INA, Ill. (May 21, 2015) - A new certificate at Rend Lake College is making it easier for those who work or care for others during the day to get back to school and start a new career at night. The Pharmacy Technician program is enrolling now for Fall 2015 classes, giving students the chance to have a new profession in one semester.
The occupational certificate includes 16 credit hours, or one semester, of courses on RLC’s campus and in the local community through a retail pharmacy and hospital clinical. Those courses are Pharmacology and Medical Calculations, Pharmacy Technician Practices, Pharmacy Drug Distribution, Pharmacy Community Clinical, and Pharmacy Hospital Clinical.
The Community and Hospital clinical courses will be assigned after the start of the semester. The remaining three courses will meet on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights in the Science Building, Room 116: Pharmacology and Medical Calculations from 5 - 8:50 p.m. Mondays, Pharmacy Technician Practices from 5 - 8 p.m. Tuesdays, and Pharmacy Drug Distribution from 5 - 9:15 p.m. Wednesdays. All Fall 2015 courses start Monday, Aug. 17.
Pharmacy technicians combine good customer service skills with their certificate to help dispense prescription medications in pharmacies and hospitals. Other duties typically include taking prescription information from customers; measuring, packaging, and labeling prescriptions; keeping track of inventory; and processing insurance information.
Graduates of the program will have the technical skills and knowledge needed to practice in a variety of pharmacy settings under a registered pharmacist. Students will also be eligible to sit for the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Examination, offered by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for pharmacy technicians is projected to grow 20 percent from 2012 to 2022, faster than the average for all occupations. This will be due in part to an aging population requiring more medications, as well as increased access to insurance coverage by more customers.
More information can be found online at www.rlc.edu/allied-health/pharmacy-technician. To register for classes in the Pharmacy Technician program, contact RLC’s Allied Health Division at 618-437-5321, Ext. 1769.
