Six-month hospital-pharmacy-based technician training program

Abstract

A six-month training program for hospital pharmacy technicians is described. The development of this program was stimulated by the need to use departmental resources more efficiently and the desire of local hospital pharmacy directors to have trained technicians. Financial support was sought and received from the local Private Industry Council. The department selects 10 students and two alternates for each class on the basis of test performance and an interview. The program consists of 1014 scheduled hours of instruction. The first week is spent orienting the students to the program and general hospital pharmacy concepts. The next six weeks are spent in a laboratory where the students acquire their basic skills. The rest of the program, approximately 4.5 months, is spent in on-the-job training, additional didactic lectures, and field trips. The students are evaluated routinely throughout the program. At the end of the program, each participant is granted a certificate. Attrition has been low; three classes have completed the program, and 28 technicians have graduated. Twenty-five of these technicians are now employed full-time. Positive feedback has been received from the technicians' employers. This program meets the need of area hospital pharmacies to recruit trained technicians.