How to become certified pharmacy tech?

How can I become a certified pharmacy tech? Can I just take the test?

• I want to get experience working in a pharmacy because I'll be going to pharmacy school.

• Answer:

  It varies from state to state, but I think the normal requirements are 2 years of work in a pharmacy or 2-3000 work hours on the job (rough equivalent of 2 years, forgive me for not being precise). It would be a great prospect for a future pharmacist, but you should know that you do not need to become a tech to get experience in pharmacy at all. If you're still in highschool, visit your local hospital and set up a meeting with the clinical pharmacist or director there, explain that you're interested in entering the pharmacy program at the college you plan on attending and more often than not, they will schedule you to shadow them for a day and take you around to tour the hospital pharmacist's duties (if you're truly interested, they might hire you back for summer work when you've entered the actual school of pharmacy). Also, this can be done at any local pharmacy or pharmacy chain. All pharmacy students are required to work as interns and externs as part of their "rotation" period. During this time they visit various pharmaceutical institutions and work hands on with the professionals there to get first hand experience at what board certified pharmacists do day to day. This will help you determine what kind of pharmacist you would like to become, whether it be retail, hospital, or something more administrative. When you actually enter the school of pharmacy at your college, revisit the place you shadowed and see if they participate in rotations and see if you can get a rotation there in the future. Hope this helps :)