Pharmacy Technician Certification

The Pharmacy technician is responsible for a lot of things, but his primary duty is to assist the licensed pharmacists in providing medication and other health care products to patients. This assistance may be in the form of routine tasks, such as helping prepare prescribed medication for patients, counting tablets and labeling bottles.

Any questions regarding prescriptions, drug information, or health matters must be referred to the pharmacist for a pharmacy technician does not have the proper training to answer such in his professional capacity.

Why Pharmacy Technician Certification is Important

A pharmacy technician may receive his training while on the job. Formal education or training is typically not required. However, there are some advantages to having formal training and pharmacy technician certification.

For instance, some employers hire only pharmacy technicians who hold a pharmacy technician certification. This is especially true with employers who do not have sufficient resources to provide on-the-job training for their pharmacy technicians. As such, they often make the pharmacy technician certification as a requirement for hiring.

Besides increasing your chances of getting hired, a pharmacy technician certification also shows your interest in and dedication to the work.

Where to Get Formal Training for Pharmacy Technician Certification

Formal education or training for pharmacy technician certification may be had through the military as well as through some hospitals, proprietary schools, vocational or technical colleges, and community colleges.

The formal training that pharmacy technicians typically undergo consists of classroom and laboratory work in a variety of areas. These include medical and pharmaceutical terminology, pharmaceutical calculations, pharmacy record keeping, pharmaceutical techniques, and pharmacy law and ethics. In addition to that, before a pharmacy technician can be qualified for pharmacy technician certification, he must first learn medication names, actions, uses, and doses.

For a more hands-on experience, internships offered by many of these training programs are your best choice. Here, you are allowed to intern in actual pharmacies where you get to apply your knowledge of techniques in actual performance of your work. Depending on your program, you may receive a diploma, a pharmacy technician certification, or an associate’s degree after completing the program.

But note that the pharmacy technician certification you receive after completing a training program is not the same as a certification you receive from the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board. For that, you need to first take the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Examination and pass it.

The Pharmacy Technician Certification

The examination is voluntary in most States. Its purpose is to display the competency of the individual to act as pharmacy technician and to determine whether he is qualified or equipped with the knowledge of techniques and skills to perform his job in a professional manner.

As reliance on pharmacy technicians grows, more states and employers are requiring their employees to take the examination.