Pharmacy on the ‘fast track’: Technician training program celebrates a successful first year

Jada Williams didn't know what would come next. Even though she had just finished high school and wasn't yet ready for college, one thing she knew was the time had come to choose a pathway.

Still, she never anticipated it would lead her to don a white lab coat and uncover the building blocks of medications. But as one of the inaugural class members in the Pharmacy Technician Training program at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Williams is embracing this unique opportunity to move forward in a rewarding, if not unexpected, career.

Program learners, like Jada Williams, were able to get hands-on experience during their rotations at local pharmacies and hospitals such as UHS Wilson Medical Center. Image Credit: Jonathan Cohen.

"This program was the chance to try something I never thought I'd get to do," Williams says. "Some of my favorite things during my training were making the medications in the IV bags and picking meds through the carousel."

As a "fast track" of sorts, the 19-week, 420-hour microcredential was born out of a growing need in communities to bolster the healthcare workforce by filling crucial pharmacy technician positions.

Planning began about two years ago when SOPPS faculty surveyed hospitals and community pharmacies around New York's Southern Tier region and found at least 200 open pharmacy technician positions.

Kenneth McCall, program director, co-chair and clinical professor of pharmacy practice, credits the Pharmacy Technician Training program's successful first year to a coordinated planning effort and the recognition of a need to build "a unique bridge."

"I always tell learners when they begin pharmacy or medicine, when they begin training for an entry-level or advanced degree in this field, that it's like being immersed in a new language," McCall says. "We're immersing them in this whole new scientific language. It's challenging. But I remind them they will learn it and how it's important to remember that as a healthcare professional, you don't just stop."

To qualify for the program, learners needed only to be 18 or older and have a high school diploma, apart from some baseline skills in communication and math (to aid in calculating doses).

In November, the program graduated its first 16 learners (there had been 20 open seats for the initial class). Eight of the learners were recent high school graduates, and the rest were those looking for a transition in the midst of their careers.

As Williams and others in her class quickly discovered, there wasn't any wasted time once the program kicked off in July. For instance, two weeks were devoted to lab simulations in which learners meticulously followed each step a typical pharmacy technician would take in a given day, from filling prescriptions to mixing sterile IV products.

Instructional Support Associate Katie Sasina and Pharmacy Technician Program Director Kenneth McCall practice measuring liquids inside SOPPS'compounding lab. Image Credit: Jonathan Cohen.

"The pharmaceutical world is always changing. New medications are always being discovered, so there are new drugs to learn. You have to complete continuing education in this field," says Katie Sasina, an instructional support associate who works with Pharmacy Technician Training program learners. "We're in desperate need of pharmacy employees, and one thing that has impressed me with this first group is that some learners interviewed and got offered jobs before the program was even completed."

We've got you covered

McCall says one of the program's most valuable assets in this first year was its ability to remove traditional barriers to adult learners' access to education.

Donations and a grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation covered tuition costs, paid for textbooks and access to online materials, and even paid the fee for graduates to take a national exam for pharmacy technicians. Learners have 60 days to take the exam once they graduate from the technician program.

Learner Cheryl Mullen prepares vials and fluid bags inside the sterile IV room at UHS Wilson Medical Center's pharmacy. Image Credit: Jonathan Cohen.

"My experience in the program has been an abundance of emotions. Some days I was excited to learn new things, but [other days] I was overwhelmed trying to juggle the program needs along with my everyday life," says Cheryl Mullen, one of the program's initial graduates. "The professors running the program are hands down amazing. They make you feel comfortable with so much help, guidance and a lot of reassurance."

Looking ahead, McCall hopes to monitor graduates' progress once they enter the field to help refine the curriculum for future cohorts. The program will also seek accreditation from the American Society of Health Systems Pharmacy.

"At first, our challenge was just in recruiting, building that network and working with high school counselors around the region to match students to begin the program," McCall says. "Retention of our students as they progressed through it is certainly a factor that we're proud of and one we're going to be watching with future classes."

Williams' advice for future pharmacy technician students at Binghamton is simple: be willing to work hard. Other learners, like Mullen, share this sentiment.

However, the level of guidance throughout the program has helped make moments, like Williams' Pharmacy Technician Certification Board rotations and participation in pharmacy settings, far less intimidating.

"I wholeheartedly recommend this program to anyone looking for a career change or just wanting to try something new," Williams says. "It is definitely worth it."

The pharmacy technician training program's first cohort of graduates. Image Credit: Jonathan Cohen.