HLTH7700 - Pharmacy Technician Training Program

Course Description

This 240-hour, two-semester noncredit workforce program prepares adult learners for entry-level pharmacy technician responsibilities in community and other pharmacy practice settings. The Fall didactic course develops knowledge and skills in pharmacy operations, medication classifications, pharmacy mathematics, federal and Hawaiʻi requirements, patient safety and quality assurance, prescription order entry and processing, professionalism, communication, and PTCE preparation. The Spring externship provides 120 hours of supervised workplace experience with CVS Health/Longs Drugs or another approved partner site.

The curriculum integrates weekly pharmacy mathematics, cumulative study of the Top 200 medications, domain-tagged PTCE practice, applied workplace cases, mastery checks, and remediation. Students transition from classroom preparation to supervised practice while maintaining confidentiality, safety, professionalism, and the limits of the pharmacy technician role.

Course Outline

Weekly online modules open on Monday and are due on Sunday. Modules remain available for eligible late submissions.

Fall 2026: Pharmacy Technician Foundations

• Weeks 1-2: Self-Assessment and Academic Success Effective learning strategies, PTCE preparation, and pharmacy calculations.
• Weeks 3-4: Introduction to Pharmacy Practice Pharmacy technician roles, pharmacy law and regulations, prescription processing, and community, hospital, ambulatory, home-care, and specialty pharmacy settings.
• Weeks 5-8: Pharmacy Science Anatomy and physiology, drug classifications, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, medication dosage forms, and routes of administration.
• Weeks 9-13: Pharmacy Practice Skills Communication and teamwork, medication-order processing, pharmacy calculations, nonsterile and sterile compounding, aseptic technique, and medication safety.
• Weeks 14-15: Pharmacy Business Applications Pharmacy technology and informatics, pharmaceutical supply-chain management, inventory, billing, and reimbursement.

Spring 2027: Certification and Externship

• Preparation for entering the pharmacy workplace.
• PTCE review covering medications, federal and state requirements, medication safety, and order entry and processing.
• CVS Health experiential externship.

The 120 hour externship is completed over 15 weeks, averaging 8 hours per week. Students may be scheduled Monday through Friday based on arrangements with their assigned CVS location.

Learner Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will demonstrate at least 80% mastery of course assessments in the following PTCE content areas:

Medications — 35%

• Identify common generic and brand-name medications.
• Recognize medication classifications and uses.
• Identify common interactions, contraindications, allergies, and side effects.
• Interpret medication strengths, doses, dosage forms, and routes.
• Explain medication stability, storage, and handling requirements.

Federal Requirements — 18.75%

• Apply federal requirements for controlled substances.
• Identify DEA schedules and prescription requirements.
• Follow procedures for storing, dispensing, returning, and destroying medications.
• Explain requirements for restricted drugs, REMS, recalls, and drug take-back programs.
• Apply DSCSA requirements for medication tracking and quarantine.
• Recognize applicable Hawaiʻi pharmacy laws and regulations.

Patient Safety and Quality Assurance — 23.75%

• Identify high-alert and look-alike/sound-alike medications.
• Apply medication-error prevention strategies.
• Recognize situations requiring pharmacist intervention.
• Follow procedures for reporting errors, adverse events, and near misses.
• Explain root-cause analysis and continuous quality improvement.
• Apply infection-prevention, cleaning, and personal protective equipment standards.

Order Entry and Processing — 22.50%

• Perform pharmacy calculations and conversions.
• Interpret prescription abbreviations, terminology, symbols, and Sig codes.
• Calculate doses, quantities, concentrations, dilutions, and days’ supply.
• Identify medication-administration equipment and supplies.
• Interpret lot numbers, expiration dates, and National Drug Code numbers.
• Follow procedures for medication returns, return-to-stock, credits, and reverse distribution.

The 80% requirement is the course mastery standard. The PTCB uses a scaled score to determine whether a candidate passes the PTCE.