Job in Medical Field w/o People Skills

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I have very mild Asperger's syndrome and Im about to qualify as a pharmacist in a few days [to become fully registered]. I found that a lot of what you are saying to customers is information about the medicines that they are given, carefully worded so they take them safely and effectively and dont worry them about side effects. The course is like what a person described here regarding medical training- you often shadow others at least at first to see how they deal with patients, you need to know what to and what not to talk about - and some small talk helps occasionally.

I have developed a lot of empathy and can talk to patients and their relatives without any difficulty - I wouldn't say that a person shouldn't be a pharmacist or technician if they have autism but you really need to know your social communication skills are good before undertaking such a program. Its a long program, I just finished 5 years [4 at university and 1 year in practice to obtain my professional registration]. You've really got to show compassion to patients, but you've got the ability at least in hospital to get a nurse or a doctor to speak with the patient or their relatives if it is difficult such as if they need more emotional support or likely to upset such as if the patient is dying. [so using discretion is crucial about what to say]

I think it may be easier if you don't have autism to be a pharmacist but then the course has a lot of difficult concepts for some people and some NT people drop out [quite a lot from the University I went to].

The other thing is that a pharmacist can work in a number of roles such as medicines information, prescribing support [talking to GPs and a lead pharmacist] and in compiling books [some may find this boring] even running clinics and prescribing [once they do the training]. Some pharmacists also work in formulation science within industry or they may promote medication for drugs companies. Being a vocational course the job prospects should be good- I just hope so as I'm applying for jobs at the moment.

Pharmacy technicians sometimes have interactions with patients, perhaps just the formalities of asking to check their medications and ordering them up for some but others counsel patients on their medications, particularly the more experienced ones from my experience and this may include limited advice on some medicines for cancer.

I hope that helps, if there is anyone that is a pharmacist, or has undergone any pharmacy or pharmacology training on here I would be glad to hear from them, send me a pm on here,

Ben

As someone who just got their degree in Medical Coding and Billing (and did a summer extern at a Medical Insurance Company) I can tell you that this wont be the case. Sure filling in the billing forms you can do solo but the job will require you to communicate alot with numerous insurance companies and it gets really stressful when you're transferred to 20 different people in order to deal with one bill or you attempt to call the same person for two months straight cuz they wont pick up the damn phone for something that should've been done weeks prior. You have to leave lots of messages for people to call back and its irritating cuz you have to remember each one and you have to remember what you called each person for. Very frustrating and I get chewed at when I fail to get even the smallest of information on something from one person.

Most of the time I have to call these Insurance Companies for follow up and being told it's still being process and having to call back day after day or week after week to be told the same thing.

Then doing this for weeks only to find that the reason is because the filled the billing information they give you with too much incorrect info and you have to call a bunch of people to get the right info. You could be dealing with one problem bill for weeks while hundreds more bills that need to be checked continue to pile up. GAH!! !!