Pharmaceutical technician

Sometimes our method helped the pharmaceutical technicians to modify the formula of the excipients and stabilize the water content. They could also better understand the as-yet-unknown behavior of certain additives like heavy polyalcohols, glycerol, or tensioactive agents. 

Pharmacologist Four to six years post-college study at a medical school or school of pharmacy Pharmaceutical Technician Two years in a training program after high school Pharmaceutical Production Worker High school diploma and on-the-job training... 

Pharmaceutical technician working at one of a row of fermentation units, or bioreactors. (Maximilian Stock Ltd./ Photo Researchers, Inc.)... 

The spread of technology at pharmaceutical companies also meant that secretaries were given word processors (such as the Wang machines) to use in addition to typewriters, which were still needed for filling out forms. Keyboarding was the domain of the secretaries, the data entry technicians, and the computational chemists. Only a few managers and scientists would type their own memos and articles. 

What is less clear is how, or whether, the roles of pharmacists will grow or advance. Since no significant increase in the number of practicing pharmacists can be foreseen in the immediate future to take on this increasing workload, while hopefully continuing to expand services and the delivery of pharmaceutical care, pharmacy clearly faces a major challenge. More use of better trained, certified, or even licensed technicians is one approach. More automation and computerization is another. A rapid growth in the expected use of electronic prescriptions may also allow further efficiencies—even the prospect of a paperless automated process. 

Kelly White, pharmaceutical sampling technician, takes a sample of magnesium hydroxide from a drum of this strong base. Notice the extraordinary personal protective equipment and contamination protection. 

Jessica Weinland, a laboratory technician for a pharmaceutical company, operates a TOC analyzer to monitor the organic contaminants in the water used in preparing pharmaceutical formulations. 

An important raw material for pharmaceutical formulations is polyethylene oxide because it is used in many and various products. Polyethylene oxide is a solid material purchased in bulk as a powder. Sampling technicians collect samples in glass bottles. In the laboratory, small portions are taken and mixed with potassium bromide for the purpose of producing a KBr pellet and obtaining the IR spectrum. The spectrum thus obtained is compared to a reference spectrum to confirm that the material is indeed polyethylene oxide. 

Snell M, ed (2008). Medicines, Ethics and Practice a guide for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, 32nd rev edn. London Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Sweetman SC, ed (2006). Martindale the Complete Drug Reference, 35th edn. London Pharmaceutical Press. 

Medicines, Ethics and Practice a Guide for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians, 32, July 2008. London Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, 2008. 

Table 2-5 lists tolerances for micropipets from one manufacturer. As internal parts wear out, both precision and accuracy can decline by an order of magnitude. In a study17 of 54 micropipets in use at a biomedical lab, 12 were accurate and precise to <1%. Five of 54 had errors >10%. When 54 quality control technicians at four pharmaceutical companies used a properly functioning micropipet, 10 people were accurate and precise to <1%. Six were inaccurate by >10%. Micropipets require periodic calibration and maintenance (cleaning, seal replacement, and lubrication) and operators require certification.18... 

This introduction was written to aid scientists and technicians in the pharmaceutical and allied industries in the selection of procedures and approaches that may be employed to achieve a successful outcome with respect to product performance and process validation. The authors of the following chapters explore the same topics from their own perspectives and experience. It is hoped that the reader will gain much from the diversity and richness of these varied approaches. 

A common example of a service in a community pharmacy is the filling of a prescription that is not compounded. In this case, a pharmacist, with the assistance of technicians and clerks, is adding value to the product that was made by a pharmaceutical company. The pharmacist is packaging the exact amount needed by the patient, adding information that will help the patient to take it appropriately, and billing the patients insurance company for the cost of the prescription. Pharmacists may add additional value to this product, and these value-added services illustrate the similarities to product creation. 

Muenzen PM, Greenberg S, Murer MM. 1999. PTCB task analysis identifies role of certified pharmacy technicians in pharmaceutical care. J Am Pbarm Assoc 39 857. 

Statistics. The results of 367 flow-through diffusion cell tests are presented. The standard deviation of the flux divided by the mean flux or the coefficient of variation between different flow-through cell types, pharmaceutical compounds, and different technicians are compared (4). The coefficients of variation are compared by analysis of variance (5) using the RSI (BBN Research Systems, Cambridge, MA) research statistics software. 

Our results further show that the variability is not significantly different among four different pharmaceuticals tested and among four different technicians conducting these experiments. The computer interfaced data collection and data reduction network allows the completion of a 28 cell diffusion experiment in less than 25 hours with minimal labor. 

In 2000, a novel pharmaceutical was registered to the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare. For the registration of the new agrochemical, KIT provided all the data needed for the risk assessment. In 2006, after 20 years from the start of the team, the manpower of KIT is 200 persons, and the annual budget is USD 20 million. About 150 scientists and supporting technicians are involved in 40 types of tests. Among them, about fifty scientists are study directors, who are potential risk assessors. The progress is summarised in the table below. 

Pharmacy Technician Certification Board established Created a credentialing body for phamiacy technician practices Allowed pharmacists to engage in pharmaceutical care more readily... 

Expanding the pharmaceutical care team pharmacy technicians... 

The supply of medicines is a basic function of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. With the advent of clinical pharmacy and the introduction of new roles for pharmacists, the content of pharmaceutical education has altered to reflect these additions. However, the supply of medicines remains a key component of the role of pharmacy within modern healthcare and, therefore, it is vital that all pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are competent in medicines supply. 

In addition, the pharmacist or pharmacy technician should be sure that the correct presentation of a particular drug is being supplied. Some drugs may be presented in a variety of different forms, for example, modified-release and non-modified-release, tablets and capsules, etc. Furthermore, as these different presentations may be produced by the same pharmaceutical manufacturing company, the packaging may appear very similar. 

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain s Code of Ethics for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians is based on seven principles. A pharmacist or technician must endeavour to ... 

The use of appropriate vocabulary and avoidance of jargon is important. Often words that are second nature to the pharmacist may be totally alien to the patient. For example, if a pharmacist or pharmacy technician advised a patient that there is a PIL enclosed with their medication, instead of saying there is a patient information leaflet enclosed, it may lead to confusion. To a patient the term PIL is likely to mean a pharmaceutical form (a pill) and they will probably think of a tablet or more likely the contraceptive pill. 

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