Diploma
The pharmaceutical industry is an exciting career field with promising opportunities. When you earn a diploma from our pharmacy technician program, you can acquire the knowledge, skills, and work habits you need to pursue a career as a pharmacy technician—a career field that the U.S. Department of Labor predicts to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2018.*
At Kaplan College, we want to help you obtain a fulfilling pharmaceutical career with a bright future. As a pharmacy technician graduate, you could have the ability to make a difference in people’s lives where it counts the most–their health. By working with your patients and giving them proper medication, you can help them take better care of themselves.
Career Responsibilities
As a pharmacy technician you will work directly under the supervision of a registered pharmacist, preparing prescription medications for distribution to patients. You may be responsible for obtaining refill authorizations, transcribing doctors' orders, and processing insurance claims. Other daily activities may include assisting with quality management and security measures and monitoring, ordering, and stocking inventory. You may be required to:
- Establish and maintain patient profiles and enter patient information into a computerized database
- File insurance claim forms and deal with insurance companies
- Maintain inventory of prescription and over-the-counter medications
- Prepare prescription labels, select the type of prescription container, and affix labels to the container
- Verify that prescription information is complete and accurate
Our Pharmacy Technician Diploma program is taught by qualified faculty members whose goal is to help you stand out to local employers. Our innovative curriculum is designed to teach you the interpersonal and communication skills sought by today’s pharmacists. At Kaplan College, you could graduate with the specific skills needed to become successful in the pharmaceutical field.
A Career-Focused Curriculum
Your courses will include classroom teaching and lab training in a variety of topics relevant to careers in the pharmaceutical industry, including:
- Sterile product preparations
- Prescription order processing
- Computer applications and career development
- Pharmacology and the apocrine systems
- Pharmacology and the nervous system
- Pharmacy law, regulations, and business applications
Courses may also emphasize storage of drugs, maintaining inventory control, stocking procedures, and handling outdated items. You will also have the opportunity to learn trade and generic names of medications, how drugs affect the various systems of the body, first aid, CPR, and computer software applications.
As a graduate of Kaplan College's pharmacy technician program, you may apply for an entry-level position at pharmacies in retail, hospital, and mail order settings. You may also find positions available in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
Real-World Externship Experience
Kaplan College emphasizes hands-on training and experiences that help prepare you for employment as soon as you graduate. Prior to graduation, you will complete an externship at an approved retail, hospital, or residential pharmacy or other pharmaceutical facility where you can apply the knowledge, skills, and work habits you learn in school in a real-world career setting. The externship program allows you to interact with medical professionals and gain the experience employers demand.
Prepare for Certification
Becoming certified is a great way to show employers that you have the knowledge and skills necessary to work effectively as a pharmacy technician. This program can help you prepare for the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE) sponsored by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB).†