What You Will Learn
Prepare to work as a pharmacy technician in a retail or other pharmacy setting. Course content includes: pharmacy sterile compounding, dose conversions, aseptic technique, the handling of sterile products, total parenteral nutrition (TPN), dispensing of prescriptions, inventory control and billing and reimbursement.
Prepare for PTCB Certification
Our comprehensive online or in-person course will prepare students to work as a pharmacy technician in a retail or other pharmacy setting and to take the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board's PTCB exam.
The Pharmacy Technician Profession
Pharmacy Technicians work under the direction of a pharmacist. Their main responsibility is filling prescriptions according to doctors' orders.
Pharmacy Technicians prepare medications for dispensing to patients. This generally includes retrieving drugs in the correct dosage form and strength, measuring the appropriate amount of drug and producing a prescription label. Pharmacy Technicians work with drugs to be administered orally, topically, for the eye, nose etc. Depending upon the practice setting, a Pharmacy Technician is also involved in the admixture of drugs for intravenous use.
Other duties include:
- checking inventories and ordering supplies
- receiving and checking in supplies
- assisting customers
- keeping pharmacy work areas clean
- complete insurance forms
- preparation of "bingo cards" for nursing home patients
Employment
Pharmacy Technicians may work in retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, home infusion pharmacies, long term care facilities, hospitals, clinics, pharmacy benefit managers and large industrial complexes. The demand for Pharmacy Technicians continues to grow. Employment of Pharmacy Technicians is expected to grow 12 percent from 2016 to 2026, faster than the average for all occupations. This high demand is the result of the constant availability of new drugs, the national shortage of registered pharmacists, the establishment of certified pharmacy technicians and the aging population.