ACT College of Virginia, offers a diploma pharmacy technician program to prospective students looking to break into this career field. The program provides students with the entry-level skills needed to become a pharmacy technician. Students in this program take courses that teach how to correctly prepare and dispense medications, maintain both written and computerized patient medication records, effectively stock and take inventory of drugs and medications, and learn to correctly label and package medications. Students are required to complete a 180-hour clinical externship upon completion of all coursework. The externship takes place at an off-campus site, such as a local hospital, clinic or retail pharmacy location.
Pharmacy technician students at Foothill College in Los Altos Hill, California, may choose from a nine-month certificate program, two-year associate degree or a four year bachelor's degree pharmacy technician program. Students in all programs learn the fundamentals of pharmacy work in hospitals, nursing homes, retail pharmacies, home health care, and public and government health agencies. Students in all programs also learn how to correctly use oral and written medical and pharmaceutical communication, efficiently calculate dosages, and adequately fill prescriptions for customers.
The pharmacy technician program at the Community College of Allegheny County in Pennsylvania is a two-year associate degree program that teaches students how to efficiently assist a registered pharmacist. Graduates go on to work in retail or hospital pharmacies. Course work of this program prepares students to effectively measure and distribute medications, develop intravenous mixtures and inventory pharmaceutical supplies for prescriptions. Students also learn to identify drugs by generic and trade name and calculate dosage and strength of prescription by using different systems of measurement.
The pharmacy technician program of Southwest Tennessee Community College offers students the opportunity to learn, through a two-year associate degree program, the skills needed to become a successful pharmacy technician, including maintaining patient records, handling packaging and labeling medication doses, filling and dispensing prescriptions and maintaining inventories of drug supplies.