How to become a Pharmacy Tech?

How to become a Pharmacy Tech?

• I went to trade school for massage therapy but it is a horrible career choice for men. You will not be hired anywhere. I am thinking about becoming a pharmacy technician. My friend became one, and he has no complaints. Is it relatively easy to acquire a job as a pharm tech? and where can i go study? I was thinking Penn Foster, but ittakes 1 year. I've heard other places take only a few months. Any help would be highly appreciated. Thanks

• Answer:

  First you need to check your state's requirements. Some states require training through certain approved schools, PTCB certification, on-the-job training, registering with the state board, a combination of these or none of these. So you need to check what your state requires first. You can check state requirements at http://pharmtechtraining.net/state-requirements.html A lot of online training courses are self paced which means that you work on them at your own pace. So if you have a lot of time to devote to training, you could be done in about 2 months (if you devoted about 40 hours per week) or it could take longer- up to a year even if you devote just a few hours per week. So yes you could be done in months if you have the time and devotion to do so. If your state doesn't care which school you attend, I suggest a school called Career Step. They are a great online school that is self paced and they actually created their course to help grads pass the PTCB exam. They just started offering externships with CVS and Walgreen's too so you can get some hands-on experience as well as start to build relationships in the industry. You can learn more about them and their extrenship programs on their website. http://www.careerstep.com/pharmacy-technician-careers/?uid=ref10077 As far as opportunity/growth and ability to find a job, I have this data for you: The US Department of Labor estimates the employment of pharmacy technicians to grow 31% through 2018 which is much faster than the average. The healthcare industry is a very stable industry. This is because people will always need to see doctors and take medicine. The increased number of middle-aged and elderly people—who use more prescription drugs than younger people—will spur demand for pharmacy workers throughout the projection period. In addition, as scientific advances lead to new drugs, and as more people obtain prescription drug coverage, pharmacy workers will be needed in growing numbers. Job opportunities are expected to be good, especially for those with previous experience, formal training, or certification. Hope this is what you were looking for! Good luck!