Pharmacy Technician Course

Lesson 1 • Pharmacy Ethics and Patient Rights

Covers ethical principles and patient privacy protections relevant to pharmacy. Connects professional values to daily technician decision-making.

Lesson 2 • Pharmacy Settings and Workflow

Surveys retail, hospital, and specialty pharmacy environments and their workflows. Prepares students to adapt procedures to different practice settings.

Lesson 3 • The Pharmacy Technician Role

Defines the scope of practice and daily duties of a pharmacy technician. Grounds students in professional identity before advancing to technical skills.

Lesson 1 • Medical and Pharmaceutical Abbreviations

Teaches standard abbreviations used on prescriptions and medication orders. Accurate interpretation prevents dispensing errors addressed in later chapters.

Lesson 2 • Dosage Calculations

Applies ratio-proportion and formula methods to calculate doses, days supply, and quantities. Builds the computational accuracy required for safe dispensing.

Lesson 3 • Measurement Systems and Conversions

Covers metric, apothecary, and household measurement systems and their interconversions. Accurate unit conversion is prerequisite to all dosage calculation work.

Lesson 4 • Drug Nomenclature and Classification

Explains generic, brand, and chemical drug names and major drug classes. Provides the vocabulary needed for drug information retrieval and labeling tasks.

Lesson 1 • Central Nervous System Drugs

Reviews analgesics, antidepressants, antipsychotics, and controlled CNS agents. Prepares technicians to handle controlled substance prescriptions with appropriate caution.

Lesson 2 • Basic Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics

Explains how drugs are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted, plus receptor interactions. Provides the mechanistic foundation for understanding drug effects and interactions.

Lesson 3 • Drug Interactions and Adverse Effects

Identifies clinically significant drug-drug and drug-food interactions and common adverse reactions. Equips technicians to flag potential issues before pharmacist verification.

Lesson 4 • Cardiovascular and Respiratory Drugs

Covers antihypertensives, anticoagulants, bronchodilators, and related agents. Technicians learn to recognize high-alert medications common in both retail and hospital settings.

Lesson 1 • Labeling and Dispensing Accuracy

Details label requirements, product selection, and final verification steps before dispensing. Reinforces accuracy habits that reduce medication errors.

Lesson 2 • Drug Utilization Review Basics

Introduces prospective and retrospective DUR alerts and technician response protocols. Students learn to escalate clinical alerts to the pharmacist appropriately.

Lesson 3 • Medication Error Prevention

Analyzes common error types, look-alike/sound-alike drug risks, and reporting systems. Builds a safety culture mindset essential for professional practice.

Lesson 4 • Patient Profile Management

Explains creating and updating patient profiles, including allergies and insurance data. Accurate profiles support drug utilization review and billing accuracy.

Lesson 1 • Health Insurance Fundamentals

Explains insurance plan types, benefit structures, and pharmacy benefit managers. Provides the conceptual base for all billing and claims processing tasks.

Lesson 2 • Government and Assistance Programs

Covers publicly funded drug benefit programs and patient assistance options. Ensures technicians can guide underinsured patients to appropriate resources.

Lesson 3 • Claim Rejections and Resolutions

Identifies common rejection codes and the corrective actions required for each. Efficient resolution skills reduce patient wait times and revenue loss.

Lesson 1 • Regulatory Inspections and Audits

Prepares students for regulatory inspections, audit readiness, and documentation standards. Compliance knowledge protects the pharmacy from sanctions and closures.

Lesson 2 • Hazardous Drug Safety

Addresses handling, disposal, and personal protection requirements for hazardous drugs. Protects technicians and patients from exposure to chemotherapy and other toxic agents.

Lesson 3 • High-Alert Medications Management

Identifies high-alert drug categories and the special safeguards required for each. Builds vigilance habits critical for preventing serious patient harm.

Lesson 4 • Quality Improvement Processes

Introduces root cause analysis, quality metrics, and continuous improvement cycles in pharmacy. Students connect error data to systemic process improvements.

Lesson 1 • Cleanroom Environment and Aseptic Technique

Explains ISO classifications, laminar airflow workbench use, garbing, and hand hygiene. Proper aseptic technique is the cornerstone of sterile product safety.

Lesson 2 • Compounding Regulations and Standards

Reviews compounding regulatory frameworks, beyond-use dating rules, and documentation requirements. Establishes the compliance foundation before hands-on compounding techniques.

Lesson 3 • IV Admixture and Sterile Preparation

Teaches preparation of large-volume parenterals, small-volume parenterals, and TPN solutions. Builds on aseptic technique to produce sterile products for patient administration.

Lesson 4 • Non-Sterile Compounding Techniques

Covers weighing, measuring, mixing, and packaging of creams, ointments, capsules, and solutions. Students apply calculation skills from Chapter 2 to real compounding scenarios.

Lesson 1 • Inventory Management and Purchasing

Teaches par levels, reorder points, drug shortage management, and controlled substance inventory. Effective inventory control prevents stockouts and reduces waste.

Lesson 2 • Medication Reconciliation Support

Explains the technician's role in collecting and reconciling medication histories at care transitions. Accurate reconciliation reduces adverse drug events during hospital admissions and discharges.

Lesson 3 • Automation and Dispensing Technology

Covers automated dispensing cabinets, robotic dispensing systems, and barcode verification tools. Automation reduces errors and frees technicians for higher-value clinical support tasks.

Lesson 4 • Pharmacy Information Systems

Explores pharmacy management software functions, electronic health record integration, and data security. Technology literacy is essential for modern pharmacy efficiency and compliance.