Earn Your Way to a Career as a Pharmacy Technician
Cincinnati Children's is collaborating with an online program to provide an American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) accredited training program for pharmacy technicians. The education and training is designed to provide individuals with little-to-no pharmacy experience with the knowledge and skills to be a successful pharmacy technician. The training takes about 3-4 months to complete and begins with online coursework that progresses to simulated activities, followed by hands-on experiential training in one of our pharmacies.
Why Choose a Career as a Pharmacy Technician?
- Pharmacy technicians are in high demand throughout the country - They are the backbone of the pharmacy and serve vital roles in providing meaningful and safe care for our patients. Here at Children’s, you have the opportunity to work alongside a variety of healthcare professionals to ensure our pediatric patients’ medications are prepared accurately and delivered in a timely manner.
- Continuous career progression - Pharmacy services continue to evolve, leading to role expansion in both technical and clinical aspects for pharmacy technicians. There are multiple career paths available for pharmacy technicians, including retail, hospital, nursing homes, home infusion pharmacies, specialty pharmacies, automation, compounding pharmacies, manufacturing, and more.
- Daily variety - Pharmacy technicians complete a wide array of tasks making each day new and exciting.
- Lifelong skills - Pharmacy technicians learn useful skills that extend beyond the realm of pharmacy and set you up for success in other aspects of your life.
Minimum Qualifications
- 18 years of age
- Possess a High School Diploma or equivalent
- Full-time commitment for approximately 1.5 years (40 hours per week)
- Didactic portion of the program – Must be available Mon-Fri from 7:30 am - 4:00 pm until completion of the online coursework
- Experiential training – Once the didactic portion is complete, hands-on training will begin. Must be available to work full-time as a pharmacy technician at Cincinnati Children's. Shifts vary between days and evenings, every other or every 3rd weekend, rotating holidays, and on-call coverage.
How much does the Program cost?
The program cost is covered by Cincinnati Children's, provided a work commitment of 1 year is agreed upon by the applicant. The work commitment is full-time and begins after the successful completion of the training program. An open position must be available, as well as offered to the student. Obtaining certification via the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) is also required. The exam via PTCB costs $130 and one attempt is included in the cost of the program.
Students are required to enroll as a "Trainee" with the Ohio Board of Pharmacy and must pay a $25 application fee. In order to apply, students will need their high school diploma or equivalent as well as FBI and BCI background checks, which can be completed at Cincinnati Children's.
Students will be paid $15.50 per hour throughout the training program.
What to expect as a Pharmacy Technician?
After successful completion of the training program the student is eligible to apply for an open pharmacy Technician I position at Cincinnati Children's, provided one is available. If a position is offered, the participant would be promoted from a Trainee to a Technician I. This promotion includes a raise and continued employment is contingent upon obtaining PTCB certification. Cincinnati Children's pharmacy technicians work a rotation of both day and evening hours, every other or every 3rd weekend, as well as rotating holidays and on-call coverage.
As the backbone of our high-functioning pharmacy, our technicians are crucial to our operations and perform a wide range of tasks which include sterile compounding, non-sterile compounding, dosage preparation and repackaging, inventory management, hazardous medication handling, maintenance of pharmacy automation systems, and much more.
Who do I contact for more information?
Laura Belles, PharmD | Pharmacy Edu Spec II | Laura.Belles@cchmc.org | 513-636-5367
Faith Groneck, CPhT | Pharmacy Edu Spec | Faith.Groneck@cchmc.org | 513-636-5348