This course introduces students to the work of pharmacy technicians and the context in which technicians’ work is performed. Students learn the concept of direct patient care and technicians’ general role in its delivery, with emphasis on the complementary roles of pharmacists and technicians. Students are introduced to the profound influence that medication laws, standards, and regulations have on practice. This course addresses medical ethics, medical practice acts, legal responsibilities of the health professional, liability, human relations, and civil duties of the health profession. Students are introduced to the concept of quality assurance and its procedures. This course also explores commonly prescribed drugs by their drug classification and uses, along with side effects and contraindications. The course simulates daily activities in the pharmaceutical practice settings. Prescription entry will also take place in this course.

Students are introduced to the organization and function of a hospital pharmacy and to the duties and responsibilities of the pharmacy technician. The course will focus on pharmacy technician/pharmacist relationships with other health professionals and provides an introduction to the operation of an intravenous admixture program. Specific study topics include: medications and parenteral administration, facilities-equipment-supplies utilized in admixture preparation, techniques utilized in parenteral product compounding, terminology and calculations used in the preparation of parenteral products. The course will also cover concept of design, preparation, use, and evaluation of solid and semi-solid dosage forms. Specific topics include powder, tablets, capsules, coated dosage forms, suspensions, emulsions, magmas, gels, lotions, ointments, creams, pastes, suppositories, transdermal systems, sustained release products, and novel drug delivery systems. An instructor certified by the American Heart Association will provide instruction and certification on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

In this course the Pharmacy Technician will master the skills needed to maintain pharmacy records and inventory. Emphasis will be placed on inventory control, ordering medications, receiving and checking in orders, paying of invoices and pricing, and pharmacy billing and coding. Also covered will be topics in durable and surgical/non-durable medical products, home third-party billing, stocking of shelves, rotation of stock, records-keeping and medication returns. Topics include: order entry processes, medication distribution systems, inventory, prescription processing, billing, repackaging, floor stock and controlled substance distribution, pharmaceutical computer systems, utilization of drug information resources, and proper communication techniques. Prescriptions order entry will take place in this course.

This course is designed to instruct the Pharmacy Technician student to perform pharmaceutical calculations required for dosage determination and solution preparation. Emphasis will be placed on basic computations, use of measuring tools, dosage calculations, compounding calculations, and solution preparation. The topics covered include ratio and proportion, dilution and concentration, milliequivalent units, and intravenous flow rates.

Students who have completed all of the coursework in the Pharmacy Technician program qualify for this course. Each student will be placed at an institutional site (retail or hospital) for on-the-job training and experience. Students will be supervised by a registered, licensed pharmacist. Students will be assigned activities and maybe evaluated in the following performance areas: (1) performance of job duties; (2) working knowledge of administrative structure and systems; (3) compliance with institution’s policies and procedures; (4) perform billing operations; (5) use of drug dispensing systems; (6) compound, package and label medications; (7) process data on an electronic system; (8) prepare substances; (9) use of proper procedures in working with controlled substances; (10) inventory maintenance; (11) use of technology, including computer systems and robots; (12) record-keeping.