Professional development gives technicians a lift

Calling all technicians looking to up their game in a constructive atmosphere.

We’ve recently completed another round of PACT training and gearing up for our next contingent.

For the uninitiated, PACT stands for Pharmacy Accuracy Checking Technicians.

A PACT has a different role to that of a pharmacy technician.

A PACT undertakes the final accuracy check on a dispensed item that has been clinically approved by a registered practising pharmacist.

Janelle Hopkins, of Greymouth, was part of our recent programme.

“It went really well. I really liked that I could extend my knowledge and further my skills.

“As a technician there’s not that many opportunities. It was an opportunity for us technicians to go further in our careers.”

Janelle attended training in Wellington and met technicians from all over New Zealand.

Michelle Stichbury, of Gisborne, attended a PACT course last year just after Cyclone Gabrielle hit her region.

“I was due to fly out on the Sunday and on the Friday before, I was like, ‘I can’t go’. It was really weird times.”

But she made it, and the course teachers were very understanding of what had happened, she said.

“I didn’t feel all the pressure to get stuck into it. They really understood that things were a bit different.”

She had worked as a solo technician for years before her latest placement and said that the course broadened her scope.

“Being in Gisborne, we don’t get many opportunities to meet people. It was the first time I could do something as team and met like-minded technician from elsewhere.

“I liked the challenge of the course. I like to have a challenge in my jobs. I knew that I could handle it.”

She recommended other technicians to take the next step in their professional development.

“If you’ve got a good pharmacist behind you and you want to do this course, definitely do it. It’s all worth it. It was awesome. Absolutely awesome. The way the course is structured is easy to do, especially with kids.”

Applications for our new PACT Training Course in April are open. For more information about the application process or PACT, please follow this link: PACT Application : Pharmaceutical Society of NZ (psnz.org.nz)