Pharmacy Technician Training

The difference between trade and generic names of prescription drugs; process for creation of drug names; FDA evaluation of trade names; top 200 generic and trade names.

Oral/enteral administration, including pills, tablets, capsules, softgels, and liquids; inhalational administration, including aerosols; parenteral administration, including subcutaneous, intramuscular, and intravenous routes; syringes and needles; large- and small-volume parenteral solutions; topical administration, including patches, creams, foams, gels, lotions, and ointments; and administration by insertion, including suppositories.

World Health Organization (WHO) and chemical name drug classifications; United States Adopted Name (USAN) Council stems for generic terms.

Roman numerals; Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature scales and conversions; household measures; the metric system; household and metric conversions.

Numbers as both symbols and measurements; explanations of and worked examples for ratios and proportions; relationship among and conversions for decimals, fractions, and percents.

Examples of antibiotics, antifungals, and antiviral drugs encountered in the pharmacy, their mechanisms of action, and their respective names, classes, and categories.

A description of drugs that affect the central nervous system, including general and local anesthetics, opiates, antipsychotics, antidepressants, anxiolytics, hypnotics, and antiepileptics.

A description of the drugs that affect the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems, including corticosteroids, beta-agonists, cholinergic antagonists, methylxanthines, leukotriene modifiers, antacids, H2 antagonists, and proton-pump inhibitors.

A description of the drugs that affect the renal, urinary, and cardiovascular systems, including antibiotics, alpha-blockers, antispasmodics, diuretics, antihypertensive drugs, calcium channel blockers, nitrates, antiarrhythmic drugs, and lipid-lowering drugs.

A description of the nature, uses, and side effects of medicinal drugs in the classes of muscle relaxants, nonnarcotic analgesics, hormones, and topicals.

Chemotherapeutic and biologic drugs as well as substances such as vitamins, herbs, and antidotes.

Retail versus institutional pharmacy operations; pharmacy as both a business and a profession; typical business day operations.

Reviewing prescriptions for completeness; processing new prescriptions and refills; pharmacist reviews; maintaining electronic records of patient medications.

Prescription insurance plans; receiving insurance information; processing third-party insurance claims; resolving unpaid drug claims.

The importance of inventory control for pharmaceutical businesses; purchasing and short lists; receiving incoming merchandise; returning expired or overstocked merchandise.

Common hospital pharmacy settings; types of patients; role of the pharmacist and pharmacy technician; equipment, technology, and best practices in the hospital pharmacy setting.

Protecting patients and healthcare providers from infectious diseases; techniques used to prepare sterile intravenous products.

Privacy versus security; protected health information in the pharmacy setting; the HIPAA Privacy Rule; OSHA standards; universal precautions; CDC hygiene guidelines; using personal protective equipment; certification preparation; career options; writing resumes and cover letters; preparing for interviews.

Laboratory simulations for community pharmacy practice, institutional pharmacy practice, and aseptic technique.

Review of eight categories of pharmacy technician duties in preparation for the certification exam. Students receive worked examples of realistic sample questions and have the opportunity to take a practice test to assess their readiness to take the certification exam.

Students will complete 160 hours of externship in a retail pharmacy under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist. They’ll be required to demonstrate proficiency in the areas of personal and interpersonal skills; foundational skills; processing and handling of medications and medication orders; nonsterile compounding; procurement, billing, reimbursement, and inventory management; patient and medication safety; technology and informatics; regulatory issues; and quality assurance.