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Pharmacy Technician Training

A Job Is Waiting for Those Who Go to Pharmacy Tech Schools

Jun 27, 2009 John Wu

Pharmacy technicians are in high demand. It takes specialized training to work alongside with pharmacists dispensing drugs. The training can be completed in a few months.

A pharmacy technician is one who does pharmacy related work under the direct supervision of a pharmacist. Although techs often prepare medications for customers, the medications are checked by the pharmacist before they go to the patient. Other duties such as cashier duties are usually done by the pharmacy tech, but techs cannot give medical advice or information about medications to customers. By law, that type of information can only be given by a licensed pharmacist.

In some parts of the country, those who wish to become a tech are required to take a training course, and work an unpaid externship to complete a formal pharmacy tech training program. In most parts of the country, training and certification exams are not required, but still highly desired because pharmacies do not want to incur the costs of training new employees.

Pharmacy Technician Training Programs

Training programs can be found in community colleges, private vocational schools, hospitals, community learning programs, and even some pharmacies as a part of employment training. The training typically lasts about nine months at the most, so the cost to the student is not as high as the cost of completing a college degree. In some cases, federal financial aid is available. Given the current state of the economy, the vast majority of pharmacies prefer applicants that already have formal training rather than those that need extensive training.

Most training programs consist of classroom and laboratory work along with an unpaid externship in a hospital or retail pharmacy to get experience. Some topics students learn include medications, compounding, laws, and record keeping. At the end of the program, certificate or degree is granted which can be very helpful in getting a job.

For those that cannot attend classes, there are online training programs as well that teach the same material as brick and mortar classes. However, externships cannot be taken online, but are often arranged by the online program to a work location near the student's home.

Pharmacy Tech Certification Exams

In many states, a certification exam is not required to embark in this job. Nevertheless, taking an exam may be helpful in landing a job by validating previous related education. One such exam is the Pharmacy Technician Certification Examination (PTCE) leads to certification as a Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT). In some cases, job ads may explicitly require the passage of a certification exam.

Keep in mind that certification does not replace any state requirements to be registered or licensed. Nor does the CPhT exempt one from passing any state exams. Potential students are urged to search for their state specific requirements and take any exams, if necessary.

According to the December 2007 US Bureau of Labor Statistics data, job seekers in this career generally make between $10.10 and $14.92 per hour, and their job outlook is much better than average compared to other jobs. After completing a program, students can make that wage with less than a year of training. In most cases, the formal education from a training program is highly desired or required by most employers.

The copyright of the article Pharmacy Technician Training in Career Advice is owned by John Wu. Permission to republish Pharmacy Technician Training in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.