Michelle Williams

I've been a certified pharmacy technician for over 25 years now. I got into the field because I knew someone who was taking the pharmacy technician course, and it sounded interesting to me, so I did research and ended up taking the course myself. My dad actually paid for my course, which had a great impact because if it wasn't for him, I really don't know if I would be in the field, or it would have taken me a little bit longer to get in. I really do like working in the pharmacy field and learning about new medications. I started out working in a retail pharmacy where I did everything - interacting with customers in person in the store, reordering medications, calling insurance companies when claims didn't go through. That was a lot, being on the phone for a long time with insurance companies to try to get a paid claim for the customer. I've also worked in a hospital for a little bit, which was very interesting. I really got a lot of exercise and lost a lot of weight because I used to deliver meds all over the hospital. One thing I accomplished that I wanted to do was being a pharmacy tech instructor for about a year. I had wanted to do that for a while, so I was glad I had the opportunity to give back and help the younger generation that wants to get in the field. When I was first starting out as a pharmacy tech, I was a mentor and would train new techs coming on in the retail pharmacy. I enjoyed that role because I like to give back, and knowledge is power. Right now, I work for Gainwell Technologies, LLC, from home, reviewing prior authorization requests. My day-to-day is reviewing these requests, and every now and then I need to contact the provider's office for clarification on something that isn't clear on the request to make sure we're going to decision it correctly. Looking ahead to the next five years, I'm looking forward to retiring in the near future, but I think I would still be in the field. Hopefully, maybe getting a supervisor role, helping others and the team of techs. I would say more so, probably getting into management.