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Pharmacy Technician

Overview

The Pharmacy Technician program at Spokane Community College is a nine month (three quarter) program running from September to June.

Program Description

The Pharmacy Technician program trains students in all phases of the pharmacy field: drug products, calculations, dosages, dispensing techniques, inventory management, third-party billing, compounding, and Washington State pharmacy law.

Each student is required to complete 176 experiential hours in both a community and hospital setting for a total of 352 hours. After completion of the program, the student will be eligible to apply for a Pharmacy Technician license issued by Washington State Board of Pharmacy, which must be renewed yearly on their birthday.

The certificate program includes 54 credits of core courses and requires a total of 858 clock hours. Flexible hours are available for the experiential training to compensate for work and family responsibilities.

To complete the Associate Degree the student must complete the certificate program and the general liberal arts course required by the college. This includes 30 credit hours of required courses and 7 hours of department approved electives.

Program Goals

Students who successfully complete this program will be able to:

1. Demonstrate accountability as a health care professional
2. Communicate effectively in a professional manner with members of the healthcare team
3. Solve math-oriented problems posed to the technician by a pharmacist
4. Practice principles of implementing physician orders in a pharmacy setting
5. Demonstrate standards of aseptic technique and safety in a pharmacy setting
6. Demonstrate knowledge of legal requirements involved in a pharmacy operation
7. Identify appropriate information regarding standard dosing, generic versus trade name and other drug information
8. Understand the role of the technician - the pharmacist/patient/technician interaction; i.e. confidentiality

Career Opportunities

Employment opportunities are excellent in a variety of pharmacy settings including: nursing homes, retail, hospital, home health care, HMO, and mail order.

Wages differ from one facility to the other depending upon size, independent versus retail chain, and hospital.

The average starting wage for a technician is $9 to $14 per hour. Due to the increasing role of a pharmacy technician and the shortage of pharmacist, employment opportunities are open in any field of pharmacy.

A practicing pharmacy technician must have good "people skills" and communication with the medical community as well as patients. Interpreting handwriting on prescription orders is important, so neat handwriting, proper spelling of medications, and patience are a must. A pharmacy technician must be able to solve math-oriented problems posed to them by pharmacists.

Persons with Disabilities
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, accommodations for students with disabilities will be considered at the student's request. The student will be required to register with the Disability Support Services office and provide documentation of disability. Once the student is qualified by the DSS Manager as having a disability, requested accommodations will be considered. Accommodations for the classroom, laboratory, or clinical setting will be considered according to reasonableness. Accommodations that compromise patient care, or that fundamentally alter the nature of the program or activity, are not considered to be reasonable. A student denied accommodation may request an individualized determination to assure that the denial is not a result of disability discrimination by contacting the Manager of Disability Support Services and Testing at 533-7498. Contact the SCC Disability Support Services office to obtain a copy of the procedures for appeal of an accommodation denial. Other than accommodation issues, procedures for student grievances including academic dismissal are outlined in the following SCC website: www.scc.spokane.edu/?concerns.

For additional information, please contact Disability Support Services.

Consult the official program outline
for prerequisites and more information
about this program.

	Additional Information
	If you have general questions regarding the Pharmacy Technician program, its entry requirements, or the admissions process, please contact the SCC Admissions Office via email (AdmissionsInfo@scc.spokane.edu) or phone (509-533-8020 or 1-800-248-5644, ext. 8020), and one of our friendly, knowledgeable staff members will assist you.
	If you have more specific questions regarding this program, please contact Sandi Tschritter, BA, CPhT, who is the program director. Her contact information is as follows:
	Email:	STschritter@scc.spokane.edu
	Phone:	(509) 533-8199 or 1-800-248-5644 ext. 8199
	You can also submit an online information request or get our address to write for more information. You may be eligible for free tuition! Follow this link to learn more.