Nuclear Pharmacy Technician Education and Training
In 1995, the Pharmacy
Technician Certification Board offered the first national examination to
assess the mastery of knowledge of pharmacy technicians. The examination
highlighted the movement of the pharmacy profession to more involve
non-licensed individuals in the practice of pharmacy. Since 1995, many
states have added regulations specific to the use of pharmacy technicians.
These regulations may include practice setting, degree of supervision,
sterile preparations training, acceptable training programs, documentation
of training programs and pharmacists’ responsibility. Most states have some
regulations concerning the use of pharmacy technicians; however, few of them
address the issues of technicians in the nuclear pharmacy practice.
Regulations concerning pharmacy are applied to all practice settings, the
use of pharmacy technicians are often regulated without regard to the
specialized practice setting of nuclear pharmacy.
As the use of
technicians increases, more state Boards of Pharmacy are adding specific
regulations for technicians. Nuclear pharmacy represents a very small
percentage of all practice settings of pharmacy. It is estimated that of
more than 200,000 registered pharmacists only about 2,000 have the
specialized training required to practice in nuclear pharmacy. These small
numbers do not warrant the development of specialized regulations specific
to nuclear pharmacy technicians. An alternative technician training program
specific to the practice of nuclear pharmacy was needed.
The American Pharmacist
Association, Academy of Pharmacy Practice Management, Section on Nuclear
Pharmacy approved the Guidelines for Nuclear Pharmacy Technician Training
Programs in November, 2000. This document outlines specific training
topics, competencies and training guidelines to be used in nuclear pharmacy
technician training programs. It should be noted that the approved
training program deals with only those areas of practice regulated by state
Boards of Pharmacy.
It is strongly
recommended that a review of applicable state Board of Pharmacy rules and
regulations be conducted before enrolling in this program. A petition to
the Board of Pharmacy may be necessary to determine the acceptability of
this program within a given state. Nuclear Education Online makes no claim
of acceptance by any Board of Pharmacy for this alternative training
program. This program is intended to meet the
requirements of some state technician training regulations and to offer a
structured program for petition of acceptance to other states.
Disclaimer:
v
This training addresses issues
explicitly regulated by state Boards of Pharmacy. Although technicians
perform many functions with a nuclear pharmacy, those tasks and functions
regulated by other state and/or federal agencies are not addressed in
this training program.
v
Training obtained through the
Nuclear Pharmacy Technician training program is not transferable to any
other practice settings.
v
The Nuclear Education Online
Nuclear Pharmacy Technician training program will not prepare an individual
for the national Pharmacist Technician Training Certificate examination.
Syllabus
and Program Costs
