I'm taking my liberal arts courses at my local community college with attentions of transferring to a university to get my bachleors and I recently started looking into a career as a pharmacist. I haven't shadowed a pharmacist yet and I was thinking of going to kaplan part time to get my pharmacy technician diploma so i can get a job as a pharmacy tech and gain experience. Now my question is, would it be smarter to shadow a pharmacist and possibly have the opportunity to land a job as a pharmacy tech and just get trained on the job rather than having to take out another loan to get a pharmacy technician diploma.
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need some advice
Started by smooveguy89
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You may need certification and/or licensure to legally work as a tech, depending on your state.
i live in wisconsin..i believe i do.
anyone??
Don't ever waste your money on Kaplan for a tech certification. Shadow a pharmacist first. Then, take the PTCB national certification exam. Then get your state tech license. Then look for a tech job. All in that order.
I'd start looking for the job first. Network immediately, make phone calls, walk into pharmacies. Waiting for the entire process to finish can take months. Aside from that, Lea is, as always, +1.
You make an excellent point. Back when I started as a tech (2004, O.M.G. I know I am old), things were much easier. There are, from what I hear, some places that don't require the national cert to start...
That reminds me.... come to think of it, many states offer the "technician trainee" license. OP, call your state board and see if they can offer you a tech trainee license and use that to try to get into a pharmacy somewhere. The company might train you and pay for your national test. Sci is right, in this market, you are really going to have to put yourself out there.... do it...now!
To the OP: You might ask someone in your community, maybe even a local Walgreens or whatever, if you need to be certified/registered to work as a technician.
I don't know for sure, but I couldn't find a hard and fast requirement in your state's pharmacy legislation.
http://nxt.legis.state.wi.us/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=default.htm&d=code&jd=top
If that's the case, you don't even need to waste the money on the test prior to hire. Like it was said above, start calling around and see who's hiring. Then see if they'd take you without certification. Then fill out their app. Quickly. 🙂
I don't know for sure, but I couldn't find a hard and fast requirement in your state's pharmacy legislation.
http://nxt.legis.state.wi.us/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=default.htm&d=code&jd=top
If that's the case, you don't even need to waste the money on the test prior to hire. Like it was said above, start calling around and see who's hiring. Then see if they'd take you without certification. Then fill out their app. Quickly. 🙂
