Pharmacy Technician
If you are interested in the field of healthcare, becoming a pharmacy technician is
a great place to start. The Pharmacy Technician Program at Columbus State gets you
job-ready in just two semesters!
The Pharmacy Technician Program provides training in the basic elements of the field
of pharmacy such as medical abbreviations, prescription writing and interpretation,
drug forms and routes of administration, non-sterile and sterile compounding, as well
as developing relationships between the pharmacist and the pharmacy technician. The
objective of this program is to prepare graduates for national certification to obtain
entry-level positions in both outpatient and inpatient work locations including retail
or mail-order pharmacies, hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted-living facilities.
Get Job-Ready in Two Semesters
Program completion normally requires 26 to 32 weeks of instruction for full-time students, which are delivered over a 2-semester period. We offer two start dates a year,Autumn or Spring semester. The application deadline for Autumn semester is August 1st or until program is full. The application deadline for Spring semester is December 15th or until program is full. The program is divided into didactic, simulated, and experiental components, including a 140-hour externship period required for ASHP accredidation.
In order to be eligible for the externship period, students must successfully complete all courses in the academic period with a “C” or higher.
Students enrolling in the Pharmacy Technician Program will be subject to at least one background check and drug screening.
Plan of Study Information
Beginning in Spring of 2019, the Pharmacy Technician Program plan of study changed to accommodate both state and federal requirements. Students that completed coursework prior to Spring 2019 can no longer complete coursework under the previous certificate.