Victoria Knight thought someone was playing a prank on her when she received an email message saying that she had won the Pharmacy Technician Award of Achievement. The ACP award recognizes the pharmacy technician student with the highest mark on the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada’s qualifying exam in the past calendar year.
“I didn’t have a lot of stress writing the exam, I actually enjoyed it, just a little bit, to be honest,” confessed Victoria.
Victoria had her boyfriend read the email message out loud just to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. He also works in a pharmacy, as does her sister, and her other sister has also worked in a pharmacy.
Victoria has known she wanted to work in a pharmacy since the age of 12. During school she participated in a work experience program, so she has been working in a pharmacy since she was 14. Victoria grew up in Valleyview, where there was one pharmacy, and her family knew the owner. That’s where she saw, and experienced, the relationship between the pharmacist and residents.
“I love the way the pharmacist is able to help the community, and I thought to myself, I just really want to be a part of that,” explained Victoria. “My love of pharmacy just grew and grew as the years went on.”
Currently, Victoria works as a pharmacy technician at the Cross Cancer Institute and enjoys meeting people at the outpatient dispensary wicket.
“You get to hear so many amazing stories, and I love that part.”
But Victoria does find it challenging when people who are having a bad day come in, and she’s not able to immediately help them. When she finds herself in that situation, she reminds herself to stay positive and to brighten their day just a little.
Her view of the pharmacy technician profession has changed over the years. Initially, she thought her role would be counting pills and doing checks, but school has opened her eyes and expanded her goals. She is drawn to the areas of medication safety and error prevention, as well as a possible educational role.
“I’d like to teach in the pharmacy technician profession or even other people about the scope of technicians and how much they can actually do for your pharmacy, and how much you can benefit from having a technician on your team,” said Victoria.
