Health Programs » Pharmacy Assistant Diploma Program

The Role of the Pharmacy Assistant

Assisting the Pharmacist in:

• Preparation of Prescriptions: Receiving a written prescription or request for prescription refill from the patient or representative.
• Ensuring completeness of information on prescription.
• Preparation of prescription labels.
• Retrieving, counting, pouring, weighing, measuring and mixing medications
• Reconstituting medications.
• Selecting type of prescription container.
• Affixing prescription and auxiliary labels to prescription containers.
• Pricing prescriptions.
• Filing prescriptions.
• Establishing and maintaining patient profiles repackaging and labelling of medications.
• Maintaining packaging and dispensing equipment.
• Replenishing medications for nursing units, night cupboards, emergency boxes and cardiac arrest kits.
• Preparing specialty products.

Clerical Activities:

• Preparing and reconciling third party billings.
• Preparing receipts, invoices, letters and memos and general filing.
• Generating long-term care data (i.e. medication administration record, medication review)
• Maintaining drug information files.
• Billing appropriate department for medication.
• Receiving and sending electronic communication.

Communication Skills:

• Communicating with customers, physicians and suppliers.
• Questions relating to prescriptions, drug information, poison information or any health matter must be referred to the pharmacist.

Inventory Management:

• Monitoring stock levels to ensure sufficient quantities for optimal operation.
• Preparing and placing orders from specified sources.
• Receiving and checking supplies purchased.
• Issuing supplies from the storeroom.
• Maintaining storage facilities.
• Maintaining inventory records, including those for narcotics and controlled drugs.
• Rotating stock and monitoring expiry dates.
• Identifying expired products for disposal, destruction or return to manufacturer.
• Pre-packaging of medications (including unit dose packaging)
• Delivery of medications (including unit dose packaging)
• Delivery of medications to institutional wards.
• Restocking of institutional wards with narcotics and controlled drugs.

The Responsibilities of a Pharmacy Assistant Are Varied and May Include:

• Assisting the pharmacist in the day to day operation of the pharmacy.
• Inputting prescriptions into the computer system.
• Ordering and maintaining inventory.
• Dealing with clients on a one to one basis.

Graduates of This Program Will Learn:

• Therapeutic classes of medications.
• Compounding of medication orders.
• Sterile preparations.
• How to deal with the public.
• Computer skills.
• How to deal with insurance companies and ODP.
• Clinical and brand name medications.

The Modules of Study Include:

• Role of the technician/assistant.
• Compounding
• Jurisprudence
• Communication skills
• Pharmacology
• Community and hospital systems and procedures
• Long term care facilities
• Computer systems and applications
• Sterile products
• Practical field experience

Career Opportunities:

The demand for Pharmacy Assistants and the number of diverse job opportunities continues to grow, largely due to our aging population. The National Academy will teach students to a level of knowledge and understanding that will permit graduates to write the national certification exams leading to a "CPHT", the acronym for "Certified Pharmacy Assistant".

Certified Pharmacy Assistant is a dynamic and exciting career where opportunities are growing in communities and pharmacy environments across Canada.

Admissions Requirements:

To be accepted an applicant must successfully complete an entrance evaluation and a personal interview as well as the following:

• Grade 12 or equivalent
• Mature student status
• Hepatitis B Vaccination

Program Length

The program is taught in a total of 35 weeks with 25 hours in class study per week. This will be followed by an externship in a workplace setting of 8-10 weeks.

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