Become a Pharmacy Technician

If you are seeking a career in the healthcare field that may open the door to opportunities, then becoming a pharmacy technician may be the perfect fit for you. Pharmacy technicians provide assistance to a licensed pharmacist in order to ensure that the pharmacy operates efficiently. You may expect to be involved in tasks such as preparing prescription medications, attending to customer needs, compounding sterile and non-sterile preparations, performing a variety of calculations, maintaining inventories, process third party billing transactions, maintain automated dispensing cabinets and robots, generate reports, and provide assistance in administrative duties within the pharmacy.

One of the best ways of becoming successful as a pharmacy technician is by undergoing a formal American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) accredited training program and earning your national certification from the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB).The program at Lone Star College-Tomball is accredited by ASHP.

Regulatory Standards for Pharmacy Technicians

A pharmacy technician is an individual who is registered with the Texas State Board of Pharmacy as a pharmacy technician, who has passed the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board, or ExCPT board exam, and whose responsibility in a pharmacy is to provide technical services that do not require professional judgment regarding preparing and distributing drugs.  The pharmacy technician works under the direct supervision of and is responsible to a pharmacist.  To maintain registration with a state board of pharmacy and with a pharmacy certification board, a technician must complete 20 hours of continuing education every 2 years and renew their status with the respective agencies.

A pharmacy technician trainee is an individual who is registered with the board as a pharmacy technician trainee and is authorized to participate in a pharmacy’s technician training program. To complete the required externships in a pharmacy as a pharmacy technician trainee, individuals must be registered with the Texas State Board of Pharmacy. A pharmacy technician or pharmacy technician-in-training shall:

1. Be at least 18 years of age.
2. Have no felony or gross misdemeanor conviction relating to controlled substances.
3. Have no history of drug abuse or provide satisfactory evidence of rehabilitation.
4. Hold a high school diploma or its equivalent.
5. Have completed requirements for registration as determined by the Board.

Physical and Psychosocial Performance Requirements

As a Pharmacy Technology student and technician, you will be required to be able to perform/demonstrate the following physical and psychosocial skills:

• Exhibit positive interpersonal skills in patient, staff and faculty interactions.
• Demonstrate calm and effective responses in emergency situations.
• Make appropriate judgment decisions.
• Hear and understand muffled communication without visualization of the communicator's mouth/lips.
• Demonstrate emotional stability.
• Ability to manipulate instruments and supplies with speed, dexterity and good eye-hand coordination.
• Communicate and understand fluent English both verbally and in writing.
• Be free of communicable diseases and chemical abuse.
• Demonstrate immunity to MMR, Varicella, Tuberculosis, Tdap and Hepatitis B or be vaccinated against these diseases.
• Must be able to meet the following physical demands:  bending, walking, standing, lifting, carrying, pushing and handling equipment and supplies up to 50 lbs.
• Must be able to lift up to 50 lbs. without restrictions.
• Must be able to stand for extended periods of time.

Where do Pharmacy Technicians work?

Pharmacy technicians are needed virtually everywhere in the country. Many pharmacy techs work in retail pharmacies, while others work in hospitals, clinics, and pharmaceutical companies. Pharmacy technicians are also needed in many other industries such as educational institutions, the military, insurance companies, and nursing homes.

Job Opportunities

Employment opportunities for pharmacy technicians is expected to grow by 32% during the next eight years, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. Factors that are contributing to this job growth are advances in pharmaceutical research, which is resulting in more prescription medications being used to fight diseases, and the growing number of older people who use more prescription drugs than younger people. Job prospects are particularly excellent for those with formal training. (Source: U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.)

View Pharmacy Tech Occupational Employment & Wages

Why LSC-Tomball?

• Accredited by the American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP)
• Students earn an ASHP/ACPE approved Sterile Compounding Certification
• Three semester program
  • First semester pharmacy courses (12 credit hours)
  • Second semester pharmacy courses (13 credit hours)
  • Third semester PTCB review and externships (7 credit hours)
• Mandatory program orientation prior to classes commencing to provide new students with information that will assist them to organize their course work, acclimate to the program, and introduce themselves to their peers
• Hands-on preparation
  • Skills, techniques, and procedures are learned in highly interactive laboratories 
• Schedule allows flexibility for working students
• Hybrid courses in order to allow schedule flexibility
• Multiple laboratory options available to allow for flexibility
• New laboratory which includes
  • Updated retail software
  • Automated pill counter
  • Mock narcotic control II area
  • Retail production stations
  • Institutional pharmacy automated dispensing machines
  • Unit dose software
  • Crash carts
  • Cart-fill area
  • Intravenous admixture repeater pump
  • Picking station
  • A variety of sterile and non-sterile compounding supplies; including laminar airflow hoods
• On-the-Job Training
  • Program includes a total of 288 externship hours which includes practice in both retail and hospital pharmacy clinical sites
• Great income potential
• Financial Aid available

Program Outcomes

*The 2022 national average PTCB certification exam pass rate was 70%.

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