Pharmacy Intern

About the Role

Pharmacy Intern positions are meant for students pursuing their Pharmacy Degree. This is a fully onsite role at SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - St. Charles.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide hands-on support in a fast-paced environment.
• Assist pharmacists in preparing and dispensing medications.
• Maintain drug inventory.
• Maintain patient records.
• Interact with customers, answer phones, and process insurance billing.
• Run the cash register and participate in record-keeping requirements.
• Provide customer service, including acknowledging customers and assisting them within the pharmacy.
• Inform patients about delays with prescription fulfillment.
• Answer telephones and emails, responding to inquiries that do not require a pharmacist's attention.
• Record messages for follow-up by other pharmacy members.
• Maintain electronic records related to patient profiles, insurance, and prescriptions.
• Perform all duties of a pharmacy technician.
• Bill insurance and/or customers for prescriptions and merchandise.
• Resolve questions and/or insurance rejections.
• Use understanding of Medication Therapy Management (MTM) programs to identify qualifying patients.
• Maintain patient charges, payroll deductions, and monthly billing.
• Follow appropriate cash handling and register procedures.
• Assemble, prepare, and compound medications for inpatient and outpatient use.
• Ensure all doses are checked by a pharmacist prior to dispensing/delivery.
• Accurately and efficiently prepare IV medications, including parenteral nutrition and chemotherapy.
• Assist in inventory control, including ordering, checking in orders, stocking shelves, updating computerized inventory, rotating stock, and processing recalls.
• Conduct quarterly inspections of drug storage areas for outdated or unusable medications and quarantine them.
• Fill medication carts and/or medication dispensing machines.
• Sort and put away returned medications.
• Prepare hand packs.
• Prepare infusion products utilizing appropriate sterile technique procedures.
• Follow procedures for documenting and dispensing controlled substances, ensuring accountability and security.
• Under Pharmacist supervision, counsel or provide information on drugs, their action, dosage, contraindications, and reactions to physicians, nurses, patients, and other parties.
• Under Pharmacist supervision, determine that dispensed medication is correct as to drug, route of administration, strength, and expiration date.
• Under Pharmacist supervision, review patient medication profiles and/or charts for accuracy of drug and/or dosage.
• Under Pharmacist supervision, make routine rounds to obtain patient information and provide professional services.
• Work in a constant state of alertness and safe manner.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Schedule & Holidays

• Schedule: Every other weekend with alternating shifts: 0700-3:30pm or 1:00-9:30pm.
• Options to pick up additional shifts are available.
• Required to work one major and one minor holiday.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Works closely with the pharmacist to develop additional skills to the level of current education.
• Works only under the supervision of a registered pharmacist.
• Must not perform duties that can legally be performed only by a registered pharmacist.
• Frequent keyboard use/data entry.

Qualifications

• High School diploma/GED or 10 years of work experience.
• Students pursuing their Pharmacy Degree.

Physical Requirements

• Frequent lifting/carrying and pushing/pulling objects weighing 0-25 lbs.
• Frequent sitting, standing, walking, reaching, and repetitive foot/leg and hand/arm movements.
• Frequent use of vision and depth perception for distances near (20 inches or less) and far (20 feet or more) and to identify and distinguish colors.
• Frequent use of hearing and speech to share information through oral communication. Ability to hear alarms, malfunctioning machinery, etc.
• Occasional bending, stooping, kneeling, squatting, twisting, and gripping.
• Occasional lifting/carrying and pushing/pulling objects weighing 25-50 lbs.
• Rare climbing.