Becoming a pharmacy tech

[Shooto2000]

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I looked into a few pharmacy tech programs here in San Diego and they all take about 8 months, they usually cost somewhere between $8000-10000. I figure that is just way to much money to dish out if that can go for my pre-pharmacy classes. Is there another way to become a pharmacy tech or is going to a vocational school the only way?

 

[PharmEm]

When I took my pharm-tech test there were a lot of people in the room that were saying they took some class. I had no idea what they were talking about b/c me and my friends just went to barnes and noble everyday for about a week before the test and and used a pharm-tech study guide there. I really dont think you need to take the class and 8k-10k is a LOT of moeny.

 

[aquaregia]

If you're in high school, there are often vocational programs that will foot the bill. My high school did, but I wasn't the inclined at the time to enroll.
Several cities also have vocational programs that are low-cost or free for training pharmacy clerks. This is good if you want pharmacy exposure but not necessarily licensure as a PT. However, enrolling in such a program may be better for networking or for landing you a job than for teaching you much. I have several friends who got jobs as pharmacy clerks w/o any formal training.
As for me, I got licensed using a Pharm Tech book (there are tons of them available online- B&N, Amazon, etc.). Basically, just study from the book and take the national exam (www.ptcb.org). After passing the test you may need to get licensed in your state, but this just involves paperwork & additional fees.

 

[sugarpinkhat]

Work as a clerk for one of the retail chains like Sav-on, Walgreens, Longs, Rite-Aid. If they are comfortable with you, they can offer you tech classes where they foot the bill. You take an exam and then file with the state. It's not a bad route at all.

 

[LVPharm]

Best thing is to work at some capacity for a chain, and hopefully have them foot the bill for futher training, as the previous poster mentioned.

When it comes to affordability, community colleges are great...but the only community college offering a "pharmacy technology" course of study near where you live is up north of you in Orange County, at Santa Ana College. Depends on how far north in SD county you live. The commute from central OC to SD can be a major pain in the you know what.

http://www.sac.edu/faculty_staff/academic_progs/departments/pharmacy/

 

[CSzGirl]

Move to Oregon. All you have to do to get licensed as a pharm tech here is to pass a criminal background check. No test required.

 

[kittella]

I live in Texas and I did the same thing that another person already mentioned. Except I bought the book.. 😛 I had no previous pharmacy experience...I just studied the book for a couple of hours for about 2 nights and then I went to take the tech exam.. during the beginning of the test i was worried that i wasn't prepared enough but towards the end i got confident... and i passed it the first time i took it. as i was waiting in line to take the tech exam i overheard a lot people saying they were there for second and third times so it may have psyched me out a little bit hehe... cos they were saying they already had lots of pharmacy experience and i had zero. i wouldn't waste my money on those classes... that's ******edly expensive... all it cost me was the price of the exam.. and later on... the price of getting registered here in Texas...
but i do think i was lucky to find a place to work that was willing to train me after getting certified..

 

[SoCalGirl83]

Work as a clerk for one of the retail chains like Sav-on, Walgreens, Longs, Rite-Aid. If they are comfortable with you, they can offer you tech classes where they foot the bill. You take an exam and then file with the state. It's not a bad route at all.

i worked as a clerk at sav-on and after about 6 months they sent me to a tech class. not only did they pay for the classes, but they paid me my regular hourly wage to go!! 👍

 

[pharmstar]

I'm from SAN DIEGO also and have my Pharm Tech License. If you look at the California state pharmacy website, they list the possible routes to get your P-tech license. One of the possible ways is having taken 2yrs of science courses (like a AA degree --> which is a 2 year degree at a community college) And I use my BS degree from ucsd, to qualify. I submitted my transcripts along with my fingerprints from the police department, and a fee and VOILA I got my license.
Or I suggest attending a ROP program (similar to maric college but not as expensvie) http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/rop/ the classes might be free or can probably be paid with college BOGS waiver.
PS if you get your license by completing sceince courses (you probably might not 100% off in starting as a Tech in a store without some kind of hands on training, which can either be done with training session provided by the retail store or starting out as an ancillary). You need to learn brand drug names and generic names. And to read and type SIGS. And other tech duties. PM me if you have more questions.

 

[sugarpinkhat]

I'm from SAN DIEGO also and have my Pharm Tech License. If you look at the California state pharmacy website, they list the possible routes to get your P-tech license. One of the possible ways is having taken 2yrs of science courses (like a AA degree --> which is a 2 year degree at a community college) And I use my BS degree from ucsd, to qualify.

I don't believe you can use a degree anymore unfortunately. They have modified the ways to get a license. No more working a certain amount of hours either.

 

[sugarpinkhat]

i worked as a clerk at sav-on and after about 6 months they sent me to a tech class. not only did they pay for the classes, but they paid me my regular hourly wage to go!! 👍

I work for *cough* Rite-Aid and they would do no such thing. Grrr.

 

[Rmars39901]

Checkout www.ipharmtech.com.... I used that program to prepare for my test. You can also get CE credits with it...