Sheesh, sorry to piss you off for the misinformation. I apologize if I offended you in anyway. I'm just going by my personal experience and what my pharmacist told me. I am not talking about legal details here cause it's obvious a clerk cannot compound or prepare antibiotics and the such. I was trying to make generalizations in retail pharmacy without going into details.
When I quit my clerk job at WAGS, my pharmacy manager wanted me to stay b/c I did a great job. She suggsted I become a tech for her because IN GENERAL, in her pharmacy, what I did as a clerk was everything a tech did except fill (and yes, mix certain things, compund, etc). Those were almost her own words. Throughout my 7 months at Walgreens, I noticed I did everything a tech did except fill. Sure the techs might occassionally mix an antibiotic and the such, but on a day to day basis, that was what I noticed.
I am sure in hospitals and the likes, a tech would do IV's and compound more while the clerk greets and do sales on the register. So it depends on the setting. In retail at Walgreens, that's just what I observed.
All in all, a super-clerk may not be a "legal term", but they do exist. My girlfriend didn't pull the word out of no where and that was how her pharm law professor described clerks like me. I am not disagreeing with your experience or knowledge, I am just stating my experience.
"Yep - in CA, a clerk can do nothing other than run the register, tag the order, answer the telephone (but not answer any particularly specific question other than is my medication ready?)"
I agree with everything in your post earlier except this part. I did not counsel or give advice, but on the phones and in person, I would dig through profiles and resolve insurance claims and much more. Clerical work? Yes, you can call it that. But that's all the techs did too besides fill. I guess I did a lot more than just tell the patient if their med's are ready for pick up.
Don't get me wrong, when I got hired, I ASSUMED all I would do was handle the registers. But I ended up being the "honorary technician" as one of my pharmacists called me. Except I got paid half. It wasn't a pleasant experience and I felt shortchanged but I needed the experience.
I am not here to argue any points and again, I apologize if I offended you or any pharmacists with my generalizations. I just don't want potential clerks to get the wrong perception that all a clerk will ever do (especially in retail) is sit by a register and rings up customers.
