TLU News
TLU offers pharmacy tech course
June 20th, 2008
| Contact | Dr. Rosemary Dawson
Director, Center for Professional Development
Phone: 830-372-8047
E-mail: cpd@tlu.edu | |
SEGUIN – Beginning Aug. 4, the Center for Professional Development at Texas Lutheran University will offer a 50-hour evening course that will prepare students to join one of the fastest growing professions in the country - pharmacy technician.
The course will be taught by Amy Witte, doctor of pharmacy and assistant professor at the University of the Incarnate Word Feik School of Pharmacy. She will teach the course on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6-9:30 p.m. in Tschoepe Hall on the TLU campus.
The fee for the 50-hour pharmacy technician course is $999, which includes texts and materials. This program has been approved for payment by the Texas Workforce Commission for eligible TWC clients. Students may apply for Sallie Mae loans through TLU’s partner, Condensed Curriculum International, Inc. (CCI).
According to the National Pharmacy Technician Association, more than 39,000 pharmacy technician jobs open each year, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that pharmacy technician jobs will grow more than 32 percent over the next decade.
Pharmacy technicians work in retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, home infusion pharmacies, long term care facilities, hospitals, clinics, pharmacy benefit organizations, and large industrial complexes.
The high demand for pharmacy technicians is the result of the increased availability of new drugs, the national shortage of registered pharmacists, the establishment of certified pharmacy technicians, and the aging population. The number of prescriptions filled increased by 60 percent in the span of a decade, rising from 1.9 million in 1992 to 3.1 million in 2002, according to the Association of Counter Drug Stores.
With increased demand, the role of pharmacy technicians is changing as they assume responsibilities for a range of tasks that were previously reserved for pharmacists or pharmacy aides. Pharmacy technicians are responsible for measuring, recording and labeling medications, and they are also taking on more administrative duties, including updating patient profiles, preparing insurance claims, and taking inventory of pharmacy stock.
Call or e-mail the Center for Professional Development at 830-372-8047 or
cpd@tlu.edu to receive additional information. Complete information is available on the university’s Web site at
www.tlu.edu/pharmacy_technician_certification_program.
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