According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook, there will be a 32 percent increase in the demand for pharmacy technicians (roughly 108,300 new jobs) between 2010 and 2020. In response to this demand, Lone Star College-Tomball’s pharmacy technology program is accepting applications for its spring 2014 fast track session through January 7, 2014.
Shorter than the 11-month fall session, the nine-month fast track program enables students to “compress” the spring session by expanding the amount of time spent in each class. That way, the same amount of instructional content is provided, just over a shorter period of time.
A maximum of 20 applications are accepted to the program each year, so students interested in applying need to print out and complete the application form found at lonestar.edu/tomball-pharmtech, meet with an advisor, and submit the form as soon as possible, by mail or in person. Qualified applicants will be contacted to schedule a program admission interview.
The LSC-Tomball pharmacy technology program is accredited by the American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP) and boasts a 100 percent pass rate on the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) examination. Additionally, students earn an ASHP-approved sterile compounding certification as part of their training.
The program features mandatory orientation prior to the beginning of classes, hands-on preparation (skills, techniques and procedures are learned in three highly interactive laboratories), two hybrid courses and multiple laboratory options to allow schedule flexibility, and on-the-job training (a total of 320 externship hours which includes practice in both retail and hospital pharmacy clinical sites).
“We love to host students from Lone Star College-Tomball because we know they come well prepared. The students’ knowledge and skills are outstanding, which makes transitioning from classroom to hands-on training much easier. We are really impressed that the students are exposed to a lot of the tech duties through the classroom or labs, and they are always eager to learn. We’ve hired several of their students and have no problem referring any of their students because the pharmacy technology program at LSC-Tomball is exemplary,” said Kim Tran, charge pharmacist with Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center.
For more information, go to lonestar.edu/tomball-pharmtech or contact Diana Broome (Diana.V.Broome@lonestar.edu / 281.826.5397) or Debra Burgh (281.826.5398 / Debra.Burgh@lonestar.edu).