It is estimated that there are hundreds of thousands of pharmacy technician jobs today, and that number is expected to increase by 25 percent over the next 5 to 10 years.Working as a pharmacy technician or `PT` is one of the best jobs with which to enter the healthcare services industry without having a medical degree, and can be a very satisfying position with much room for advancement.Depending on a person’s education and job experience it is possible to move into a variety of specialized employment positions with their qualifications, as there is much more to the job than simple retail sales at a drugstore or chemists.Different Pharmacy Technician JobsRetail – This is the most known setting and position for most PTs. Technicians who are employed by retail pharmacy stores do a variety of jobs, which start with assisting the Registered Pharmacist or PharmD on duty but generally expand to many other duties that are typical in any retail environment.Techs will count and prepare medications, do record keeping, inventory, ordering, stocking, insurance billing and records, and much more depending on the establishment and the need to do other tasks as well.Depending on qualification and certification, sometimes pharmacy techs in a retail setting are also able to counsel consumers on the use of their prescribed medication as well. It is possible to obtain a job as a PT without any specialized education or training although more and more employers are beginning to require one or the other, or sometimes both.Hospital – Every hospital has a pharmacy from where both outpatient prescriptions can be filled and inpatient medications are dispensed.Working under the Pharmacist on duty, pharmacy technicians in a hospital setting are usually responsible for stocking, delivering and recording all medications that need to go to the different hospital departments, specially compounding medications for patients in the hospital and taking care of any and all medication requests throughout the hospital from other staff.Knowing all hospital regulations in regard to the dispensing and handling of medications is a detailed yet essential part of the job as is being able to keep concise records for billing, inventory and legal purposes.In-patient Care Facilities – Numerous types of inpatient care facilities such as rehabilitation centers, psychiatric hospitals and other facilities keep their own pharmacies as well, and require technicians to assist the Pharmacist on duty.Pharmacy technician jobs usually entail inventory, stocking, ordering and recording of medications, preparing medication doses for patients, delivering daily medication doses to nursing stations, and most of the duties mentioned above as in any other hospital. Once again, record keeping and regulations are an extremely important part of the job for billing, inventory and legal purposes.Medication Compounding – Certain pharmacies do not sell directly to the public, but instead create special medication mixes – called compounds – for other pharmacies and facilities.In a compounding pharmacy, technicians are required to work under the supervision and guidance of the Pharmacist on duty in mixing medications as required by special orders, bulk orders for hospitals and facilities and other requests. Generally this work also involves great detail in record keeping, interpreting prescriptions, medication labeling and medication packing and shipping.Obtaining Pharmacy Technician JobsThe best way to get a job as a PT is to complete a training and education program for pharmacy techs. There are many of these programs available today lasting anywhere from 6 months to get a course certificate and basic education for a retail pharmacy setting to up to 2 years or more to become certified as a pharmacy technician and be able to advance to some of the more detailed positions mentioned above.The best way to find out about schooling and any career requirements is to contact any local pharmacy technicians’ professional organizations in order to get recommendations and learn more about the career as a whole.In most cases, those who have been to school should be able to get pharmacy technician jobs quite easily as it seems there is a constant and growing need for good, certified pharmacy technicians.While qualifications do differ depending on state, region and country, in general it seems as though there are always positions available as the profession continues to grow and pharmacy technicians continue to get more and more responsibilities under their specialty.
What Are the Main Concerns With Digital Marketing to the Mass Market?
Having a good marketing and advertising strategy in place means that businesses get the right exposure of services or products there are offering consumers. In the past this proved to be a very expensive operation which involved a lot of planning. Digital marketing came along and offered businesses an affordable option that is proving to be very effective and the mass market is now aware of the benefits they can gain from it.With the advent of agencies and consultants who now specialise in this field of work, online companies soon realised that these agencies offered them a way of getting their products or services noticed by consumers. They were able to instil the desire to purchase their products which meant they became valued customers.Digital marketing works very effectively for online businesses but the effect on the mass market is having a somewhat peculiar effect and the reason for this is that it is governed by DRM (Digital Rights Management). This exists in the form of copy protections, online verifications and encryptions which protect and check revenues that are generated by items being sold.There are two sides to the story though, and many think the DRM measures that are in place results in the consumer suffering the consequences of all the registration and verification processes that people legally own items in the first place have to go through, this being the software or digital media in question.The measures that are in place are supposed to protect copyright and are there to target pirates who do break copyright laws. These people it would appear are not really affected by the measures whatsoever, which makes the whole system fall apart and become rather meaningless.Digital marketing on the Internet is big business but this form of marketing is used through television, radio and other media platforms. The advent of social media becoming such a strong marketing platform has meant that consumers gained an enormous amount of power over how they are sold items they are interested in. This has led to a complete rethink on how marketing is conceived by marketers, who lost control to a certain extent, on how they presented products and services to potential customers.Search engines play a vital role in digital marketing so planning a strategy yourself means you need to be aware of what digital marketing really involves and what techniques you can use to your advantage. Banner ads, web blogs and having an advert and your website listed in a search engine are favourite methods of digital advertising. The fact that interactive actions are now very much in evidence results in consumers having more control over how they act when they are visiting websites.Many companies and businesses have realised the benefits of taking the process of digital marketing into their own hands and many have achieved great results by doing so. But a complete understanding of how SEO actually works is critical to the success you achieve. It is also vital to understand and set in place a system which allows consumers and therefore the mass market who visit your website to believe that they are in charge of the situation.Social media digital marketing platforms have bought the whole concept of advertising into the twenty first century in a rather positive way. This giant leap has meant that mass media digital marketing has had to be totally rethought and re-evaluated with the effects it has on the mass market very much in mind.
How to Make Winning Medical Nutrition Therapy Goals
A common misconception about type 1 and type 2 diabetes is that there is one common meal and nutritional plan all diabetics can share. Having a customized eating plan and nutritional program is a must for diabetics. Not every person diagnosed with diabetes will have the same Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) Goals.Why Are Medical Nutrition Therapy Goals Important?Medical Nutrition Therapy Goals are set to reach your desired metabolic outcome, like blood sugar and HbA1c readings. Proper nutritional therapy can prevent and treat the complications associated with diabetes, improve food choices, and address individual nutritional needs.How Are Medical Nutrition Therapy Goals Determined?MNT goals can be determined by a licensed dietitian, a diabetes educator, or a nurse. The chosen specialist will do a detailed assessment of all aspects of your life… so be prepared. Things taken into consideration when setting MNT goals include:
foods you like/dislike
your job
what you do for fun
typical amount of calories and
regular nutritional intake
How willing you are to make meaningful changes may also be addressed.At the end of your assessment you will have a general idea of how many:
calories/kilojoules you need
calories/kilojoules should come from carbohydrates
grams of protein you need
You should also have been counseled on your activity level and exercise goals, which are an incredibly important part of managing your blood sugar levels.What If You Fall Off Your Nutritional Plan?If you slip up with your nutrition while attempting to reach your Medical Nutrition Therapy Goals don’t feel alone. You have eaten without diabetic restrictions your entire life, so it can be hard to stick with this new healthy lifestyle. If you fall off the wagon, dust yourself off and hop right back on. Try to determine why you couldn’t stick to your nutritional plan and how you can prevent slip-ups in the future.What If Medical Nutrition Therapy Goals Aren’t Being Reached?Benefits of following a customized diabetic meal plan can sometimes be seen in four weeks, however it’s not uncommon for it to take up to three months for positive results to start showing. At a follow up assessment nutritional changes may be made and MNT goals adjusted if results were not as expected.If your body is not responding to your nutritional plan as expected, your dietitian or nutritionist will try to determine the cause. Be sure to tell your specialist if you haven’t been able to follow and stick to your nutritional plan. He may be able to offer alternatives or suggestions that will help you succeed in reaching these goals.If you are not making progress and you feel you are giving it your all, it may be time to find a new specialist. Sometimes the practitioner and you might not “click”… causing important points to fall through the cracks. While you are ultimately accountable for your goals, it’s OK to find another “partner” if the relationship isn’t working out.