The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) Pharmacy Technician Program has been recognized by the nation’s leading certifying organization for pharmacy technicians as ready and prepared to meet significant Certified Pharmacy Technician Program (CPhT) changes taking effect Jan. 1, 2020.
The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) announced in January 2019 that it was changing eligibility requirements for CPhT programs and updating its Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE) next year to make the requirements more rigorous.
“PTCB relies on data and pharmacy stakeholder conversations in all we do with the goal of advancing medication safety,” PTCB Executive Director and CEO William Schimmel was quoted as saying in a recent press release. “The new eligibility requirements are based on input from pharmacy professionals that certain knowledge, skills and abilities are acquired most effectively through education/training or work experience. Pharmacy employers can be confident that PTCB-certified pharmacy technicians have demonstrated they have the knowledge to advance patient care in today’s pharmacy.”
“We are thrilled that CSM’s Pharmacy Technician Program is recognized as already fulfilling the more demanding training eligibility requirements that CPhT applicants will have to meet in January 2020,” said CSM Assistant Professor and Alllied Health Program Coordinator Sharon Baker, P.D., M.S. BSPharm. “We have always felt our technician program delved into the intricacies of pharmaceutical demands well beyond standard requirements and this designation proves that.”
CSM’s Pharmacy Technician program is part of the college’s Health Pathway course of study. To help focus students as they begin their coursework at CSM, the college’s 92 programs are placed within six program clusters called ‘Guided Pathways.’ The six pathways include: art and humanities; business and information systems; education and public service; health; science, technology, engineering and math; and, trades, transportation and energy.
Learn more about CSM’s Pharmacy Technician Program, the Health Pathway or any of CSM’s other five Guided Pathways, by visiting online at https://www.csmd.edu/programs-courses/pathways/.
About CSM
The College of Southern Maryland is a regionally accredited community college that provides programs and services with a special focus on local workforce development to maintain and grow a healthy economy and community. CSM serves more than 24,000 credit and continuing education students at its campuses located in Hughesville, La Plata, Leonardtown and Prince Frederick, as well as a Higher Education Center shared with University of Maryland University College in Waldorf and a Center for Transportation Training in La Plata. For information about CSM, call 301-934-7765 or visit http://www.csmd.edu.
About PTCB
PTCB was established in 1995 by the American Pharmacists Association; American Society of Health-System Pharmacists; Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists; and Michigan Pharmacists Association; and joined by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy in 2001. PTCB advocates for a single national standard for pharmacy technician certification that is recognized and supported by the profession. Establishing a national standard for pharmacy technician certification is consistent with the approach used by other health professions, including the pharmacist licensure process.