Pharmacy Technician Certification

The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board administers the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Examination several times each year in various locations.  While there is no standardized requirements for a body of learning, employers are coming to rely more and more on technicians who have passed the Pharmacy Technician Certification Examination, because their body of knowledge has been proven.

Technicians who successfully complete the examination are qualified to call themselves Certified Pharmacy Technicians (CphT). A Certified Pharmacy Technician will receive better pay and will have first access at the higher paying jobs.

Because businesses that employ pharmacy technicians require certification, are placing more and more of the duties previously thought of as Pharmacist’s duties on the shoulders of the pharmacy technician, it makes sense to certify the employee as well.

Formal pharmacy technician programs teach such courses as medical and pharmaceutical terminology, pharmaceutical calculations, pharmacy law and ethics, and pharmaceutical procedures.  The pharmacy technician certification is proof that the student has absorbed this essential coursework. The use of a national testing service for pharmacy technician certification means the first steps toward a national course of study with formal requirements have been taken.

The movement to certify their own members adds an important quality control ingredient to the somewhat haphazard course of learning with little standardization, which had occurred in the past.  It is expected that most States will eventually adopt a standardized certification process, which is mandatory, and this is not opposed by members of the profession. 

Further information about the certification test can be found online at:

Pharmacy Technician Certification Board, 2215 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington DC 20037-2985. Internet: http://www.ptcb.org