Pharmacy Technicians

True to its mission of providing member services and promoting pharmacy technician professionalism, the Pharmacy Technician Society of Alberta (PTSA) continues to add to its offerings. In addition to the existing job postings, affinity partnerships and other benefits, the society is providing more opportunities for continuing education.

Capsules for an ailing whale. Anaesthetics for dental patients. Transdermals for cats. These are just a few examples of the compounds that head pharmacy technician Anne Marie Taddeo has prepared in tandem with pharmacist Jennifer Schoenhals at Falls Pharmacy in Niagara Falls, Ont. A veteran employee of the 55-year-old, family-owned pharmacy—she started out as a cashier in 1974—Taddeo got involved in specialty compounding when Schoenhals took over the business from her parents. Taddeo and Schoenhals started by taking primary training at the Professional Compounding Centers of America (PCCA) in Houston.

A Quebec-based community pharmacist has created a French-language only training program about the common cold designed specifically for pharmacy technicians. And, it can be given in one hour by any pharmacist.

With more authority comes more responsibility. Such is the case with the looming regulation of technicians in Ontario. Indeed, with registered techs being accountable to a regulatory body—and with pharmacists relying on them more to support their expanding scope of practice—it’s critical for techs to continuously upgrade their education. The 300-plus who attended the 28th Annual Pharmacy Technicians Conference at Humber College in Toronto were doing just that.

Pharmacists are looking to technicians to assume increasing responsibility for inventory management; when asked in a previous Trends & Insights survey how they’d like to see the role of the technician expand, almost nine out of 10 (88%) cited inventory management. For techs who take on this task, it can be interesting, challenging and rewarding.