Pharmacy Technician Program - ONLINE
Fall Session: September 10 - November 16, 2012
Tuition: $1,100.00, plus $20.00 registration fee.
PHARMACY TECHNICIAN PROGRAM / OVERVIEW
Pharmacy technicians assist and support licensed pharmacists in providing health care to patients. The Pharmacy Technician Online Certification Training Program was developed in response to a rising need for trained technicians to work in hospital or retail pharmacies. The pharmacy technician profession has become indispensable to the health care field.
Job Outlook
Employment of pharmacy technicians and aides is expected to increase by 25 percent from 2008 to 2018, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. The increased number of middle-aged and elderly people—who use more prescription drugs than younger people—will spur demand for pharmacy workers throughout the projection period. In addition, as scientific advances lead to new drugs, and as more people obtain prescription drug coverage, pharmacy workers will be needed in growing numbers.
Employment of pharmacy technicians is expected to increase by 31 percent. As cost-conscious insurers begin to use pharmacies as patient-care centers and pharmacists become more involved in patient care, pharmacy technicians will continue to see an expansion of their role in the pharmacy. In addition, they will increasingly adopt some of the administrative duties that were previously performed by pharmacy aides, such as answering phones and stocking shelves.
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PHARMACY TECHNICIAN / JOB DESCRIPTION
What Do Pharmacy Technicians Do?
A pharmacy technician's primary job is to receive and fill prescription requests for patients. These prescription requests can come from hospitals, physicians, nurses or directly from the patients. Their work is typically overseen by a licensed pharmacist. The preparation of a prescription requires several tasks. The duties carried out by pharmacy technicians can include:
• Retrieving prescription orders
• Mixing medications
• Counting, pouring, measuring and weighing tablets and medications
• Selecting the proper prescription container and creating prescription labels
After the prescription is filled, the pharmacy technician properly prices and files the order. A licensed pharmacist then verifies the completed prescription before it is given to the patient.
Additional Pharmacy Tech Responsibilities
The pharmacy technician's job also extends to the daily operation of the pharmacy itself, including interactions with customers and patients in a hospital setting. Some other non-medication-related duties include:
• Preparing insurance claim forms
• Maintaining patient profiles
• Completing cash register transactions and answering phones
• Taking inventory of over-the-counter medications
• Being aware of the latest medicines and their availability
Where can a Pharmacy Technician Work?
They may work in places such as:
• Hospitals
• Medical stores
• Health and personal care stores
• Retail or mail-order pharmacies
• Nursing homes
• Assisted living facilities
Pharmacy techs work in clean, organized environments and spend much of their day on their feet. Pharmacy technicians can work either part-time or full-time, and depending on where they work, they may sometimes be required to work evenings or weekends.
PHARMACY PROGRAM
Pharmacy technicians assist and support licensed Pharmacists in providing health care to patients. The Assumption College Pharmacy Technician Online Certification Training Program was developed in response to a rising need for trained technicians to work in hospitals or retail pharmacies. The pharmacy technician profession has become indispensable to the health care field. However, it has also come with increased responsibility, and this increased responsibility has made certification an important issue for many industry employers and some state legislatures. Some states now require all individuals who work as pharmacy technicians to become nationally certified. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts currently does not require a national certification; however this is under strong consideration. Employers in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are more likely to hire technicians that are nationally certified. Companies also hire certified pharmacy technicians because they're assured that these pharmacy technicians can do their duties and responsibilities with utmost care and top-notch performance in pharmacy-related work.
The Assumption College Online Pharmacy Technician program will prepare you for entry-level pharmacy technician positions by teaching you medical and pharmaceutical terminology, basic anatomy related to the pharmacology of medications, and pharmaceutical calculations. The Online Pharmacy Technician Program will give you hands-on practice in retail pharmacy procedures through an online lab module. You will learn what information is necessary to process prescriptions and physician orders. The curriculum also includes the ethics of pharmacy practice and education about prescription medications, patient care and interaction, and charges and reimbursement.
You'll learn everything you need to know to pass the National Certification Exam offered by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board. Visit the Board of Pharmacy site for your state or the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board PTCB web site at (www.ptcb.org). You can also call the state board and ask for the current technician requirements. During the program we encourage guidance to our students from our highly qualified certified instructor.
Certification Requirements
In order to sit for the national certification exam, candidates must have a high school diploma or equivalent; therefore, it is recommended that students have this before enrolling for this program. Students should be proficient in keyboarding (approximately 35 words per minute), have a basic understanding of a word processing computer program (Microsoft Word recommended), and have a command of English grammar and punctuation. No healthcare or medical office work experience is required.
Students interested in our Online Pharmacy Technician certificate preparation program are individuals learning job skills for pharmacy technician employment opportunities or individuals interested in changing job skills to become pharmacy technicians.
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