It’s not that the techs do all the real work. There was a time when pharmacists kind of let that happen, but it was a short and long gone era. Now pharmacists must also work hard and we as a team pull together doing the same job to make it happen. Every day is a huge challenge for the whole team-the corporations ensure that’s how it works.
For the workload, pharmacist salaries should probably be smaller than they are and tech salaries should probably be higher than they are. Pharmacist student loans of $250k+ don’t really support that though. It’s a tough situation.
Your first paragraph lines up with my experiences at my local CVS. There’s a hub and spoke model where the pharmacist is in the center constantly checking things while the techs have to branch off to get the drugs as well as deal with the customers at the counter. And the customers at the drive thru. Aaaand the customers on the phone.
And every single one of those customers is asked “do you have a question for the pharmacist?” As they should, of course! But I could see questions coming up at inconvenient times. Because of course they would.
I give them credit. Healthcare techs are underpaid.
In terms of power dynamics over who is treated with value and who isn’t in modern society then yes it is a different situation to fix, however in terms of complexity this is a very simple situation.
Tax the rich
Pay Pharmacists and Pharmacy Tech jobs a living wage
Not quite that easy but I agree in general. I would have to add:
cap school costs to a % of expected income
continue to pay pharmacists more than techs to incentivize the lost years of wages for school, but decrease how dramatic that pay difference is
All jobs should pay a living wage as a minimum. Those with a bit more responsibility for people’s lives should also come with an incentive for the increased difficulty, so pay the techs a bit more than the minimum, or no one would want to do it.
Techs do currently make (barely) a living wage in my county. But by that I mean the living wage on MIT living wage calculator, which is BARELY enough to get by. No vacations or any frills. Just not getting further behind every month.
Techs do currently make (barely) a living wage in my county. But by that I mean the living wage on MIT living wage calculator, which is BARELY enough to get by. No vacations or any frills. Just not getting further behind every month.
^This is how we treat people who do the labor of making sure the right prescription medications are put into the right bottles so that the general public can efficiently access the incredible variety of modern prescription drugs necessary to maintain a high standard of healthcare in the community?
It’s not that the techs do all the real work. There was a time when pharmacists kind of let that happen, but it was a short and long gone era. Now pharmacists must also work hard and we as a team pull together doing the same job to make it happen. Every day is a huge challenge for the whole team-the corporations ensure that’s how it works.
For the workload, pharmacist salaries should probably be smaller than they are and tech salaries should probably be higher than they are. Pharmacist student loans of $250k+ don’t really support that though. It’s a tough situation.
Your first paragraph lines up with my experiences at my local CVS. There’s a hub and spoke model where the pharmacist is in the center constantly checking things while the techs have to branch off to get the drugs as well as deal with the customers at the counter. And the customers at the drive thru. Aaaand the customers on the phone.
And every single one of those customers is asked “do you have a question for the pharmacist?” As they should, of course! But I could see questions coming up at inconvenient times. Because of course they would.
I give them credit. Healthcare techs are underpaid.
In terms of power dynamics over who is treated with value and who isn’t in modern society then yes it is a different situation to fix, however in terms of complexity this is a very simple situation.
Not quite that easy but I agree in general. I would have to add:
Techs do currently make (barely) a living wage in my county. But by that I mean the living wage on MIT living wage calculator, which is BARELY enough to get by. No vacations or any frills. Just not getting further behind every month.
^This is how we treat people who do the labor of making sure the right prescription medications are put into the right bottles so that the general public can efficiently access the incredible variety of modern prescription drugs necessary to maintain a high standard of healthcare in the community?
What the fuck
Maybe I don’t understand what pharmacists do, but given that my life depends on them not screwing up, they deserve better pay too