Pharmacy Technician Certificate

The Pharmacy Technician Certificate program prepares students for employment as technicians in community and institutional pharmacies. Students gain knowledge and skills relevant to the technical and clerical aspects of the pharmacy profession, including pharmacy equipment, prescription preparation, record keeping, pharmaceutical products, compounding, sterile product handling and more.

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Pharmacy Technician students learn in lab and clinical settings.

Campus

  • Kelowna
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Legend:
  • Full program offered
  • Partial program offered

Credential

Certificate

Delivery options

Full-Time

Tuition and fees

2023-24: $10,767.71

  • Fees include all mandatory fees: Activity fee, Health & Dental, Student Association fee, Education Technology fee, Development fee.

  • All amounts are approximate and are subject to change.

  • Detailed domestic tuition and fees information

Program details

The Pharmacy Technician Certificate program prepares students for employment as technicians in community and hospital pharmacies. Students gain knowledge and skills relevant to the technical and clerical aspects of the pharmacy profession.


Topics covered include: job orientation, pharmacy equipment, prescription preparation, mathematical skills in pharmacy, inventory maintenance, record keeping, pharmaceutical products, compounding, sterile product handling, hospital pharmacy procedures, computer skills, communication skills and the law as it applies to pharmacies, and the legal relationship between a pharmacist and technician.


The program includes theory, demonstrations, and practice in the classroom. Students will be assigned both a community pharmacy and a hospital pharmacy practicum. Students are required to have a lab coat or hospital scrubs for the labs and practicum. Please note that practicum placements may be anywhere in BC, so travel may be required.
Program graduates will have completed the first step to becoming a regulated pharmacy technician. For more information on the regulation process for pharmacy technicians please visit: http://www.bcpharmacists.org/new-practice.


The length of the theory and lab practice portion of the program is approximately 26 full-time weeks per year, depending on the Calendar year. The two practica, hospital and community, are 180 hours each.

Students will be assigned a practicum in both a community pharmacy and hospital pharmacy, which usually take approximately five weeks to complete per assignment. Practicum placements may be anywhere in B.C., so travel may be required.

Students will be required to have a lab coat or hospital scrubs for labs and practicum. These can be purchased at the Okanagan College Bookstore.

The Pharmacy Technician Certificate program prepares students for employment as technicians in community and hospital pharmacies. To become a regulated Pharmacy Technician, graduates must successfully complete required steps outlined by the College of Pharmacists of B.C.

Okanagan College's Pharmacy Technician Certificate program is accredited by the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs (CCAPP). Following graduation, successful students are eligible to write the Pharmacy Technician qualifying exam as provided by the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (PEBC). Graduates who have completed both the MCQ and OSPE components of the PEBC qualifying exam as well as the Jurisprudence Examination provided by the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia (CPBC) can then register with the CPBC for entry to practice as Registered Pharmacy Technicians.

Applications open June 1, 2024 for the January 2025 intake.

Do you need to upgrade? Contact Adult Upgrading.

Campus Start date Schedule
Kelowna Jan. 2025

Admission requirements

  • B.C. secondary school graduation or equivalent (Adult Graduate Diploma).
  • For applicants whose first language is English:
  • For applicants whose first language is not English:
    • Language proficiency test results that meet the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (NAPRA) Language Proficiency Requirement:
      • A TOEFL score of at least 91 (Internet-based)
      • Or, an overall band score of 6.5 on the academic version of IELTS
      • Or, graduation from a high school in Canada with three consecutive, first language English courses
      • Or, an undergraduate degree from a university in Canada, whose instruction was provided in English.
  • A minimum grade of 60% in BIOL 11, Life Sciences 11, or an equivalent Advanced Level ABE Biology course, or Biology 12, Anatomy and Physiology 12, or an equivalent. The Biology course must include a human anatomy and physiology component.
    • For applicants who have completed their Biology courses in B.C. (at the senior secondary level or through ABE), Biology 12 is required. B.C. Biology 11 does not include a human anatomy and physiology component.

  • A minimum grade of 60% in Chemistry 11 or an equivalent Advanced Level Adult Basic Education Chemistry course. Chemistry 12 is recommended.

  • Math requirement:

    • A minimum of 60% in any of:

      • Pre-calculus Grade 11
      • Principles of Mathematics 11
      • Adult Basic Education MATH 011
      • Okanagan College MATH 120.
      • Or a minimum of 70% on an Okanagan College Mathematics 11 Proficiency Exam.

      • Applicants who have not satisfied this requirement within the last seven years may write the Okanagan College Mathematics 11 Proficiency exam and must receive a minimum grade of 70%.

  • A criminal record check clearance from the B.C. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General's Criminal Records Review Office. Okanagan College's admission offices will provide applicants with instructions and forms for applicants to submit to the Solicitor General's Office and a deadline for the College to receive the clearance letter. Applicants should only initiate their criminal record check when instructed by Admissions. Failure to provide a clearance letter by the deadline will result in a cancellation of the applicant's admission application.

Program Requirements:

The following will be collected on the first day of classes by the instructor:

  • Current immunization as required by clinical partner sites and recommended by B.C. Centre for Disease Control (2009): diphtheria and tetanus, polio, hepatitis B, measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), varicella, and influenza.
  • Applicants must provide evidence of a negative tuberculin test, taken no more than six months before the date of application (or evidence of appropriate follow up if the test was positive).

Program outline

PHRM 101 - Introduction to Pharmacy Practice
PHRM 102 - Medical Terminology
PHRM 103 - Pharmacy Law
PHRM 104 - Pharmacy Computer Applications
PHRM 105 - Communications and Employment Preparation
PHRM 106 - Pharmacology I
PHRM 107 - Drug Distribution
PHRM 108 - Pharmacology II
PHRM 109 - Product Preparation I
PHRM 110 - Product Preparation II
PHRM 111 - Hospital Practicum
PHRM 112 - Community Practicum
The practica are used to provide the student with practical experience as a Pharmacy Technician.
  • Students must complete and pass PHRM 111 Hospital Practicum and PHRM 112 Community Practicum.
  • Students must complete all other courses in the program outline with a minimum grade of 70%.
Additional information

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