How Pharmacy Professionals Support Your Health

Did you know there can be many people that work in your pharmacy? It’s important to know the role they each can play to support your care. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are regulated health professionals in Ontario. Below we outline what they can do for you as a pharmacy patient.

View the College’s infographic, “Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians: What Can They Do For Me?” to get a visual representation of the role pharmacists and pharmacy technicians can each play to support your care. To learn about the qualifications and training of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, visit our Pharmacy Professional Training and Qualifications page.

Pharmacists
  • Prescribe medications for a list of 13 minor ailments
  • Make sure your prescription is the right drug and dosage to best treat your condition
  • Make sure your prescription does not negatively interact with any allergies you may have or other medication you’re taking
  • Counsel you on potential side effects of your medication and how to take it properly, including demonstrating how to inject insulin or use your new inhaler
  • Provide a medication review, ideal for patients taking multiple medications at once, where your pharmacist reviews all of your medications with you and ensures you know how to take them correctly
  • Provide the flu shot to you and your family members two years and older[1]
  • Renew your prescription, when appropriate, in between regular doctor’s visits to help manage your care[2]
  • Adapt your prescription, when appropriate, which can include changing your medication from a capsule to a liquid, adjusting the dose of your medication, and changing how often you take it
  • Prescribe medication to help you quit smoking and offer ongoing monitoring and support
Pharmacy Technicians
  • Make sure that you are dispensed the correct medication and the correct quantity
  • Make sure that all of the information on your prescription label is correct, including your name, the prescriber, and the directions
  • Teach you how to use medical devices, such as an inhaler spacing device and blood glucose meter
  • Update and maintain your patient profile or health record to ensure it’s up-to-date at all times
  • Accept authorization from your physician to renew your prescription
  • Accept verbal authorization from physicians for your prescription[3]
  • Authorize transfers for prescriptions[4]
  1. Applies to pharmacists participating in Ontario’s Universal Influenza Immunization Program
  2. Excludes narcotics, controlled, targeted and monitored substances
  3. Cannot accept verbal Rx for narcotics, controlled drugs, benzodiazepines or other targeted substances
  4. Cannot authorize transfers for benzodiazepines or other targeted substances