The Pharmacy Technician major prepares students to be registered pharmacy technicians and for employment in a variety of pharmacy settings. Upon successful completion of the program, students will be awarded the Associate of Science and are qualified to apply to the California State Board of Pharmacy for registration as a pharmacy technician. Registration is a legal requirement for employment. Graduates are also encouraged to sit for the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam. While not currently a state requirement for employment, many employers provide increased compensation to pharmacy technicians once they become nationally certified.

Pharmacy technicians work under the supervision of licensed pharmacists to perform technical duties in the systematic operation of the pharmacy--providing health care services and medications to patients. Technicians may perform many of the same duties as pharmacists; however, all of a technician's work must be checked by a pharmacist before medicine can be dispensed to a patient.

Program Student Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program, the student will be able to:
✔ Pharmacologically classify a drug after having been presented with its generic name, brand (trade) name, chemical name and indication;
✔ interpret current federal and state legislation and name the agencies regulating the practice of pharmacy;
✔ create patient profiles utilizing information obtained from the prescription and the patient;
✔ read and write proper medical notation on the drug order and interpret information on drug labels and stock bottles;
✔ calculate the oral dosages of drugs, both solid and liquid forms based on currently accepted pharmaceutical mathematics;
✔ describe the pharmacological action, therapeutic effects, common side effects, doses and drug interactions of common medications prescribed to treat dysfunction of selected body systems; and
✔ describe common pharmaceutical measuring, weighing and compounding devices and accurately use the metric, apothecary, avoirdupois and household systems to count and measure.