Purpose: This curriculum is designed to prepare personnel to perform skilled duties and to assist the pharmacist-in-charge. Some examples of these duties include reading and interpreting written prescriptions and physicians' orders, computer information input, preparation of prescription labels, selection of correct drug from pharmacy shelf, and filling prescriptions and affixing labels for checking by the pharmacist. Other duties include ordering pharmaceuticals and supplies, customer assistance, cash register operation, answering telephones, and use of other routine equipment such as computer-assisted medication dispensing machines, computer-assisted intravenous (IV) preparations and electronic tablet/capsule counting machines in the retail, institutional or hospital pharmacy. Skills necessary to perform pharmacy technician duties include understanding why certain policies, such as those based on state and federal pharmacy and drug laws, must be followed. The curriculum includes learning experiences in class and in the laboratory, as well as in clinical, retail, institutional, and hospital pharmacies.
Special Curriculum Admission Requirements: Required interview with a faculty member in the Health Technologies Division. Completion of at least one unit or course in high school science with laboratory and at least a "C" average. Applicants who have not completed one unit or course in high school science and laboratory must enroll for a one-semester course in Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy/Physiology, or a comparable course recommended by the applicant's supervisor. Students must also have satisfactory scores on appropriate English proficiency examinations and four units of high school English or the equivalent. Persons with at least one year full-time experience in pharmacy dispensing/assisting may apply to the program head to waive the clinical experience in that applicant's field of employment.
Credits
1st Semester 2nd Semester
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HLT 250 General Pharmacology .................... 3
HLT 141 Intro. to Medical Terminology or
HIT 113 Medical Terminology and
Disease Processes I ......................... 2-3
HLT 190 Pharmacy Technician Laboratory and
Clinical Practice I ......................... 5
HLT 261 Basic Pharmacy I ........................ 3
MTH 126 Mathematics for Allied Health ........... 2
HLT 262 Basic Pharmacy II ....................... 3
HLT 290 Pharmacy Technician Laboratory and
Clinical Practice II ........................ 5
PSY 125 Interpersonal Relationships or
PSY 126 Psychology for Business and
Industry or BUS 201 Organizational Behavior . 3
SPD 126 Interpersonal Communication ............. 3
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Total Credits 15-16 14
Total minimum credits for the Pharmacy Technician career studies certificate = 29.