A pharmacy technician is one who does pharmacy related work under the direct supervision of a pharmacist. Although techs often prepare medications for customers, the medications are checked by the pharmacist before they go to the patient. Other duties such as cashier duties are usually done by the pharmacy tech, but techs cannot give medical advice or information about medications to customers. By law, that type of information can only be given by a licensed pharmacist.

In some parts of the country, those who wish to become a tech are required to take a training course, and work an unpaid externship to complete a formal pharmacy tech training program. In most parts of the country, training and certification exams are not required, but still highly desired because pharmacies do not want to incur the costs of training new employees.

Pharmacy Technician Training Programs

Training programs can be found in community colleges, private vocational schools, hospitals, community learning programs, and even some pharmacies as a part of employment training. The training typically lasts about nine months at the most, so the cost to the student is not as high as the cost of completing a college degree. In some cases, federal financial aid is available. Given the current state of the economy, the vast majority of pharmacies prefer applicants that already have formal training rather than those that need extensive training.