Pharmacy Technician Diploma

Program Overview

Bow Valley College's Pharmacy Technician Diploma prepares students for roles in community and hospital settings. The fully accredited program provides hands-on training in a state-of-the-art lab, ensuring graduates are equipped with the skills to compound and dispense medications. Upon graduation, eligible students can pursue national certification and high-demand employment opportunities with earning potential up to $37 per hour.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The Pharmacy Technician Diploma program at Bow Valley College is a full-time program designed to prepare students to compound and dispense medications in both community and hospital settings. The program includes practicum placements in both environments. Graduates are eligible to write the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada's national certification exam and become registered pharmacy technicians in Alberta.

Objectives:

• To prepare students to work as pharmacy technicians in both community and hospital settings.
• To provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to compound and dispense medications.
• To prepare students for the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada's national certification exam.

Description:

• The program is fully accredited by the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs (CCAPP).
• Students complete practicums in both hospital and community pharmacies.
• The program includes over 350 hours of lab training in a state-of-the-art facility.
• Students learn to prepare sterile products in certified sterile production hoods and operate a PACMED® high-speed automated medication packager.
• The program emphasizes hands-on training to produce dispensary-ready graduates.
• Registered Pharmacy Technicians have an expanded scope of practice that includes responsibilities such as performing final checks on prescriptions and receiving verbal orders from prescribers.
Other tasks include compounding mixtures, dispensing medications, or preparing sterile products such as eye drop compounds or intravenous mixtures.
• Demand for pharmacy technicians is increasing, and they can earn up to $37/hour.

Teaching:

• The program is taught by experienced faculty, including registered pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
• The program emphasizes hands-on training and experience in a simulated environment using technology, supplies, and equipment as used in the workplace.
• The program includes a variety of teaching methods, including lectures, labs, simulations, and case studies.

Careers:

• Graduates of the program are eligible to work as pharmacy technicians in both community and hospital settings.
• Pharmacy technicians are in high demand, and graduates can expect to find employment in a variety of settings, including hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and pharmaceutical companies.
• Graduates can also pursue further education in pharmacy or other related fields.

Other:

• The program is 60 weeks in length, including two 4-week practicum placements (one month in community pharmacy and one month in hospital pharmacy).
• The initial eight months of study will be followed by a four-month break, where students have the option of obtaining employment in the field of pharmacy to gain experience and prepare financially for the final 8 months of the program.
• The program is 90 per cent in class and 10 per cent online.
• The hours range from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
• Students will be required to travel to various locations in order to complete their practicum placements.
Every effort is made to accommodate students in placements within the timeframe of the program, however in rare instances there may be a delay in program completion until a placement can be arranged.
• To facilitate your Work Integrated Learning placement with our external partners Rubella vaccination is mandatory and proof of full COVID-19 vaccination is required for many of the sites.
Failure to provide evidence of full COVID-19 vaccination will delay program completion. All other immunizations are highly recommended. Up-to-date immunizations are valid for the duration of the program.
• Current Police Information Check (PIC) with a Vulnerable Sector Search (VSS) must be submitted prior to the practicum placements.
The existence of a criminal record may postpone or prevent clinical, practicum, or field work placements, and subsequently, successful completion of the program.
• The Pharmacy Technician Program of Bow Valley College has been awarded Accreditation Status by the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs from January 1st, 2023 - June 30th, 2028.
• The program has a designated lab.
The world-class lab simulates both community and hospital pharmacy practice with individual work areas equipped with computers, phones and dispensing supplies, compounding equipment, certified sterile production hoods, and a high-speed automated medication packager (PACMED®).
• The program places emphasis on hands-on training and experience in a simulated environment using technology, supplies, and equipment, as used in the workplace.
• The program faculty and staff include:
• Diane Valiquette, B.Sc.Pharm, Registered Pharmacist (Associate Dean, Allied Health)
• Crystal Lane, B.Sc.Pharm, Registered Pharmacist (Program Chair, Allied Health)
• Cheryl Callicutt, Registered Pharmacy Technician (Educational Assistant)
• Loren Voice, Registered Pharmacy Technician (Instructor)
• Karen Pozniak (Administrative Assistant)
• The program is recognized by employers.
• The program is unique in its emphasis on hands-on training and experience in a simulated environment using technology, supplies, and equipment, as used in the workplace.
• The program is designed to prepare graduates for the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada's national certification exam.
Only graduates of programs accredited by the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs are eligible to proceed through the registration process to become pharmacy technicians. Graduates of non-accredited programs become pharmacy assistants. Pharmacy assistants do not carry a license or their own insurance and do not have the same responsibilities or income potential.
• Pharmacy technicians working in hospitals start at approximately $28 per hour, and with experience, can earn up to $37 per hour.
Community pharmacy technicians usually earn approximately $20 to $30 per hour.
• On July 1, 2011, pharmacy technicians became regulated under the Health Professions Act and now register with the Alberta College of Pharmacists, carrying their own malpractice insurance.
Under the new expanded scope of practice, registered pharmacy technicians perform the final check on prescriptions, receive verbal orders from prescribers, prepare compound mixtures, and assist with prescription transfers.