The cyberspace race

Schools begin offering online tech training programs

By Michael Johnsen

winter 2009

Two new options for pharmacy technicians in pursuit of a degree or certification were announced in October — testimony to not only the growth of the profession, but also to the growing reputability of pharmacy technicians. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of pharmacy technicians is expected to increase by 32% between 2006 and 2016.

Today’s technician is being asked to do more intense pharmacy-related tasks that don’t require a doctorate to perform, from handling insurance billing to prepping sterile IVs and even compounding. Such being the case, more states are seeking to certify their pharmacy technicians, and that’s creating demand for accredited programs to help educate those seeking certification.

Some of that education goes well beyond what you might expect to learn from actually working behind a pharmacy counter. It also goes beyond the typical business courses — for instance, customer service or retail management training — offered at the local community college. Pharmacy technician training programs focus on such areas as basic anatomy, physiology and pharmacology, with a decided focus around common disease states and the pharmaceuticals used to treat those conditions.

And of course, for the retail-based

pharmacy tech, a good portion of the curriculum offered by most programs is retail-focused. Quite often, these programs have been developed in partnership with leaders from such big retail pharmacy operators as CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid, who participate on academic advisory boards, usually in areas where the companies have a large number of stores.

“The demand for trained and certified pharmacy technicians continues to increase,” stated Lorrie Laurin, director of the School of Allied Health at Rasmussen College. In October, the school introduced a new, two-year online pharmacy tech associate’s degree program. The net-based coursework brings together academic principles and practical skills development to teach students how to assist pharmacists in a wide variety of pharmacy settings within the healthcare system and prepare them for the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board Exam.

Remington College, based in Lafayette, La., is another school that introduced a new, online pharmacy technician education program in October. And while the pharmacy tech field is growing, drawing attention from a growing number of high school students who see it as a viable career option, many of the students signing up for such programs as those being offered by Remington, Rasmussen and

a growing number of other schools across the country, are coming from retail pharmacy.

“The average age of students that we deal with is in their mid-twenties. As states change their regulations, there’s not a lot of grandfathering” Laurin told Pharmacy Tech News. Even experienced technicians will need to get certified under new regulations being introduced in states across the country. In Iowa, for example, all technicians will need to be certified under new state regulations by January 2010, Laurin said.

Each of the new offerings — an associates degree program offered through Rasmussen College and a 720-hour certification through Remington College — are available online and have been designed to be recognized across a number of states with varying degrees of professional education requirements or certifications for pharmacy technicians.

At Remington College, the coursework is available at the following campuses: Baton Rouge, La.; Cleveland; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Dallas; Fort Worth, Texas; Houston; Lafayette, La.; Little Rock, Ark.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Mobile, Ala.

Similarly, Rasmussen’s online Pharmacy Technician Associate’s Degree also will be available at campuses in Aurora, Ill.; Rockford, Ill.; Eagan, Minn.; Mankato, Minn.; St. Cloud, Minn.; Ocala, Fla.; and Pasco County, Fla.

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