Additional Information
Certification for pharmacy technicians is voluntary in the United States.
Certified pharmacy technicians may use the letters CPhT after their name.
The certification process involves requesting an application from the Pharmacy
Technician Certification Board, completing the application and sending it
in with the required fee. The applicant is allowed three hours to complete
the exam.
Once the technician becomes certified, they must complete 20 continuing
education units over the two-year certification period.
"As for certification, I firmly feel that it is the best route to go,"
says technician Andrew Cordiale. "Many states in the U.S. are offering the
test and recognizing it for certification of technicians. It is not absolutely
imperative as of today, but it may be in just a few years. Why wait when one
can go out and receive certification on a voluntary basis now?"
If you're interested in becoming a pharmacy technician, do some research.
Along with learning about the job, it's a good idea to take as many math,
chemistry and biology courses as possible.
It used to be that anyone with a high school diploma could get a job in
a pharmacy and work up to a pharmacy technician's position. Not anymore. These
days, technicians must have some additional training.
"These days, you can't even get in the door of the pharmacy without some
formal education," says Ruth Tucker, a pharmacy technician.
Formal pharmacy technician programs generally run one or two years. They
include both classroom and on-the-job learning.