[Jay Chou]

do you need any kind of training to become a pharm tech?

i dont know if this is true, but i heard that all you have to do is get one of those SAT type books, read it, go take the exam, pass it, and then you will be certified to become a pharm tech. and there are no training/education program involved.
it sounds really easy to become one.
i want to do it as a temporary job, so i can gain more insight in the pharmacy field and make some money while in college.

[Jay Chou]

btw i was wondering what kind of topics are covered on the exam?
does it contain general chemistry and organic chemistry?

[MONICA]

my friend is certified. she just took the test and said it was harddddddddddd. oh and she just got one of those books that preps you for it.

[mistapooh]

I saw the prep book for it and there was a lot of stuff on names of medicine, and medicine type. I'm considering doing this as a part time job also during college.

[brown eyes]

All that stuff is easy..

Its pharmacy law that's the most tedious.

I'm already a certified pharmacy technician in my state.

However, my job requires that I get nationally certified sometime in the near future.

For more information, check out http://www.ptcb.org

As far as being a pharmacy technician goes as a part time job, think about this:

I'm a pharmacy technician because I read a bood and passed a test. You know and I know that that won't cut it in the real world. Theres no pharmacy that would hire you. Why? No experience. Anyone with half a brain, a couple of bucks for the fees, some extra time and a prep book can pass the test.

Good luck. I'm pretty sure people can pull it off. I know a girl who studied and took the test and is getting $18/hour without real pharmacy experience. She's good friends with the pharmacist however. Anyhow, its not what you know, but who you know.

My $0.02

[sphynkter]

^ that's what i was thinking. i would think that it's pretty hard for people to get a job after just taking a test. if i were an employer i wouldn't really want to hire someone that had no experience whatsoever but i guess it's worth a try.

[Enchanted]

All that stuff is easy..

Its pharmacy law that's the most tedious.

I'm already a certified pharmacy technician in my state.

However, my job requires that I get nationally certified sometime in the near future.

For more information, check out http://www.ptcb.org

As far as being a pharmacy technician goes as a part time job, think about this:

I'm a pharmacy technician because I read a bood and passed a test. You know and I know that that won't cut it in the real world. Theres no pharmacy that would hire you. Why? No experience. Anyone with half a brain, a couple of bucks for the fees, some extra time and a prep book can pass the test.

Good luck. I'm pretty sure people can pull it off. I know a girl who studied and took the test and is getting $18/hour without real pharmacy experience. She's good friends with the pharmacist however. Anyhow, its not what you know, but who you know.

My $0.02

In order to get a job, you either need connection or start out as a volunteer. I lived in the state of Texas and in a city where there are tons of certified pharmacy technicians so it's very difficult to find a job. Passing the test is one thing, but getting a job is another. $18/hour is super good, how long has your friend work at the place?

After passing the test, it's require that you apply to your state board to get a certification to work in that state. And if you work for company like CVS like I do, it's require that you need to be train and take classes for certain amount of hours.

After I passed my test, it was hard for me to find a job so I give that up and go around and ask if they accept volunteer. I was lucky enough to find a spot, build up my experience and after a while the pharmacist decided to hire me.

If you're going to take the test remember to buy the book, study the government rules and the math problems than you should do fine. Go over the medicine name, but don't just concentrate on that because you will not remember it unless you have to deal with it everyday. I still don't know all of the drug names. Goodluck!

[msjang]

I worked in a pharmacy last year for the whole school year(sophomore, undergrad), and I had no previous experience at all. Didn't take the test either. I wanted to see what pharmacy at the community level was like so I went for it. All I did was apply, like any other job, at a CVS Pharmacy, and they hired me. They interviewed me, the usual stuff. But CVS trains you though, you have to take 2 tests then you get a pharm tech. certificate (dunno if this certificate is only good at the CVS level or state level)

Of course your salary increases after u get the certificate, from single to double digit.

I think the ease of which I got hired was cuz I live in a college town. So the pharamcies around here hire mostly college students that are already in pharm school, or undergrads that seem cut out for the pharmacy environment.

So if you just want a part time job, I think if you go apply at a pharmacy and do well on your interview, you can get a pharm tech job pretty easily.