• Checking inventories and ordering supplies,
• receiving and checking in supplies,
• assisting customers,
• general maintenance of pharmacy work areas,
• completion of insurance forms,
• preparation of "bingo cards" for nursing home patients.

This comprehensive 50 hour course prepares students to enter the field of pharmacy as technicians and to take the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board's PTCB exam.

Employment Opportunities: 

Pharmacy Technicians may work in retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, home infusion pharmacies, long term care facilities, hospitals, clinics, and large industrial complexes. Demand for individuals who have been trained as Pharmacy Technicians continues due to a national shortage of registered pharmacists, an aging population, and the establishment of a certification for Pharmacy Technicians. 

Program Requirements:

Students registering for the Pharmacy Technician certification program should have taken math and science classes in high school. A high school diploma or GED is required in order to take the PTCB exam.

Course Information:

The following subjects are covered in the Pharmacy Technician certification program -

• The role of the pharmacy technician,
• pharmacy history/discussion of different practice settings and the technician certification process,
• recruitment by pharmacy specialty,
• "Evolution of Pharmacy"
• review of the hospital pharmacy setting, retail practice, regulatory agencies involved with a pharmacy practice, long-term care practice setting, mail order pharmacy, and home care pharmacy practice,
• pharmacy measures, roman numerals and abbreviations,
• review of generic drugs, basic biopharmaceuticals, dosage forms, patient profiles,
• prescription label requirements, order transcription, ordering and inventory control, drug pricing, 3rd party reimbursement,
• formularies,unit dose systems, emergency and crash carts, house supplies, automatic stop orders, calculating number of doses required,
• all major classes of drugs including top brand name and generic drugs,
• aseptic technique, handling of sterile products including antineoplastic agent considerations,
• basics of IV solutions, calculating 24 hour supply of IV solutions, percentages and electrolytes preparations,
• the metric system, apothecaries' and avoirdupois systems of measurement,
• children's doses,
• allegation method, math review,
• Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN), demonstration of TPN admixture, hands-on practice of IV admixture and parenteral medication preparation.

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Registration Information:

The Pharmacy Technician Certification Preparation course runs Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00PM until 9:30PM. The course runs from Monday September 22nd, 2008 to Monday November 10th, 2008. To submit an inquiry, please click here.

The course runs for a total of 50 hours. The fee for the class is $999.00 (including textbooks). 

The registration form is available for downloading by clicking here. Registration is easy and can be done by one of the following ways:

By Phone:    Call 718-405-3321. Credit card registration only.
By Fax:        Send your completed form and payment information to 718-405-3764.
By E-mail:    tamara.arbesman@mountsaintvincent.edu
By Mail:       Complete the registration form and send it with a check, money order or credit card information.

                   Checks can be made payable to: College of Mount Saint Vincent.

                    Mailing Address:  Tamara Arbesman, Director, Marketing and Recruitment
                                                College of Mount Saint Vincent 
                                                6301 Riverdale Avenue, Administration Building, Suite 304
                                                Riverdale, NY  10471

In Person:   Completed registration forms can be submitted in person to the address noted above.

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