Pharmacy Dispenser - change in career path

[ilovepeonies]

Hi all,

Im in my mid 30's single mum and I am looking at becoming a trainee pharmacy dispenser. I have read so many threads on here with people having a negative experience - i'm wondering whether anyone has a positive experience to share?

I don't have any formal qualifications, and I didn't go to university but I do really have an interest in medicine and would love to work in medicine. As a single mum the hours are also appealing as I can work around school drop off's/pick up's. Is there any career progression? I was hoping after becoming a qualified dispenser I could do my trainee technician course and then move over to work in hospitals. Is this realistic?

Thankyou!

I was surprised at how little they pay. My doctor’s surgery is advertising a role and it’s £12.85 an hour which is not much over minimum wage.

Hard work, low pay. A friend has just left a pharmacy ebvironment aftwr about 20 years. Sorry that wasnt what yiu asked.

Dispensing assistants earn about minimum wage. You can then train to be a pharmacist tech but you won’t get much more.

When you say you don’t have any formal qualifications are you including maths and English GCSE in that? To get on a Pharmacy Technician course you would need maths and English (or equivalent like functional skills level 2).

Yes, dispensing is hard work and low pay but aren’t most jobs when you have no qualifications? I think it’s a good idea, especially if you are able to get a pre-reg pharm tech position. There is definitely career opportunities for pharm techs, you are right you could move into hospital or primary care and be earning around a band 5 salary eventually.

My dsd is the next rung up and studying for qualifications, hospital based. Pay isn’t great but it’s a job and good benefits

I’m in a similar position to you OP I’ve managed to get a job as a trainee dispenser but they won’t pay for me to do the qualifications

My sister did this with a major pharmacy chain, they paid for her training and in theory she had work time to complete it but in practice she mostly had to do it in her own time. She's educated to GCSE level and found the training OK - got a distinction in the exam. She was in her mid-40s when she started.

She's now been working as a dispenser for about 5 years. She enjoys it but it can be very stressful and they get abuse from some customers, e.g. methadone users, and they seem to have a lot of locum pharmacists in, some of whom are better than others. Some of her time is spent on general 'shop' duties, which can involve lifting and so forth which is something to bear in mind.

I personally think the pay is poor for the level of skill involved, she's not on much above min wage.

I worked in a pharmacy in my teens, 30yrs ago, and eventually they trained me up in-house to be a dispensing assistant. At the time, I really enjoyed it.

I have no idea what the training is like now, but maybe there are other health related roles to consider too. The NHS offer a great deal of apprentice roles- for all grades and experience levels and not all patient facing. It might be worth a look:
https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/career-planning/study-and-training/nhs-apprenticeships