Pharmacy Technician

Hours: 330 / Access Length: 12 Months / Delivery: Online, Self-Paced

Course Overview:

This program prepares students to be professional Pharmacy Technicians dedicated to assisting Registered Pharmacists in quality pharmacy operational procedures. Graduates are equipped to assist the Pharmacist filling prescriptions according to doctor’s orders. Pharmacy Technicians also participate in ordering products and inventory control, as well as billing and receiving payments. Trained graduates that pass this course are eligible to sit for a national certification exam.  Once students pass the course and certification exam they can submit an application to participate in an internship program with national affiliation partners like CVS and Walgreens, or local pharmacy operations near their residence. This internship is what many employers in this industry want to see that tells them the student is job ready for this high demand job.

State regulations will vary by state, and this course does not specifically prepare students to meet all states’ regulations.  Potential students are highly encouraged to research what the regulations are in the state that they intend to work in.

Students will:

• Explain the historical development of pharmacy and the evolving role of pharmacy technicians.
• Identify key pharmacy laws, ethical considerations, and regulatory agencies that impact pharmacy practice.
• Describe the necessary competencies for pharmacy technicians in various practice settings.
• Demonstrate effective communication skills required for interactions with patients and healthcare professionals.
• Differentiate between various dosage forms and routes of drug administration.
• Perform pharmacy-related calculations for dosing, compounding, and infusion rates.
• Utilize appropriate drug information references to support pharmacy practice.
• Compare community and institutional pharmacy operations, workflows, and regulations.
• Recognize the importance of medication safety, error prevention strategies, and risk management.
• Understand drug classifications, therapeutic agents, and their effects on different body systems.

This course prepares a student to take the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) certification exam.

Testimonial

"I absolutely LOVED this Pharmacy Technician program. I was skeptical at first because I’ve never had an online class. The curriculum was very understandable and informative. I appreciate all the support. I would recommend ProTrain to anyone wanting to succeed. Thank you for everything and especially for giving me an opportunity to further my education."

Jessica Jones

Course Outline:

Lesson 1: History of Medicine and Pharmacy

This lesson provides you with foundational knowledge of the pharmacy profession, the development of the pharmacy technician role over time, and advances in drug therapy.

Lesson 2: Pharmacy Law, Ethics, and Regulatory Agencies

This lesson will help you understand the impacts of legislation on the operations of the pharmacy, in addition to the differences between morals and ethics.

Lesson 3: Competencies, Associations, and Settings for Technicians

In this lesson you will gain greater understanding of the needed competencies to be a successful pharmacy technician including in inpatient, outpatient, and closed-door pharmacies.

Lesson 4: Communication and Role of the Technician with the Customer/Patient

This lesson provides you with tools to understand and improve your communication skills, providing context for the interactions you will encounter as you work in the pharmacy.

Lesson 5: Dosage Forms and Routes of Administration

This lesson covers the forms and administration of drugs along with drug formulations. It includes topics of drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and bioavailability of drugs in the body.

Lesson 6: Conversions and Calculations

In this lesson you will learn pharmacy conversions and calculations to determine medication dosages, calculate infusion rates and drips, and the mathematics used in compounding medications.

Lesson 7: Drug Information References

This lesson provides you with important information covering the key references used in pharmacy, and the considerations used when selecting the best reference material, including electronic sources.

Lesson 8: Community Pharmacy Practice

Here you learn the specific practices related to community pharmacies and the unique considerations of layout, situations, and relevant legislation.

Lesson 9: Institutional Pharmacy Practice

This lesson gives you information about the responsibilities of pharmacy technicians in institutional settings, with consideration paid to regulatory agencies and specialized tasks.

Lesson 10:  Additional Pharmacy Practice Settings and Advanced Roles for Technicians

This lesson provides you additional information on the variety of pharmacy technician roles in areas of purchasing, specialty pharmacies, education, and more.

Lesson 11: Bulk Repackaging and Nonsterile Compounding

In this lesson you learn the specific special considerations used when bulk packaging and nonsterile compounding including how to determine ingredients, shelf life, and storage methods.

Lesson 12: Aseptic Technique and Sterile Compounding

This lesson provides you with detailed explanations of why some medications must be sterile, calculations used in compounding, USP 797 guidelines, and compounding equipment.

Lesson 13: Pharmacy Billing and Inventory Management

In this lesson you learn the importance of pharmacy billing and inventory management, including third-party billing, claims processing, and prior authorizations.

Lesson 14: Medication Safety and Error Prevention

This lesson helps you to differentiate between the types of medications errors, safety strategies and technology to reduce errors, and the use of risk management guidelines to improve medication safety.

Lesson 15: Pharmacy Operations Management and Workflow

This lesson highlights the differences between community and institutional pharmacies with an emphasis on operations and workflow, with a review of ways to increase efficiency in the pharmacy.

Lesson 16: Drug Classifications

This lesson provides foundational knowledge of components of a generic drug name, drug classifications, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices confused drug names list, and drug schedules.

Lesson 17: Therapeutic Agents for the Nervous System

In this lesson you learn the major components of the nervous system, the medications used for the treatment of disorders of the nervous system, including the special labels used when dispensing.

Lesson 18: Therapeutic Agents for the Endocrine System

In this lesson you learn the major components of the endocrine system, the medications used for the treatment of disorders of the endocrine system, including the special labels used when dispensing.

Lesson 19: Therapeutic Agents for the Musculoskeletal System

In this lesson you learn the major components of the musculoskeletal system, the medications used for the treatment of disorders of the musculoskeletal system, including the special labels used when dispensing.

Lesson 20: Therapeutic Agents for the Cardiovascular System

In this lesson you learn the major components of the cardiovascular system, the medications used for the treatment of disorders of the cardiovascular system, including the special labels used when dispensing.

Lesson 21: Therapeutic Agents for the Respiratory System

In this lesson you learn the major components of the respiratory system, the medications used for the treatment of disorders of the respiratory system, including the special labels used when dispensing.

Lesson 22: Therapeutic Agents for the Gastrointestinal System

In this lesson you learn the major components of the gastrointestinal system, the medications used for the treatment of disorders of the gastrointestinal system, including the special labels used when dispensing.

Lesson 23: Therapeutic Agents for the Renal System

In this lesson you learn the major components of the renal system, the medications used for the treatment of disorders of the renal system, including the special labels used when dispensing.

Lesson 24: Therapeutic Agents for the Reproductive System

In this lesson you learn the major components of the reproductive system, the medications used for the treatment of disorders of the reproductive system, including the special labels used when dispensing.

Lesson 25: Therapeutic Agents for the Immune System

In this lesson you learn the major components of the immune system, the medications used for the treatment of disorders of the immune system, including the special labels used when dispensing.

Lesson 26: Therapeutic Agents for Eyes, Ears, Nose, and Throat

In this lesson you learn the major components of the eyes, ears, nose, and throat, the medications used for the treatment of disorders for each system, including the special labels used when dispensing.

Lesson 27: Therapeutic Agents for the Dermatologic System

In this lesson you learn the major components of the dermatologic system, the medications used for the treatment of disorders of the dermatologic system, including the special labels used when dispensing.

Lesson 28: Therapeutic Agents for the Hematologic System

In this lesson you learn the major components of the hematologic system, the medications used for the treatment of disorders of the hematologic system, including the special labels used when dispensing.

Lesson 29: Over-The-Counter Medications

This lesson covers the important considerations related to the use of over-the-counter medications, the differences in regulations governing these medications, and restricted over-the-counter products.

Lesson 30: Complementary and Alternative Medicine

This lesson covers defining characteristics of complementary and alternative medicine, the most common herbal products used in the United States, and other related practices.

All necessary materials are included.

Certification(s):

This course prepares a student to take the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) certification exam.

System Requirements:

Internet Connectivity Requirements:

• Cable, Fiber, DSL, or LEO Satellite (i.e. Starlink) internet with speeds of at least 10mb/sec download and 5mb/sec upload are recommended for the best experience.

NOTE: While cellular hotspots may allow access to our courses, users may experience connectivity issues by trying to access our learning management system.  This is due to the potential high download and upload latency of cellular connections.   Therefore, it is not recommended that students use a cellular hotspot as their primary way of accessing their courses.

Hardware Requirements:

• CPU: 1 GHz or higher
• RAM: 4 GB or higher
• Resolution: 1280 x 720 or higher.  1920x1080 resolution is recommended for the best experience.
• Speakers / Headphones
• Microphone for Webinar or Live Online sessions.

Operating System Requirements:

• Windows 7 or higher.
• Mac OSX 10 or higher.
• Latest Chrome OS
• Latest Linux Distributions
  

NOTE: While we understand that our courses can be viewed on Android and iPhone devices, we do not recommend the use of these devices for our courses. The size of these devices do not provide a good learning environment for students taking online or live online based courses.

Web Browser Requirements:

• Latest Google Chrome is recommended for the best experience.
• Latest Mozilla FireFox
• Latest Microsoft Edge
• Latest Apple Safari

Basic Software Requirements (These are recommendations of software to use):

• Office suite software (Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, or LibreOffice)
• PDF reader program (Adobe Reader, FoxIt)
• Courses may require other software that is described in the above course outline.