Health care is a booming field these days, and pharmacy technicians are in high demand. In this course, you'll take a look at the many job settings and career paths open to you if you become a pharmacy technician. You'll master the skills you need to get an entry-level position as a pharmacy tech or clerk.
In addition, you'll learn about the important laws and regulations that govern pharmacies. You'll also hone your communication skills, learning how to handle customers courteously and efficiently. Finally, you'll explore the steps you can take to enhance your career prospects becoming a Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT). By the time you're done, you'll be prepared to start your career in this popular and rapidly-growing field.
Betty Stahl holds a doctorate in pharmacy from Shenandoah University. Over the past several years, she has taught pharmacy technician programs at ASA College in New York City and ACT in Arlington, Virginia. Stahl has also worked as a pharmacist in independent and hospital settings.
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.
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Lesson 1
What Is a Pharmacy Technician?
In this first lesson, you'll discover what it is that pharmacy technicians actually do. You'll explore the various types of pharmacies a technician can work in—there is so much more than retail stores and hospitals. The lesson will talk about the education and skills that pharmacists expect to see in a good technician. By the end of this lesson, you'll realize the many different paths that a technician can take for a successful and rewarding career in the profession of pharmacy.
Learn About Pharmacology
In the second lesson, you'll get an overview of the science called pharmacology. You'll review the variety of ways drugs enter the human body, and explore how those drugs work once they get inside. You'll also learn how drugs can cause a positive or negative effect. A pharmacy technician who has this basic knowledge is a great asset to the pharmacist.
Understanding Pharmacy Rules and Regulations
In this lesson, you'll walk through the major laws that dictate how pharmacies operate. This topic might sound like it could be a little dry, but it's more interesting than you think, and it's important that pharmacy technicians understand their boundaries. You'll only cover federal laws in this course, even though some states may have different statutes. You'll review the difference between the various narcotic classes, along with some examples for each one. You'll also discuss the importance of confidentiality and the penalties for violating this very important law. By the end of this third lesson, you should have an even bigger picture of what pharmacy is about and how important it is to be a very conscientious, detail-oriented person.
A Look Inside a Working Pharmacy
In this lesson, you'll go through a typical day in both a retail pharmacy and a hospital pharmacy, identifying both their similarities and their differences. When you finish this lesson, you might already have a good idea about which type of pharmacy technician you'd like to become.
What Do All These Medical Words Mean?
Medical terminology seems like a foreign language. But, by learning about each part of the word, you can better figure out its meaning. In this lesson, you'll explore the meanings of the root words, prefixes, and suffixes that make up most medical terms and then look at the smaller components to determine what the whole word means. Abbreviations are also a big part of medical terminology, so you'll spend some time reviewing some of the more common ones used in the profession.
Anti-Infectives: The Drugs That Kill the Bugs
This lesson ventures through some of the most common antibiotics, antifungals, and antivirals, and for each category, and gives you an example or two of a patient taking that drug so that you understand what it is and gain a better understanding why the doctor prescribed it.
Your Core: Heart, Lungs, and Stomach
In this lesson, you'll discuss some of the common drugs that doctors prescribe for high blood pressure and prevention of heart attacks. You'll also go over respiratory drugs, including asthma medicines and a variety of cough and cold agents. And, you learn some of the drugs you might use to help with various stomach discomforts, like heartburn, diarrhea, and constipation.
The Central Nervous System: Pain and Brain Drugs
This lesson will take a look at some drugs that control pain. You'll explore some of the narcotic drugs, migraine medications, and pain relievers that customers can buy over the counter or obtain through a prescription. You'll also spend some time going over drugs that doctors prescribe for seizures, ADD/ADHD, and Alzheimer's disease.
Hormones, Eyes, and Ears
In this lesson, you'll dive into the world of hormones. You'll discuss drugs that doctors prescribe to treat the thyroid, control diabetes, and provide birth control. You'll also look at some common drugs that patients use for eye infections—things like eye drops and ointments. Ear infections also require medications, so you'll study some of those, too.
Time to Do a Little Math
Next, you'll take a journey through the metric and apothecary systems of measurements as you review how math is used in the world of pharmacy. You'll begin by practicing some common conversions and calculating some dosages for prescriptions. You'll also venture into some hospital math to learn how to determine IV flow rates. The last thing you'll cover will be a little business math. It'll be helpful for you to know how to calculate the prescription price and how to figure out how much money an insurance company will reimburse the pharmacy.
Communication
This lesson discusses the many ways you communicate in pharmacy. You'll review how to communicate with your fellow employees and other professionals, and go over all the dos and don'ts of talking with customers.
Future of Pharmacy Technicians
In this final lesson, you'll explore the outlook for a career as a pharmacy technician. You'll also revisit the key points you've studied on this journey toward becoming a pharmacy technician, and understand the next steps to take after you complete this course.
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