need to take their position very seriously is paramount.Also, depending on the job, amount of time spent working with the public directly will vary. Understanding all of this can be a good aid in deciding which type of schooling to enroll in, and what type of professional position is favored.
Understanding Pharmacy Technician Job Description – Is It Right for You?
Business Loans In Canada: Financing Solutions Via Alternative Finance & Traditional Funding
Business loans and finance for a business just may have gotten good again? The pursuit of credit and funding of cash flow solutions for your business often seems like an eternal challenge, even in the best of times, let alone any industry or economic crisis. Let’s dig in.
Since the 2008 financial crisis there’s been a lot of change in finance options from lenders for corporate loans. Canadian business owners and financial managers have excess from everything from peer-to-peer company loans, varied alternative finance solutions, as well of course as the traditional financing offered by Canadian chartered banks.
Those online business loans referenced above are popular and arose out of the merchant cash advance programs in the United States. Loans are based on a percentage of your annual sales, typically in the 15-20% range. The loans are certainly expensive but are viewed as easy to obtain by many small businesses, including retailers who sell on a cash or credit card basis.
Depending on your firm’s circumstances and your ability to truly understand the different choices available to firms searching for SME COMMERCIAL FINANCE options. Those small to medium sized companies ( the definition of ‘ small business ‘ certainly varies as to what is small – often defined as businesses with less than 500 employees! )
How then do we create our road map for external financing techniques and solutions? A simpler way to look at it is to categorize these different financing options under:
Debt / Loans
Asset Based Financing
Alternative Hybrid type solutions
Many top experts maintain that the alternative financing solutions currently available to your firm, in fact are on par with Canadian chartered bank financing when it comes to a full spectrum of funding. The alternative lender is typically a private commercial finance company with a niche in one of the various asset finance areas
If there is one significant trend that’s ‘ sticking ‘it’s Asset Based Finance. The ability of firms to obtain funding via assets such as accounts receivable, inventory and fixed assets with no major emphasis on balance sheet structure and profits and cash flow ( those three elements drive bank financing approval in no small measure ) is the key to success in ABL ( Asset Based Lending ).
Factoring, aka ‘ Receivable Finance ‘ is the other huge driver in trade finance in Canada. In some cases, it’s the only way for firms to be able to sell and finance clients in other geographies/countries.
The rise of ‘ online finance ‘ also can’t be diminished. Whether it’s accessing ‘ crowdfunding’ or sourcing working capital term loans, the technological pace continues at what seems a feverish pace. One only has to read a business daily such as the Globe & Mail or Financial Post to understand the challenge of small business accessing business capital.
Business owners/financial mgrs often find their company at a ‘ turning point ‘ in their history – that time when financing is needed or opportunities and risks can’t be taken. While putting or getting new equity in the business is often impossible, the reality is that the majority of businesses with SME commercial finance needs aren’t, shall we say, ‘ suited’ to this type of funding and capital raising. Business loan interest rates vary with non-traditional financing but offer more flexibility and ease of access to capital.
We’re also the first to remind clients that they should not forget govt solutions in business capital. Two of the best programs are the GovernmentSmall Business Loan Canada (maximum availability = $ 1,000,000.00) as well as the SR&ED program which allows business owners to recapture R&D capital costs. Sred credits can also be financed once they are filed.
Those latter two finance alternatives are often very well suited to business start up loans. We should not forget that asset finance, often called ‘ ABL ‘ by those Bay Street guys, can even be used as a loan to buy a business.
If you’re looking to get the right balance of liquidity and risk coupled with the flexibility to grow your business seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor with a track record of business finance success who can assist you with your funding needs.
What Are The Greatest Changes In Shopping In Your Lifetime
What are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime? So asked my 9 year old grandson.
As I thought of the question the local Green Grocer came to mind. Because that is what the greatest change in shopping in my lifetime is.
That was the first place to start with the question of what are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime.
Our local green grocer was the most important change in shopping in my lifetime. Beside him was our butcher, a hairdresser and a chemist.
Looking back, we were well catered for as we had quite a few in our suburb. And yes, the greatest changes in shopping in my lifetime were with the small family owned businesses.
Entertainment While Shopping Has Changed
Buying butter was an entertainment in itself.
My sister and I often had to go to a favourite family grocer close by. We were always polite as we asked for a pound or two of butter and other small items.
Out came a big block of wet butter wrapped in grease-proof paper. Brought from the back of the shop, placed on a huge counter top and included two grooved pates.
That was a big change in our shopping in my lifetime… you don’t come across butter bashing nowadays.
Our old friendly Mr. Mahon with the moustache, would cut a square of butter. Lift it to another piece of greaseproof paper with his pates. On it went to the weighing scales, a bit sliced off or added here and there.
Our old grocer would then bash it with gusto, turning it over and over. Upside down and sideways it went, so that it had grooves from the pates, splashes going everywhere, including our faces.
My sister and I thought this was great fun and it always cracked us up. We loved it, as we loved Mahon’s, on the corner, our very favourite grocery shop.
Grocery Shopping
Further afield, we often had to go to another of my mother’s favourite, not so local, green grocer’s. Mr. McKessie, ( spelt phonetically) would take our list, gather the groceries and put them all in a big cardboard box.
And because we were good customers he always delivered them to our house free of charge. But he wasn’t nearly as much fun as old Mr. Mahon. Even so, he was a nice man.
All Things Fresh
So there were very many common services such as home deliveries like:
• Farm eggs
• Fresh vegetables
• Cow’s milk
• Freshly baked bread
• Coal for our open fires
Delivery Services
A man used to come to our house a couple of times a week with farm fresh eggs.
Another used to come every day with fresh vegetables, although my father loved growing his own.
Our milk, topped with beautiful cream, was delivered to our doorstep every single morning.
Unbelievably, come think of it now, our bread came to us in a huge van driven by our “bread-man” named Jerry who became a family friend.
My parents always invited Jerry and his wife to their parties, and there were many during the summer months. Kids and adults all thoroughly enjoyed these times. Alcohol was never included, my parents were teetotallers. Lemonade was a treat, with home made sandwiches and cakes.
The coal-man was another who delivered bags of coal for our open fires. I can still see his sooty face under his tweed cap but I can’t remember his name. We knew them all by name but most of them escape me now.
Mr. Higgins, a service man from the Hoover Company always came to our house to replace our old vacuum cleaner with an updated model.
Our insurance company even sent a man to collect the weekly premium.
People then only paid for their shopping with cash. This in itself has been a huge change in shopping in my lifetime.
In some department stores there was a system whereby the money from the cash registers was transported in a small cylinder on a moving wire track to the central office.
Some Of The Bigger Changes
Some of the bigger changes in shopping were the opening of supermarkets.
• Supermarkets replaced many individual smaller grocery shops. Cash and bank cheques have given way to credit and key cards.
• Internet shopping… the latest trend, but in many minds, doing more harm, to book shops.
• Not many written shopping lists, because mobile phones have taken over.
On a more optimistic note, I hear that book shops are popular again after a decline.
Personal Service Has Most Definitely Changed
So, no one really has to leave home, to purchase almost anything, technology makes it so easy to do online.
And we have a much bigger range of products now, to choose from, and credit cards have given us the greatest ease of payment.
We have longer shopping hours, and weekend shopping. But we have lost the personal service that we oldies had taken for granted and also appreciated.
Because of their frenetic lifestyles, I have heard people say they find shopping very stressful, that is grocery shopping. I’m sure it is when you have to dash home and cook dinner after a days work. I often think there has to be a better, less stressful way.
My mother had the best of both worlds, in the services she had at her disposal. With a full time job looking after 9 people, 7 children plus her and my dad, she was very lucky. Lucky too that she did not have 2 jobs.