Pharmacy Technology

Lesson l: The Pharmacy Technician’s Role. The distinct duties and responsibilities of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians; types of pharmacies; work environments; legal and ethical issues.

Lesson 2: Pharmacy Terminology. Common Greek and Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes used in medicine and pharmacy; abbreviations and symbols for weights and measures.

Lesson 3: Drugs, Dosage Forms and Delivery Systems. NDC numbers; therapeutic, pharmacodynamic, diagnostic, prophylactic, and destructive uses of drugs; the major dosage forms; drug delivery systems.

Lesson 4: Drug Administration. The 14 routes of drug administration; key pharmacological and pharmaceutical reference materials; keeping informed.

Lesson 5: Pharmaceutical Measurements. Measuring techniques; calculating dosages, compounds, IV rate, and administrations; preparing and measuring infusions and solutions; metric conversions; using fractions, proportions, ratios, and percentages.

Lesson 6: Dispensing, Billing & Managing Inventory. Procedures for dispensing OTC drugs and prescriptions; prescription elements; the label; the patient profile; alternatives to third-party administration; purchasing; receiving.

Lesson 7: Compounding Drugs; Human Relations Skills. Weighing, measuring, reducing, compounding, and blending ingredients for ointments, creams, powders, suppositories, and capsules; developing customer service skills in a retail operation.

Lesson 8: Hospital and Institutional Pharmacy Practice. The hospital formulary; sterilization and aseptic technique; preparing parenterals; handling hazardous agents; understanding unit-dose, floor stock, and repackaging systems.

Lesson 9: The Science of Pharmacology. Key medical terms; drug marketing; pharmokinetics; patient rights; drug interaction; body and age factors affecting the metabolism and effectiveness of drugs.

Lesson 10: Antibiotics. The major types of antibiotics; therapeutic and side effects; administration routes; using proper antibiotic and drug terminology.

Lesson 11: Antivirals, Antifungals, Antihistamines, Antitussives and Decongestants. Indications, side effects, dosages, and administration of antivirals, antifungals, antihistamines, decongestants, antitussives, and expectorants.

Lesson 12: Anesthetics, Analgesics and Narcotics. Functions of the central and peripheral nervous systems and how they relate to drugs; how drugs affect body systems; general and local anesthesia; narcotic and non-narcotic analgesia; agents for migraine headaches.

Lesson 13: Drugs for CNS Disorders. Uses and side affects of antidepressants, antipsychotics, antianxiety agents, and anticonvulsants; treating panic disorders, insomnia, alcoholism, seizures, and epilepsy; drugs prescribed for treating ParkinsonÕs Disease; ALS, ADD, AlzheimerÕs, and multiple sclerosis.

Lesson 14: Respiratory and Cardiovascular Drugs. Understanding and treating asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, pneumonia, cystic fibrosis, respiratory distress syndrome, and tuberculosis; arrhythmia; congestive heart failure; angina; hypertension; drugs for heart disease and strokes; anticoagulants; antiplatelets.

Lesson 15: Gastrointestinal and Urinary System Drugs. Gastrointestinal physiology; the chemotrigger zone and its role in nausea; laxatives; antidiarrheals; antiflatulants; calculating ideal body weight; the renal system; urinary tract infections; diuretics.

Lesson 16: Muscle Relaxants, Analgesics and Hormones. How muscle relaxants and non-narcotic analgesics work; agents for treating rheumatoid arthritis and gout; adrenal sex hormones; male dysfunction; estrogen replacement therapy; oral contraceptives; STDs; corticosteroids; caring for patients with diabetes.

Lesson 17: Topicals, Ophthalmics and Otics. Skin physiology; antiseptics and disinfectants; parasites; topical drugs and the conditions they treat; indications for using ophthalmic and otic agents.

Lesson 18: Recombinant Drugs, Chemotherapy and More. Recombinant DNA medications; colony-stimulating factors; the immune system; neoplastic diseases and drug treatments; ingredients, stability, and complications associated with parenteral nutrition; electrolyte levels; herbs; emergencies.

Lesson 19: Pharmacy Math: Part I. The Roman and Arabic measurement systems; using fractions and decimals to calculate dosages; ratios and percentages in dosage equations; applying metric measurements in ratios and proportions; converting household and metric measurements.

Lesson 20: Pharmacy Math: Part II. How to convert measurements between the metric and apothecary system; measuring fluids; converting between the Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature systems; preparing solutions; determining intravenous flow rates; essential business math concepts.