Many Career Options Await Pharmacy Tech Graduates

Over 3 billion prescriptions are filled in the United States each year. Kimberly Brown, director of Walters State’s Pharmacy Technician program, works hard to make sure prescriptions filled in this area are done right – by certified pharmacy technicians.

Certified pharmacy technicians who graduates from the program have a nearly 90 percent placement rate.

“With the skills you learn in this program, you can always find a job. New pharmacies are always being built,” Brown said.

Brown said many students choose to be a pharmacy technician as a life-long career while others find the job opens doors to other health care careers. Graduates have decided to go on to pharmacy school, become a nurse or even enter pharmaceutical sales. Those career transitions also create new openings.

Walters State’s Pharmacy Technician program is one of only seven in Tennessee accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

The program lasts three semesters. The last semester involves no actual classes. Instead, students do clinical rotations and gain experience in retail and institutional settings. After completing degree requirements, students are eligible to sit for the national certification exam.

Brown said that what graduates do is determined by the setting. Working in a drugstore is much different than working in a hospital.

“Technicians always work under the pharmacist’s supervision. In a retail setting, technicians process prescriptions, deal with insurance issues and usually do inventory management along with other responsibilities,” Brown explained.

“In an institutional setting like a hospital, a technician might be making I.V. medications, preparing critical care medications and delivering those to the nurses station.”           

Brown makes sure students are qualified for either field.

“During the first semester we have an introductory class where students learn everything about the top 300 drugs, including prescription processing, pharmacy calculations and general compounding. In the next semester, students study in-depth pharmacology, including over-the-counter medicines, herbal remedies and I.V. compounding,” she added.

For information on the Pharmacy Technician program, call Brown at (423) 318-2757.