A pharmacy technician is a pharmacy staff member who performs pharmacy-related work under direct supervision from a registered pharmacist and is tasked with duties like administering medication and furnishing patients with their needed health care products and services. In order to be an accomplished technician, a person must have important traits and receive competent pharmacy technician training from a duly authorized pharmacy tech school. The primary job of pharmacy technicians is to assist licensed pharmacists in administering patients with medication and health care products. They are also regularly responsible for helping in the preparation of prescribed medication, inventory of medicine and labeling them. They can also be tasked with customer support and other related pharmacy operations. In a typical retail or mail-order pharmacy, technicians can have distinct duties and responsibilities. This will usually depend on the state they are working in and the laws that apply in them. Doctors can send prescriptions to a pharmacy technician, and he is responsible for analyzing them and making certain that they are complete and concise before the actual preparation of the medication. Once the prescription is verified, the technician will now acquire the medicine and extract the right proportions and dosages before giving them to the patient. When working in hospital or nursing home environment, pharmacy technicians may be required to perform additional work like analysis of patient records and preparing of medication. Upon verification of a prescription by the pharmacist, it will now be up to the technician to bring it to the patient, after which he will take down a log of the important details in administering the medicine. They also make sure that patients have a 24-hour supply of their needed medication. Pharmacy technicians have the privilege of a clean and organized working environment, often in areas with proper ventilation and lighting. Their work will involve some physical and mental tasks and requires that the person be in good health and shape. They will usually work in the same hours as duly-licensed pharmacists, and may work on night shifts, weekends and even holidays, specifically on hospitals and other establishments which are open for 24 hours. Majority of pharmacy technicians receive on-the-job training, but can also undergo formal pharmacy technician training at a licensed pharmacy tech school although technicians that undergo formal training are more preferred by employers. In the US, there are presently little or no Federal laws regarding pharmacy technicians being required to undergo formal training or receive certification before working.