Week 7: Learning the Software Dance and Sterile Compounding Shuffle

Vincent D -

Hey guys! Grab your lab coats—it’s time to explore the essentials of becoming a pharmacy technician!

For the past few months, we have been using an online outpatient pharmacy software system called Pharmskills Online from the website Pharmacy Skills Lab (pharmacyskillslab.org). Pharmskills Online is an online website that simulates a generic pharmacy software and allows students like my classmates and me to practice our pharmacy computer skills when doing digital tasks like processing prescriptions. It was always satisfying to correctly process each prescription (However, it did take me a few tries for some exercises).

On Monday, we began our first week finished with new NHA content by using a new pharmacy software for the first time. Each student got a login for the program called BestRx. BestRx is a real pharmacy management software used by pharmacies to streamline their operations digitally. It provides tools for prescription processing, inventory management, billing, reporting, e-prescribing, and compliance with regulations. When I logged in for the first time, I was overwhelmed by how different the real software was compared to the simulation that was Pharmskills Online. Countless tabs, buttons, and options filled the screen as I was presented with prescription information for a sample patient ‘John Smith.’ As my instructor Ms. Gilbow went around the classroom to help other students log in, I began exploring the software on my own. After a while, I convinced myself that with time, I will be able to navigate BestRx with ease.

After the great efforts of troubleshooting by Ms. Gilbow and the IT department at JTED, everybody was able to log in to the software. Because this is the first year that the pharmacy technician program at JTED has used BestRx, the software had no mock patients in the program other than the ‘John Smith.’ So, students got into pairs, imagined mock patients, and entered in new patient information into the program as a real technician may do when welcoming new patients into a pharmacy. Together, we came up with fake names, addresses, allergies, preferences, and other qualities for each patient. This activity was really fun because we got creative with our patients.

On the next day, we preformed our first sterile compounding lab. We put on our PPE to get ready for preparing IV bags. Each of us got 3 IV bags to practice with. Because the classroom doesn’t have a laminar airflow hood for us to work in, the lab was a bit messy as we primed the IV tubing. I prepared 3 IV bags with medications. After preparing the liter bag and the five-hundred milliliter bag, I connected the tubing such that the smaller bag was a piggyback IV to the liter bag. Overall, this lab was extremely fun for me!

3 IV bags of different volumes, IV tubing, and equipment used to prepare IV bags
3 IV bags of different volumes, IV tubing, and equipment used to prepare IV bags

In general, this week was a great first week finished with new NHA content, and I am excited for more!

Clocking out for now—catch you in the next post!

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Comments:

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    jenny_t
    Sounds like you had a fun week, Vincent! My class also created fake patients and scenarios when we were in our office procedures unit, so I can totally relate to how engaging and helpful those activities can be. In your program, do you get any experience with client interactions?
    March 31, 2025 at 7:53 pm - Reply
    daniel_w
    Wow, this is incredible, Vincent! I'm glad you were able to have fun playing around with software like BestRx while gaining more hands-on experience with prepping IV bags. Which activities from this week did you enjoy the most and find yourself most suitable for, and why? Thanks in advance!
    April 1, 2025 at 11:21 am - Reply
    vincent_d
    That's cool, Jenny! Our program does not require us to deal with real client interactions for graduation or certification. However, our instructor Mrs. Gilbow successfully worked really hard with Pima JTED to provide pharmacy technician students externships over the summer to work in real pharmacies. This opportunity will allow a few of my classmates to earn externships and gain experience working as a technician this coming summer after getting certified. Mrs. Gilbow has also reached out to other pharmacies to get volunteering opportunities for us while we work towards certification.
    April 2, 2025 at 5:26 pm - Reply
    vincent_d
    Good question, Daniel! I enjoyed the sterile compounding lab the most this week. I had fun prepping the IV bags, and somewhat seeing them work! Even though my classmates and I made a small mess while doing the lab, we had fun learning from our mistakes. From the activities this week, the activity that I found myself most suitable for was working with new software. This is because I quickly became familiar with the programs after navigating on my own for a bit.
    April 2, 2025 at 5:31 pm - Reply

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