Guest guest Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Just for clarification, I was asking a general question regarding pharmacy techs and the school requirement. The reason why I asked was for an employee of mine. I am a Registered Nurse working as a Nurse Manager in an Oncology/Hematology office. I manager 3 groups of staff one of which are pharm techs however one of the Medical Assistants in my departments is interested in becoming a pharmacy tech. Not for retail but for hem/onc. The MA is a mother of 3 small children and does not currently have the resources to go to school full time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Thank you for that clarification. While I would still recommend school, because ths woman has had some pharmacology and medical background I would venture to say she KNOWS the other side of pharmacy with callins from Rx to Dr's office etc. So she would probably be a fast learner and I would not consider her one coming in from off the street without pharmacy knowledge. She obviously has more medical knowledge. MA's give injections. So I definitely would feel much better about her starting to train without having gone to pharm tech school. I think she would do better with school, but I also believe she would be a better candidate to train that one who has NO med or Rx background at all. Hope this helps, Jeanetta Mastron CPhT BS Founder/Owner > > Just for clarification, I was asking a general question regarding pharmacy techs > and the school requirement. The reason why I asked was for an employee of > mine. I am a Registered Nurse working as a Nurse Manager in an > Oncology/Hematology office. I manager 3 groups of staff one of which are pharm > techs however one of the Medical Assistants in my departments is interested in > becoming a pharmacy tech. Not for retail but for hem/onc. > > The MA is a mother of 3 small children and does not currently have the resources > to go to school full time. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 the MA i was speaking of has been researching Penn . Is this a good program? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Years ago I use to get many many complaints. I have not had a complaint on it for over 3 years. The complaints ranged from the quality of the equipment that was sent to the person's home to nto getting books or refunds etc. on time or complete. I have dear friend who used this program about 2 yrs ago and got PTCB certified and I feel he had adequate education but he still lacks the hands on that would solidify this. Yet he has kept up with conversations with me as well as a newbie could. He did not actively seek work because he decided to study nursing. Now to be honest he had a military medic background. He has a naturally inquisitive mind. So what ever he did not get in the program he would contact me or others and ASK or he would use the computer to research even more. To my knowledge he has no complaints. If you look at the top of the home page and type in the site's search window: Penn you may pull up several old posts that others have posted reagardiing the educsation. Hope this helps, Respectfully, Jeanetta Mastron CPhT BS F/O > > the MA i was speaking of has been researching Penn . Is this a good > program? > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 FWIW I did Penn program 3 years ago. My state requires that a tech only fog up a mirror, so the online was good enough for me to pass the PTCB the first time. My background -worked in a hospital setting for 15 years as a nurse tech -have a BS in chemistry -I have no problems studying by myself, and am self motivated. I never used the online help or had to contact a " teacher " . If I had to sit through actual classes, I would have went to either one of the two community colleges that has pharmacy technician programs. One you get a certification, and it is geared towards retail. The other is an AS, with the program more towards hospital pharmacy. In my area, all the hospitals require 6 months retail experience, so the AS is useless as far as securing a hospital job. (at least when I was looking, the hospitals would not hire anyone fresh out of school). The other reason I would do the community college, is if you find out you HATE the courses, the credits will transfer to any other 2 or 4 year school in my area. The trade schools (two) that have tech programs are ungodly $$$, and if you find out half way through, this job isn't what you expected, all those credits will not transfer. I have two friends that are paying off student loans for classes that are worthless anywhere else. One dropped out of the nursing program and the other was the tech program. Not all trade schools are like Jeanetta's. Hope this helped. Nanci On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 9:03 PM, Jeanetta Mastron <rxjm2002@...> wrote: > > > > Years ago I use to get many many complaints. > I have not had a complaint on it for over 3 years. > The complaints ranged from the quality of the > equipment that was sent to the person's home > to nto getting books or refunds etc. on time > or complete. > > I have dear friend who used this program about 2 yrs ago > and got PTCB certified and I feel he had adequate education > but he still lacks the hands on that would solidify this. > Yet he has kept up with conversations with me as well as > a newbie could. > > He did not actively seek work because he decided to study nursing. > Now to be honest he had a military medic background. He has a naturally inquisitive mind. So what ever he did not get in the program he would contact me or others and ASK or he would use the computer to research even more. > To my knowledge he has no complaints. > > If you look at the top of the home page and type in the site's search window: Penn you may pull up several old posts that others have posted reagardiing the educsation. > > Hope this helps, > > Respectfully, > > Jeanetta Mastron CPhT BS > F/O > > > > > > the MA i was speaking of has been researching Penn . Is this a good > > program? > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 24, 2011 Report Share Posted February 24, 2011 Dear Nanci and All, FWIW - I think your input is WORTH a LOT! I want to make sure that everyone knows that I advocate a good hands on Education/Lecture WITH Mock Labs WITH On The Job Externship Training, preferably Accredited OVER any other method of preparation of becoming a Pharm Tech. I always have recommended community college over private schools because of the cost factor. However Nanci raises a good point about the transfer of under graduated classes such as English and History etc. BUT it is ALSO important to note that Pharmacy I or Pharmacy II or Introduction to Pharmacy are NOT transferable! It is possible that they may transfer from one community college within the SAME state but not from community college to private college, or private to private and usually not from state to state. Secondly I would recommend a good online program in which you have contact with the teacher, homework assignments, field work and soem equipment sent to you with projects due etc. Interaction between you and the teacher. If I lived in a state that required pharm tech to have PTCB only I would take the community college class for EXPERIENCE as they have MOCK LABS and study on my own from TWO GOOD books written by 2 different authors AND get my PTCB and THEN continue with school even after I have my PTCB and get a full or part time job as a tech. IF I could not go to school or could not afford the time I would get and my state did not require school I would get two good books from 2 differernt authors and study and take the exam then get a powerful resume and beat down the doors looking for work! Online program only IF they give me an externship! Otherwise I could learn the same from two good books and use this free study site. Some people feel the NEED the online program for support while learning or feel that they can not learn on their own and like that extra cushion of knowing there is some type of help. BUT that is what this free study site is all about! To help those who are studying alone or in a school or online learn and understand better! Again I will paste message 20019 jan 2010 from Ron CPhT: I think you raised some very good points Nanci! Ron CPhT writes back to jmb Re: Online Pharmacy Tech Training Dear jmb, My name is Ron CPhT, I am a graduate of Penn program. The course is great, the materials are there (comprehensive). If you are considering this for study to take the PTCB or PTCE exam it is more than adequate. If you aren't employed and will be looking for a position, at the least you need to follow the programs progression and do an internship. The job market as I am sure you are aware is most competitive. EXPERIENCE is a huge factor. Even the retail pharmacies prefer to hire someone that needs the minimum of training. Maybe instructing on that particular pharmacies' P & Ps , familiarizing w/ computer or other automation if used, and then expect you to go to work. (They are short on time and money as many) My recommendation is some sort of formal classroom training (i.e. " Trade " school) in your area. At the very least some institutions may consider your group " lab " work as " experience " in lieu of actual prior employment in a pharmacy. Bare in mind, this is my consideration of the present situation. There are always exception. Good luck! Kind regards, Ron CPhT " That being said both Ron CPhT and Nanci have had positive experiences with Penn which contrasts greatly with the comments made YEARS ago. I think most schools online have stepped up to the plate in the most recent last 3-4 years. BUT an online school that offers an extenship in my own opinion is a better bet. Buyer Beware! Respectfully, Jeanetta Mastron CPhT BS Founder/Owner Pharm Tech Educator > > > > > > the MA i was speaking of has been researching Penn . Is this a good > > > program? > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 24, 2011 Report Share Posted February 24, 2011 I should have made that more clear. The tech courses might not transfer, but my friend said the state university took them as electives, which isn't all bad. My friends in the trade school said none of the English/Math general core curriculum classes were transferable anywhere with in our state (at least). Just pretend you are buying a car (hell education is that expensive now-a-days), and check plus verify! Nanci Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 24, 2011 Report Share Posted February 24, 2011 Dear Nanci and All, We are most likely saying similar about our states. But the English and Math and Hx would transfer with in our state of CA from a public college. Out here in CA the TRADE school and the Community College Pharm Tech classes do NOT transfer for electives OR otherwise. The English or History that one would take in Community college for ANY major would transfer to any CA state college and most if not all private colleges. IF the English or Math was taken at a trade or vocational school it most likely will not transfer anywhere (again CA). If the private college or private trade school can grant a AA or AS with the Pharm Tech course as some can in CA, then these English/Math/Hx classes usually can transfer (again within CA not sure of out of state transfer, depends upon state to state and college to college). Jeanetta Mastron CPhT BS F/O > > I should have made that more clear. The tech courses might not transfer, but my friend said the state university took them as electives, which isn't all bad. > > My friends in the trade school said none of the English/Math general core curriculum classes were transferable anywhere with in our state (at least). > > Just pretend you are buying a car (hell education is that expensive now-a-days), and check plus verify! > > Nanci > Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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