How long does a pharmacy technician training program need to be in order to become accredited and how should it be structured?
Pharmacy technician training programs seeking accreditation must be a minimum of 600 hours of training (contact) time, extending over a period of 15 weeks or longer. The period of training must include time allocated for didactic, laboratory, and experiential training. Some programs may need to lengthen training schedules to provide more in-depth coverage of educational goals and objectives to meet the market needs of the pharmacy community. Appropriate laboratory exercises (e.g., extemporaneous compounding, sterile product preparation, unit dose drug distribution, filling of outpatient prescriptions), including computerized application of record keeping and drug distribution systems, shall be used to reinforce classroom instruction before onsite experiential training begins. Laboratory exercises should be adequate in scope to prepare the trainee for practice in a variety of pharmacy settings, e.g., acute care, ambulatory care, chronic care. The trainee’s experiential activities should
