Pharmacy Technician Training

The pharmaceutical world is one of the industries that continue to grow. For the past several years, there are a lot of scientific advancements that have helped a lot in changing people’s lives through new innovations, from machines to the best medications. With these advancements, being a pharmacy technician gives you the chance to help people get these medications to improve their lives safely. Although pharmacy technicians have a different responsibility and training compared to a pharmacist, they still have the same role which is distributing medications in a systematic and proper manner. With the help of pharmacy technicians, pharmacist can focus more on their work by ensuring that the clients are receiving the proper medications at a right dose and combination.

Pharmacy technicians help a licensed pharmacist in filling prescriptions, providing medications and other health products to patients. Their main duty is to prepare medications, count tablets, label bottles and so on. However, any questions asked by the clients must be answered not by the pharmacist technician but by the pharmacist.

Pharmacist technicians work in an environment that must be kept clean, organized and well ventilated at all times. Their jobs require long hours of standing especially when they are working in health care facilities. Pharmacist technicians often work during the evening and on weekends. They work 35-45 hours a week in hospitals and in pharmacies.

Pharmacy technicians have a very important job to do, that is why they must have the proper education and pharmacy technician training. So what comprises pharmacy technician training? Typically, a pharmacy technician program last from six months up to two years. There are also schools that offer pharmacist technician training at an intensive manner. Pharmacist technician training instruction includes topics on medical knowledge and pharmaceuticals. Some topics on medical law, drugs and trades are also being taken up. At the end of the education and training, the students are required to take and pass the pharmacy technician certification exam to become a certified pharmacy technician.

Getting a pharmacy technician certification is important as having it will provide a good foundation to an aspiring pharmacy technician about their responsibilities as well as helping out in raising the average pharmacy technician salary. This certification carries with it a lot of benefits and advantages, but one has to do some research before they think of enrolling themself into a pharmacy technician certification program. There are numerous organizations that provides a pharmacy certification thus it is important that you need to know the reputation and history of every organization. The research must also go beyond the institution and you should take in consideration the prerequisites of the program. Most programs would require a high school diploma, a GED or a non- US qualification. Once you have meet all the criteria and enrolled yourself in a pharmacy technician school, then the next step is to prepare yourself for the pharmacy technician certification exam. The two renowned pharmacy technician certification exams are the PTCE which is Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam and the ExCPT or the Examination for Certified Pharmacy Technicians.

What is a PTCE exam? The PTCE certification exam is a computer based exam with 90 multiple choice type of exam questions. This exam focuses more on the responsibilities of the technician including their duties to the pharmacist and their clients, how to do inventories and controlling medications and as well as about drug administration.

The three renowned pharmacy technician schools that offer the best education are the Penn Foster Career School, Ashworth College and Kaplan University. Penn Foster Career School aims to help the students to become successful pharmacy technicians. Their instructions comprises of 10 materials that provides an easy to understand guide on different skills and methods you need in becoming a pharmacy technician. Students who have completed the pharmacy technician training program in this school are qualified to take the pharmacy technician certification exam. As these students prepare for the exam, the school provides a workbook to assist the students during the review. Ashworth College also helps the students to be successful in their careers. The program also consists of 15 instructions. Kaplan University promises its students that they will be receiving the best quality of pharmacy technician education by following a strict standard of professionalism and ethics.

How much is the pharmacy technician salary? The pay range for pharmacy technicians is lower if they are just starting out in their career. The starting salary for pharmacy technicians is almost $8 to $10 an hour. A lot of pharmacy technician’s start as pharmacy aides having fewer responsibilities. There are numerous factors that affect the salary of the pharmacy technician. Some of these factors include experience and education. Pharmacy technicians having a formal education can command a better salary. These professionals that earn better have more years of experience and responsibilities. The kind of employment can also cause an impact on the salary. In general, these pharmacy technicians work in hospitals and earns more compared to those who works in grocery stores and small pharmacies. There are a lot of opportunities for those working in hospitals.