Pharmaceutical Technician (also referred to as a Pharmaceutical Research Technician or a Drug Technician) is a job title for a laboratory assistant or

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, a research institute or a privately held organization, for the purpose of assisting in academic or private research. Research assistants are not in ...

employed in the

pharmaceutical industry The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate symptoms. ...

under the direct supervision of a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

involved in the

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

of new or existing medications. In most cases, job responsibilities include supervising ongoing experiments, recording laboratory results, keeping records, testing for various compounds, and maintaining laboratory cleanliness. More responsibilities are typically given as the pharmaceutical technician gains experience in laboratory techniques and proper research methodology.

Educational Experience and Certification

Most pharmaceutical technicians have completed 2 years at a

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

technical institute An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

. Additional training in laboratory technique may be on-the-job. Some states in the United States offer 1-year training programs for pharmaceutical research technicians. In addition, some pharmaceutical technicians may be students majoring in pharmacy or biological sciences assisting research professors in their work.

References

*http://www.eipaweb.org/Pharmaceutical/Find-job-Pharmaceutical-Research-Technician-819031.htm Technicians