A pharmaceutical technician, also referred to as pharmaceutical research 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, research institute, or privately held organization to provide assistance in academic or private research endeavors. Research assistants work under ...

employed in the

pharmaceutical industry The pharmaceutical industry is a medical industry that discovers, develops, produces, and markets pharmaceutical goods such as medications and medical devices. Medications are then administered to (or self-administered by) patients for curing ...

involved in the

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...

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'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

technical institute An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...

. Additional training in laboratory technique may be on-the-job. Some states in the United States offer 1-year training programs for pharmaceutical 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 {{deadlink, date=November 2023 Pharmaceutical sciences Technicians