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Job Training Programs | Pharmacy Technician Training Program

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

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Government approved identification card - Must be 18 years of age
  • Your High School diploma or equivalent
  • BCI and FBI background checks (Can be obtained through Cincinnati Children's)
  • $25 Registration Fee

  • If an offer is extended and accepted, technicians are expected to work rotating shifts between days and evenings, every other weekend or every 3rd weekend depending on department needs, rotating holidays, and on-call coverage.
  • A set schedule is not guaranteed and on average, technicians can expect to work one to two evening shifts per week, unless they prefer to work more.
  • When scheduling allows, we try to standardize the second shifts for technicians and to accommodate special scheduling needs, but this is not guaranteed.
  • A few of the specialized pharmacy areas, do have some shifts that start and end earlier, but technicians do not move into one of those areas for several months, possibly even a year or longer as it’s based on availability, seniority and performance.

  • The training program is M-F 7:30 am - 4:00 pm throughout the online coursework. This takes approximately 2-3 months.
  • Once you begin the experiential training (hands-on training), you will begin working rotating shifts between days and evenings, including every other or every third weekend.
  • Following successful completion of the program, it’s possible a 3rd shift position could be available and the student could apply for the position. If only a 1st/2nd shift if available, the technician could apply for a 3rd shift position once it becomes available at a later date.

  • Yes, Pharmacy Technicians are required to be on-call on average 1-2 times per month. This means you could be scheduled to work a 1st shift and be on-call to cover sick calls for 2nd shift. You could also be scheduled to work a 2nd shift and be on-call to cover sick call on 1st shift.
  • On-Calls do not start until after the trainee has accepted a position as a pharmacy technician and are not part of the training program.

  • During the training program, you will not work or train holidays.
  • If given a pharmacy technician position following the program, you are required to work holidays. Initially, the holidays you are required to work are based on the position you fill. For example, if the previous technician who held that position worked July 4th the previous year, you would be off July 4th this year.
  • Fulltime technicians can expect to work 4-5 holidays per year, alternating each year. So if you worked Easter this year, you would then be off the next year.
  • The student is responsible for the $25 registration fee for registering with the Ohio Board of Pharmacy as a ‘trainee’.
  • All other costs are covered by the program, including :
    • Online training program cost
    • Voucher to take the PTCB exam one time. (Students are responsible for covering the $130 cost of subsequent tests if not passed on the first attempt)
    • Books

Upon successful completion of the program, students are eligible for a position as a pharmacy technician at Cincinnati Children's if a position is available.

  • If an offer is available and extended, the student is expected to commit to a 1 year full-time work agreement and would be eligible for up to a 14% raise.
  • If an offer is available and extended but the student declines the offer, the student is required to pay Cincinnati Children's the full cost of the program.
  • If an offer is not available or extended, the student collects their certificate of completing a nationally accredited training program (ASHP) which would enable them to secure a job across the country as a pharmacy technician.
  • If a student voluntarily leaves the training program without completing, they are required to pay Cincinnati Children's the full cost of the program.
  • If a student does not successfully complete the program within 6 months, a committee composed of pharmacy leadership and HR will review the situation and identify next steps on a case-by-case basis.
  • On average, the program takes about 3-4 months (6 months max) to complete.
  • As the program grows, we hope to offer enrollment at designated times 3-4 times per year.
  • Currently, we are enrolling new students on a variable, rolling calendar once current students reach the experiential component of the training program.
No. In order for Cincinnati Children's to continue to pay you for your hours spent in the program, you would be onsite for the entire program, even the online coursework segment. It takes about 8-12 weeks to complete the online coursework so your schedule for that component would be M-F 7:30 am - 4:00 pm. You can certainly access from home for studying or to progress faster, but this is not required and you would not be paid for that time at home. Once the online portion is finished, you would progress to the hands-on (aka “experiential”) training which is composed of varying shift times, including days and evenings. You can expect, on average, 2 evening shifts per week (unless you prefer more).

Beginning in January 2020, candidates must complete a PTCB-Recognized Education/Training Program OR equivalent work experience in order to be eligible. To be eligible for the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE) through PTCB, a candidate must complete one of the following two pathways:

  • Pathway 1: A PTCB-Recognized Education/Training Program (or completion within 60 days). Candidates can choose from more than 1,400 recognized programs. Cincinnati Children'’s tech training program qualifies as an approved training program.
  • Pathway 2: Equivalent work experience as a pharmacy technician (min. 500 hours). This alternative secondary path serves experienced technicians who were not in a position to attend a PTCB-recognized program. PTCB accepts work experience across pharmacy practice settings that pertains to certain knowledge requirements.

In order to work at Cincinnati Children's, you must be PTCB certified. For other institutions or pharmacies, it might be acceptable to become certified via ExCPT instead.
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