How to become a pharmacy technician
Official title: Pharmacy technician
Also called: Pharmaceutical technician, Pharmacist technician, Pharmacy dispensing technician, Pre-registration pharmacist, Pharmacy Technician Executive (Drug Compounding and Quality Management), Pharmacy Technician Executive (Patient Care Services), Pharmacy Technician Executive (Pharmacy IT and Supply Chain), Senior Pharmacy Technician, Senior Pharmacy Technician Executive (Drug Compounding and Quality Management), Senior Pharmacy Technician Executive (Patient Care Services), Senior Pharmacy Technician Executive (Pharmacy IT and Supply Chain), Pharmaceutical technician
Pharmacy technician performs a variety of tasks associated with dispensing medicinal products under the guidance of a pharmacist or other health professional. He/she performs drug compounding by processing orders and preparing sterile and non-sterile products, and managing inventory and maintaining proper records and functioning of facilities.
Main tasks
- Preparing medications and other pharmaceutical compounds under the guidance of pharmacists
- Dispensing medicines and drugs to clients and giving written and oral instructions on their use, as prescribed by medical doctors, veterinarians or other authorised workers
- Receiving prescriptions or refill requests from health professionals and verifying that information is complete and accurate
- Maintaining proper storage and security conditions for drugs
- Filling and labelling containers with prescribed medications
- Assisting clients by answering questions, locating items or referring them to a pharmacist for medication information
- Pricing and filing prescriptions that have been filled and establish and maintaining patient records including lists of medications taken by individual patients
- Ordering, labelling and counting stock of medications, chemicals and supplies and entering inventory data into records-keeping systems
Ways in
- Polytechnic or ITE: Polytechnic diploma. Related diplomas: Diploma in Pharmaceutical Science (Ngee Ann Polytechnic). Peernovo matched these from course names; polytechnics do not publish which jobs each course leads to.
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: $38,880 a year. The middle half earn $31,848 to $49,428 a year.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Related jobs
- Sonographer
- Medical X-ray technician
- Medical/Pathology laboratory technician
- Prosthetist/Orthotist
- Prosthetic/Orthotic technician
- Dental technician
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Questions people ask
How do I become a pharmacy technician?
Ways in include: Polytechnic diploma.
How much does a pharmacy technician earn in Singapore?
Median full-time pay is $38,880 a year (Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg)). The middle half earn $31,848 to $49,428.
Will AI change the work of a pharmacy technician?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg): Resident Occupational Wages (Occupational Wage Survey) (June 2024 (data.gov.sg update 2026-04-01)), Singapore Open Data Licence v1.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026