What a pharmacy assistant does
Pharmacy assistants support pharmacists and technicians with the day-to-day work of a pharmacy: greeting patients, taking in prescriptions, entering patient and insurance details, processing third-party claims, counting and packaging under supervision, and keeping shelves and stock in order. Pharmacy assistants are not regulated in Ontario, so they work under the direction of a pharmacist or registered technician and cannot carry out tasks reserved for regulated staff. In practice, they are often the first and last person a patient speaks to.
With no licence to check, screening a pharmacy assistant comes down to experience, reliability and how they handle people. Finch looks at the pharmacy software and insurance billing a candidate has used, how they manage a line-up at the counter and whether they understand where their role ends and the pharmacist's begins. Clear boundaries protect your patients and your pharmacy. The result is a shortlist of assistants who can lighten the load on your regulated team.
Typical responsibilities
- Greet patients, take in prescriptions and answer non-clinical questions
- Enter patient profiles and submit drug plan and insurance claims
- Count, package and label medications under the supervision of a pharmacist or technician
- Receive orders, rotate stock and pull expired products
- Manage the cash, pickup and delivery areas
- Refer every clinical question to the pharmacist
Qualifications and credentials
- No licence is required in Ontario; employers often look for a pharmacy assistant certificate from a college or career program
- Experience with pharmacy dispensing software and third-party insurance billing
- Strong customer service and clear communication, often in more than one language
- Accuracy with counting, labelling and data entry
- A police record check where the pharmacy requires one
Who hires a pharmacy assistant
- Independent community pharmacies
- Chain and grocery store pharmacies
- Long-term care and compliance packaging pharmacies
- Clinic-based pharmacies
Where we recruit pharmacy assistant candidates
We fill pharmacy assistant roles for employers across Toronto and the GTA, including North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke, Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville, Burlington, Oshawa and Pickering, and for employers across Canada. GTA employers can meet us at our North York office by appointment.
What Finch checks before you meet a candidate
- Pharmacy software and insurance adjudication experience
- Understanding of the tasks only pharmacists and technicians may perform
- Customer service at a busy counter, including difficult conversations about coverage
- Accuracy and attention to detail in past dispensary work
- References from pharmacy managers on reliability and punctuality
Interview questions to ask
- A patient's claim has been rejected by their insurer. How would you explain that, and what would you do next?
- What would you say if a patient asked whether two of their medications are safe to take together?
- How do you keep track of several prescriptions in progress during a rush?